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So, if you'll recall, last week Luke "Heart Like a" Wheeler kissed Rayna, which surprised her quite a bit. But this week she flirts it up with him because she wants to get Scarlett's tour contract signed, and also maybe because she is not diametrically opposed to boning him. They hang out on his farm, bond over ex drama, and shoot guns to distract her from Teddy's impending wedding. Then they bone, also to distract her from Teddy's impending wedding. They're about to go for round two, but are distracted by a call from Maddie, who wants to be picked up from Teddy's wedding to Peggy. Yes, those two really got married. Despite having good instincts and hating Peggy, as well as some teenage sullenness, Maddie and Daphne perform at the wedding because they do love Teddy in spite of it all. All this makes Maddie want to bond with her biological father, Deacon. Rayna has a talk with him about it, and eventually gives the go ahead for bio bonding to commence. Rayna and Maddie go to the Bluebird with Deacon, to see him perform a new song (with Avery on guitar, and after a failed attempt to hit an open mic in Murfreesboro). Then the three of them have the sweetest little family scene and I was struck dead by the perfectness of it all.
Juliette, meanwhile, is still boning Charlie Wentworth, and is VERY upset that all of her airtime in Houston -- the first city of the tour -- is going to Layla. It turns out there's a DJ nicknamed "Santa Claus" because the tradition of having young, up and coming female acts sit on his lap if they want to get anywhere. She tells him off, and then Layla sits on his lap. Juliette then rants to Charlie Wentworth about how he has no idea what it's like to be female in the industry. He in turn fires Santa Claus, which makes Juliette furious. She makes Charlie give Santa Claus his job back, just so she can tell the guy that she can have him fired or rehired at her leisure. So, things are looking up for Juliette. That is until she tries to make a nice gesture toward Layla, and then is confronted by Olivia Wentworth. But Olivia isn't there because she wants to defend the sanctity of marriage with her husband. Rather, she too wants to bang Juliette. To quote Rayna Jaymes, "I….was not expecting that."
In other news, Gunnar and Zoey are still happily banging. Jeff gives Gunnar a deal of a mentorship with one of the top acts on the label and a slot at the Music City Music Festival (I can't wait until THAT episode!) in exchange for his song. Gunnar is all for it, though things get awkward when he gets on the tour bus and sees Scarlett, who has indeed finally signed on to be a pre-opener for Luke Wheeler. This may throw a wrinkle in the rekindled romance that she's found with Avery. And then there's Will. He gets a little twitchy when he sees Brent with his boyfriend, Craig, and then gets a little ragey when a gaggle of lunky jerks gay-bash the out couple. He beats the shit out of them in a parking lot, then rushes to bang Layla. Oh, Will's psychology.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: Maddie discovered that Teddy was going to marry that pregnancy-faking whack-a-doo Peggy and was rightly horrified. Will entered into a fauxmance with Layla Grant under the quasi-side-eye of former gaymance lover Brent. Deacon plunked around on the piano a bit, which did not irritate his busted hand all that much. Scarlett and Avery boned. Rayna suggested that Luke Wheeler take Scarlett on tour with him and he kissed her right on the mouth in response. And Olivia Wentworth walked in on Juliette boning her husband, Charlie, as Juliette's lifelong "Bad Decisions Tour" continued its latest leg in his penthouse hotel suite.
We begin in Houston where a radio DJ named Bobby Delmont announces that Juliette is launching her "Inside the Dream" tour in the city. Juliette walks through a crowd of screaming fans and gets into a car, and she's followed out of the hotel by Layla and Will. We hear DJ Bobby Delmont say that this tour might be one of the rare occasions where the under card -- that would be Layla -- might be even better than the main event. From inside her car Juliette scowls and notes to Glen that "Santa Claus" (that's what gross slob DJ Bobby Delmont is known as for reasons we will discover later) has a thing for Layla. Glen says he can't believe that Delmont hasn't been fired yet and Juliette adds, "…Or arrested." What, for driving his sleigh with a headlight out?
We then cut to Rayna (who I'm sure has never had to do anything gross to forward her own career, ahem) being flirty on the phone. She's talking to Luke "This" Wheeler 's "on Fire" about…contracts. She wants to see it…in writing. Luke invites her to come over and get the contract, and she coyly notes that it seems like he's interested in a lot more than paperwork. Yeah, the rest of us got that when he laid the lip lock on you in the Bluebird parking lot. Rayna tells him to have his agent send the paperwork, and then they can talk about maybe getting together. On the spot, Luke writes a song about Red, White and Blue balls. Tandy walks in and is like, "You want to bang that guy, eh?" though Rayna claims she's just interested in the business end of him. Men are her last priority. Scarlett, however, needs to get out of town because the minute she steps in Jeff's studio her recordings will belong to Edgehill. Daphne then marches in to tell Rayna that Maddie doesn't want to sing at Teddy's wedding reception and won't practice. Young Maddie is taking the wrong approach here. I think a sweet sister harmony version of "Psycho Killer" would be way more effective. Once Daphne goes outside to play, per Rayna's directive, Rayna is free to complain to Tandy that no one is thrilled that Peggy Kenter is going to be a part of the family. It turns out that the girls still don't know that Peggy is pregnant, but should find out today. It's a good thing that Maddie's already gotten running away out of her system.
We're then at Deacon's place, where the man himself grabs milk out of the fridge to put in his coffee. It turns out that the carton is empty. Deacon looks over to see a bumbling Avery eating a bowl of cereal. As Avery apologizes, Scarlett comes rushing out of her bedroom, saying that she thought Deacon was at Megan's. Avery hurries out as Deacon gives him the death stare all the way out the door. Deacon then asks Scarlett when they got back together, and she's forced to admit that she doesn't know if they're back together. They're just not NOT together. Deacon tries to pour Avery's backwash milk in his coffee and gets a Cheerio in there by accident. If this doesn't send him back to the bottle, nothing will.
Meanwhile, in other happy boning times, Zoey and Gunnar lay in the weirdest post-coital bed position, upside down from one another but with their heads to each other. Are we supposed to infer they were 69-ing? In any case, they're enjoying Will's absence while he's out on tour. Gunnar notes that Zoey lives alone so they could go to her place anytime, but she says Scarlett has a key so that might not be such a good idea. A phone call then comes in from Jeff Fordham, Edgehill Records CEO and resident evildoer now that Lamar is in jail. Jeff really wants Will to record Gunnar's song, and suggests they schedule a sit-down for the following day. Once he's off the phone, Gunnar wonders if he's being stupid about not letting Will record the song. He thinks he might be able to leverage it for a record deal or to get himself on a tour. At the very least, he will get an opportunity to have Jeff smugly laugh in his face.
We're then back at Rayna's, where Scarlett has come over. Rayna wanted to share with Scarlett that she'll officially be joining Luke's tour. And she's leaving tomorrow! She'll be a pre-opener, which means she'll only have three songs, and Rayna's going to send along a few of her band members until Scarlett's band is together. Scarlett wonders if she's ready for this, especially given that she hasn't even gone in the studio yet. Rayna DOES think that Scarlett's ready, and adds that this is an incredible opportunity since Luke Wheeler's tour is the biggest in the country. Scarlett summons up all of her humble charm and says she just wants to make Rayna proud. Rayna already IS proud, and assures Scarlett that she's going to kill it. As she signs the paperwork, we see that Scarlett is left-handed. Does she pay the banjo left-handed? Is this yet another sign of her enduring specialness?
Back in Houston, Juliette rants to Glen that Bobby Delmont is too important in this market, and they can't have him giving all of her airtime to Layla. Glen reminds Juliette that she's the superstar in this arrangement, and she plans to give him an exclusive at the meet and greet. And then who happens to be wherever they are but Charlie Wentworth, who is quickly crossing into creepy stalker territory. He "had" "a" "business" "meeting" in Houston and thought he'd stop by and "say" "hello." You know, as you do. Glen offers him tickets to the show, and Juliette quickly says that maybe Charlie and Olivia could join her for a late dinner. But Olivia's away at a girls' weekend in New York and Charlie's flying off to Dallas to speak at a TED conference. Glen tactfully leaves, so Juliette can drag Charlie into her dressing room where they can maul each other in private. He apologizes for being reckless, she says she invented reckless, then tells him to be quick since she has a press event. She starts to go on about how important the big market radio guys are, and Charlie reminds her that he knows, since his company owns 800 radio stations. As he starts to unbutton her shirt, Charlie tells Juliette that she's a huge star and the radio guys should be courting her. She thinks for a moment and then agrees, saying it's about time that they showed her some respect. Charlie adds that Juliette Barnes is the new queen of country music and shouldn't have to bow down to anybody. Unless she wants to. Which at this moment she does. Charlie Wentworth sure knows how to charm a girl into blowing him!
At Rayna's house, Teddy has shown up to take the girls to pick up their dresses and shoes for the wedding. Rayna warns him that Maddie is not so keen on singing at Teddy's reception, and surmises that it's because to her it seems that Teddy is marrying the woman who broke up her parents' marriage. Teddy gets awfully defensive, then says that he's getting married tomorrow in front of a lot of important people and a show of support from the girls would be nice. Rayna wonders if he's worried about this primarily because it would make him look bad in the press, and he says that the show of support would mean a lot to Peggy. And Rayna hates Peggy, so wonders if because it's important to Peggy Teddy is going to force their daughter do something she doesn't want to. Teddy thinks this is Rayna's way of turning the girls against him, to which she spits back, "This is not my fault. You got Peggy pregnant? You wanna run for congress? You gotta marry her? Fine. That is your choice." But Maddie can make choices too, and if she doesn't want to sing at Teddy's wedding, he has to respect that. Daphne bounds in with her usual good cheer, and imparts the news that Maddie doesn't want to come. Rayna goes to talk to Maddie, who says that Teddy is leaving them. Her infamous friend Talia's dad got remarried and now he's never around. The new wife is always going to be more important, says Maddie. And the only worse scenario would be if they had kids of their own. Will he make time for Maddie when she's not even his biological daughter? Just in case he doesn't, Maddie would like to see Deacon. That's the benefit of having two dads!
After Maddie's gone, Rayna talks with Tandy about the Maddie and Deacon situation. Rayna wonders if Deacon even wants to be a father right now, and Tandy in turn wonders if he feels welcome. Rayna admits that he probably doesn't. But she wants to protect herself, and protect her family. She wishes she could put Deacon in a box somewhere and not think about him anymore. This might be literally possible if she were still on American Horror Story. Tandy points out that if Maddie has a relationship with Deacon that means Rayna has to have a relationship with him by association. And then they can get back together true love always true love forever just as it should be SWOON! Rayna will realize that soon enough, probably.
Then we're at Juliette's press event, to which she is late as promised. She looks around for Santa Claus, who looks more like Porky Pig than the jolly old elf who is his namesake. He's there, of course, being the type who enjoys rubbing elbows (and a few other things) with the stars. Juliette tells Glen that she's sick and tired of giggling like a teenager to that pig, and Glen quickly realizes that he's not going to like what happens . Santa Pork lunges over to Juliette and tells her how good she looks while grabbing her hips. She asks him to please take his hands off of her, and he looks mightily confused. He asks what her problem is and she says she doesn't have a problem -- she's just not seventeen and desperate anymore. Glen, meanwhile, looks nervous, as he is wont to do. Porky Claus then runs over to Layla Grant, who tells him she's heard he has the most powerful microphone in all of Texas. Is that a double entendre? It definitely is when he replies that it's the biggest. Layla tells him that he's making her blush, and he pulls her onto his lap, and Juliette looks over and catches this truly grody scene.
Rayna then stops by Deacon's place, and he quickly tells her he's doing good and going to meetings. She explains that she's not checking up on him. She's there to talk about Maddie, who asked about Deacon and would like to see him. Rayna wants to know how Deacon feels about that. Deacon in turn asks how Rayna feels about it, and she admits that it worries her. She doesn't know if it's the right thing for Maddie or for them. Deacon gets that Rayna is worried about him, and says that he understands. This was all easier when he was Uncle Deacon, he says, and Rayna tells him that a lot of things used to be easier. Were they really, though? My impression is that these people have spent their entire lives torturing one another in some way. Deacon says he wants to do right by Maddie, but wants to bring something to the table so that she can be proud of him. Rayna wants to know that Maddie can count on Deacon, because she's not going to open up that door if he might close it on her, and/or get drunk and accidentally put her in a coma or something. Rayna asks him to think about it and then leaves so Deacon can look at his hand, grimace, and then plunk out his pain on the piano. At least I assume that's what he does all afternoon.
We then cut to Teddy, who is telling Peggy that Maddie doesn't want to sing at the reception, and that this might all be going too fast for her. Apparently he has suggested postponing the wedding, which Peggy is of course not in favor of. She says that Maddie is a teenage girl who is getting remarried, so of course she's going to feel a little jealous. But postponing, says Peggy, sends the wrong message -- to Maddie, and to his constituents. He acts incensed that she brought up politics, even though this whole wedding is coming about because of politics. She wonders if having a super-preggo bride or a child out of wedlock is going to help his congressional chances. Teddy is a simple lunk who just wants his daughter to be happy. Peggy knows this, and assures him that Maddie will be fine. Those seven dwarves are going to take GREAT care of her, and Peggy's got some fantastic apple pie for her to try.
Meanwhile, Avery shows up at Deacon's place with a full carton of milk. He wants to talk about what happened that morning, but Deacon doesn't want to hear it. Ever. Rather, Deacon has summoned Avery to ask if he'd like to play guitar for Deacon the night at an open mic. Avery points out that Deacon knows every player in town, so he's confused why Deacon would ask him. It's because Deacon thinks there's a good chance he'll look like an idiot, and would rather not do that in front of people he knows and respects…no offense. For similar reasons, Deacon is not going to the Bluebird open mic -- he's going to Shotgun Sally's in Murfreesboro. If he's so worried about looking "stupid or whatever," Avery wonders why he doesn't just wait. But Deacon wants to do it now, and asks Avery to give a yes or no as to whether he'll play guitar.
In Houston, Juliette is finishing up her show as Layla watches. Will approaches Layla and asks if she's ready to hit the town, I'm guessing for fauxmance PR purposes. She wants to hit something else, and he wonders if the "faux" part of fauxmance is escaping her. She says that she's apologized over and over for the Scarlett thing, and the tour would be a whole lot more fun if he were at least a little friendly. Will agrees to dinner. On their way out they run into Brent and his new boyfriend, Craig. Brent asks if they want to join the couple for dinner, but Will declines for reasons that are obvious to us but not Layla. Meanwhile, Juliette looks over at the press box at her show and finds it nearly empty. When she walks off stage she starts to give Glen a hard time, but he tells her that they all left after Layla's set -- Santa Pork instigated it and he couldn't stop it. Son of a bacon!
After a break, we see Juliette lounging in her hotel suite, reading Porky Claus's tweets about how everyone left after Layla's set. Charlie is there and Juliette blames him for this whole debacle, since he convinced her to act like a star who commands respect. She's reminded why you give Santa what he wants. She has to explain to Charlie that people in the business call Bobby Delmont Santa Claus because young girls have to sit on his lap to get airplay. Charlie can't believe it, and Juliette in turn can't believe that he doesn't really know how the business works. He has no idea what it's like to be a girl in the music business, she says, where everybody else holds the cards -- the labels, the managers, the programmers (and, I would add, the rich media moguls) -- and you just have to play nice and beg. And if you're pretty, you're usually asked to do more. And you have to smile and pretend you don't hate everybody who's using you. That, she tells Charlie, is her life. And she hasn't even gotten to the murder-suicide involving her mother and ex-boyfriend!
Oh God, and then we're at Gunnar and Jeff's meeting, which is at least 17 times more awkward than Gunnar's usual awkward encounters with non-powerful humans. Gunnar explains that he was saving his song to release it himself. He's a singer, he says, and isn't looking for a handout. But, he says as he hands over a demo, if Jeff likes what he hears maybe they can work something out. Something like what, asks Jeff? Oh, you know, something like a record deal, says Gunnar. Or a spot as an opening-opening-opening act on a tour. Basically, Gunnar's just looking for a break. And if Jeff can give it to him, he gets the song. Jeff looks…evil…in response.
So, Teddy's wedding is happening, and he takes a minute to talk to Maddie and assure her that he cares about her feelings, despite all appearances. He cares for Peggy too, he says, and he wants Maddie to give her a chance. Maddie agrees to try. Teddy tells her that she's his first girl, and will always be his first girl. I guess that's comforting?
Meanwhile, Luke is taking Rayna on a driving tour of his post-divorce gargantuan 700-acre estate. He takes her to the most beautiful spot in the whole place, from which you can see the house and the stables. Luke tells her that he grew up in Kentucky and horses are his passion. It was a horse, in fact, that got him signed with Edgehill. Jeff sent over the grand horse of a derby winner, and Luke couldn't say no. Rayna puts forth some anti-Jeff sentiment before admitting that right now she really doesn't like anybody very much. Present company included! Rayna tells him that Teddy is getting married today, and Luke can relate since the same thing happened to him last year. Luke asks if she likes the new wife, and Rayna asks if he likes the new husband. That's a rhetorical question, but Luke still shakes his head no. Having been through a similar scenario himself, Luke has some advice -- find a coping mechanism that will take her mind off of it completely. Rayna gets a little flirty as she says, "What you got in mind?" and Luke actually looks sweet and not at all smarmy in response.
And then we're at rehearsal with Avery and Deacon, which is about as awkward as you would imagine. Avery stops mid-song and suggests that Deacon might try moving around a little, since he appears a bit stiff. Unfortunately, that makes things even worse. In a silver lining, these two are by far the cutest couple on the show. Deavery? Deacon of course feels unnatural without his guitar, but Avery tells him that he's worked with the best in the business and knows what this is supposed to look like. Just do that, he says. Disasters continue, and Deacon says, "Mufreesboro ain't far enough."
Juliette finishes up a sound check and Glen approaches her with good news -- Santa Pork just got fired. Glen wonders if his bosses heard that he was getting too cozy with one of his elves. Juliette does not look gleeful AT ALL as she says she guesses so.
We then cut to Will and Brent, who happen to get into an elevator together. Will asks if Brent picked up Craig off of the street, which is kind of an awkward opener. This is what happens when you're closeted! You lose all conversational acumen! In any case, NO, Brent did NOT pick him up off of the street. Rather, they've been dating in Nashville and Brent thought it would be nice to take a trip together. And furthermore, why does Will care if Craig is his boyfriend? Will doesn’t care, says Will. He's just making awkward conversation. In any case, Craig IS Will's boyfriend, and unlike SOME people he likes his romantic relationships to actually mean something. OOOOOH, BURN. The library is OPEN!
In more joyous news, Rayna and Luke are shooting guns! At liquor bottles, none of which have Peggy's face on them. Rayna is having the time of her life, saying that she hasn't shot a gun since she was ten. Man, the south. It turns out she's a pretty good shot. She says that she doesn't want to make a habit of it, though, since she's not much of a gun girl. But she appreciates the efforts to take her mind off of all her personal drama. Luke tells her that it does get easier -- dealing with the ex, and in-laws, and co-parenting with a virtual stranger. Look at these two, bonding over divorced parenting traumas! Luke tells Rayna to cut the rest of the world a little slack, or she'll just go crazy. Rayna says that Luke is surprising her, his whole gigantic estate surprises her, and her being there surprises her. These two kissing each other does not surprise us, though, since we saw it in the previews. And I mean, it's fine, but if she's going to make out with not-Deacon I would really prefer Liam to be involved.
While Rayna is boning Luke, Deacon and Avery are off to Murfreesboro. Avery asks why Shotgun Sally's is Deacon's destination of choice, and it turns out that it was the first place where Deacon got the nerve to go up on stage during an open mic night. So it seems to him a good place to start over. Avery notes that Deacon hasn't set foot in the Bluebird since the accident, and people miss him. Deacon says that they miss the Deacon they used to know, and he's not that guy anymore. He misses them too, but says that there's a look at people get when you disappoint them. He's tired of that damn look. Well, then stop disappointing people and stuff!
And then we're at the cake-cutting portion of Teddy and Peggy's wedding. She nauseatingly pushes a piece of cake into his nose, and Daphne notes to Maddie that he looks really happy. Maddie agrees, then grabs Daphne and takes her behind the crowd. And of course it's because Maddie is getting her guitar so they can serenade Teddy, after she says a few kind words and dedicates the song to him. No mention of Peggy, but it's still a nice gesture and of course always a treat to hear those girls sing.
We cut to Juliette barging in on Charlie and asking with some fury if he fired Pork Claus. It turns out that he did, and Charlie thinks that Juliette should be thanking him. Juliette yells that she doesn't need Charlie to fight her battles for her. Except in this case she kind of did, right? She tells him that if he really wants to help her, he can give Santa back his job immediately.
Meanwhile, Rayna and Luke are having some post-coital reflection about the value of various coping mechanisms. They seem ready to go for a second round when the phone rings. It's Maddie, telling Rayna that she sang for Teddy, and also that she wants to come home. Rayna does not even hesitate in saying she'll come, which makes Luke smile. He understands that kids come first, and tells her to go.
And then we're at Shotgun Sally's…Comedy Club. Deacon wonders when the hell that happened, and Avery notes that it IS indeed open mic night. Deacon is NOT amused. And leave it to Freakin' Deacon to not even Google the place.
Back at Rayna's house, she has made popcorn and wonders if Maddie wants to have a mother-daughter movie night. Maddie would rather just read, and listen to "A Life That's Good" on repeat. She wonders if Deacon will ever look at her the way Teddy looks at Daphne. And…doesn't Teddy look at Maddie in that same way? Does she really need to be the only one adored by ALL of the fathers in the world? Rayna tells her that there are a lot of questions they don't know the answers to. She and Teddy made decisions a long time ago that are impacting Maddie's life, and she's so sorry that it's caused her even an ounce of pain. But, Rayna says, they're going to make it right together. And then Maddie DOES agree to a movie night, and Rayna includes the stipulation that it not be a scary movie.
And then at Shotgun Sally's, Deacon is telling Avery that the comedy club conversion is a sign that he shouldn't be…doing something. He trails off because his phone rings. It turns out it's Rayna. She says that they've done a good job of keeping their distance and moving on with their lives, but they can't do that anymore. They have a daughter together, and she's asking for Deacon. And then Deacon asks, "What are y'all doing tonight?" I thought this was going to be a mother-daughter-father movie night, but of course it turns out to be BETTER.
We're then in what looks to be a hotel bar with Will. He sits alone as some sports fan in a corner cheer at a football game. As Will looks back to give them a manly nod, he sees Brent and Craig entering, holding hands. Will does not look pleased; but even worse are the stereotypical sports fans in their team logo shirts, who approach the couple and say, "You must not be from around here." The appropriate response here is, "No, thank God." Brent says they're just there to have dinner, and one of the guys says he was too until those two pervs made him lose his appetite. And this guy does not appear like he lets much stand in the way of him and his chicken fingers. Brent says that they have every right to be here, and the schlubby homophobe says that he has every right not to want them there. He suggests that they pack up their dresses and go home. As the harassment continues, Will pays his check and splits, in full view of Brent.
Meanwhile, as Zoey and Gunnar are schmoopy with each other, Jeff calls. He tells Gunnar that he listened to his demo -- he has potential, but isn't there yet. He wants to hook Gunnar up with a mentor, and is going to send him out on the road to write with an Edgehill artist. And…uh oh. We all saw what was coming here, right? By going on tour with said mentor, whose name may or may not sound like Duke Schmeeler, Gunnar will get a first hand look at what it takes to make it at Edgehill. And he can use what he's learned when Jeff gives him a prominent spot at the Music City Music Festival, in front of top executives from every label in town. And so, Jeff just scored himself a song. And Gunnar just scored himself more romantic entanglements.
And then we're at the Bluebird. Deacon is there, getting a lovely introduction at the open mic. And Rayna and Maddie are there too! They slip into seats and wait for him to take the stage. When he's up there, Deacon says that this place is like home and he's been away for too long. He's got no reason for that, other than being scared. He then looks right at Maddie as he says that even though he hasn't been around, that doesn't mean he hasn't been thinking about this moment every single day. Maddie gives a big smile, and Rayna gives a little one. Deacon introduces Avery, and then they start that song about being good as gold. Maddie is in heaven, and Rayna is in turn in a more complicated kind of heaven at seeing her so happy.
We cut to Juliette's dressing room, where Carnitas Claus is paying a visit. Glen apparently sent him, saying Juliette wanted to see him. She did, so she could tell him about a private concert she did recently for media moguls Charles and Olivia Wentworth, who own his radio station. The Wentworths love her and would do just about anything for her, she says, including firing him. So, she says, she had him fired. But she also had him rehired, on a few conditions. If he so much glances at another girl, she'll not only have him fired but have Charlie use his influence so that Santa Pork never works again. And also she wants twice as much airtime as Layla Grant. Porky Claus agrees, and Juliette tells him to get out. He does indeed get out, and Juliette looks very satisfied with herself.
And then we're in the hotel parking garage, where Will waits for the sports fan homophobes to walk out and "bump" him." The most egregious homophobe says that it's Will, who in fact, bumped into him. The guy calls Will a jackass, which is enough for Will to beat the shit out of all three dudes. Through it all, his cowboy hat doesn't even waver! And oh, Will. So much complicated emotions.
Layla then winds up taking the hotel elevator with Juliette. She apologizes for missing Juliette's set, but says that a DJ came down from Dallas and she promised him an exclusive interview. Juliette looks wise beyond her years as she says that she did a few exclusive interviews herself when she was starting out. She wanted airtime and thought she didn't have a choice. But, she says, Layla does. Juliette tries to do Layla a solid, saying that if anybody treats her like a whore on this tour, to come to her. This unexpected benevolence is met with…a distinct lack of appreciation. Layla says, "Guess what? I'm not you. You can go save someone else." After Layla gets off of the elevator Juliette mumbles to herself, "I guess nice just ain't my color." But it's so great to see, even if it never really ends well. And anyway, let the bitch bang Elmer Fudd if she wants to.
Avery then calls Scarlett to give her an update on Deacon's Bluebird performance, and she's excited to hear that Rayna and Maddie were in the crowd. Scarlett is on the tour bus, and feels terrible about the fact that she has a little bedroom in the back while all of the guys are stacked like firewood in tight bunks. Avery tells her to enjoy her success, and not to go getting all nervous about everything. She's on the hottest tour of the year and has Rayna Jaymes in her corner. She has nothing to worry about, he says. Um, except for the fact that Gunnar just got on the bus. Everyone saw that coming but you, honey!
And then we're in Layla's hotel room, where she's getting ready for a visitor. It turns out it's Will who, now that he's done the gays a good if quasi-anonymous turn, is ready to bang her. Gross.
At the Bluebird, sweet Maddie is nervous as Deacon finishes up with his fans and gets ready to talk to her and Rayna. Rayna assures Maddie that Deacon has always loved her, and she has nothing to worry about. He sits down and they start talking, and bond a little over how uncomfortable they are singing without guitars in their hands. Maddie says, "Maybe I got it from you." Well, that's not really how it works. But, in this context, sure. Deacon says that at least she got Rayna's good looks, and Rayna excuses herself to get them another round of root beers. And then, a thing happens and I almost die from the sweetness. Deacon notices that Maddie got contacts, and he notes that she's growing up fast. Then he says, "Just not too fast, okay? I just got here." Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Swoon. This is why we loved Deacon all along! It almost makes me forget about the drunken rages. Rayna looks at the two of them with a little smile.
Back in Houston, Juliette answers a knock at her door. She was clearly expecting Charlie, but it's Olivia who's there. She got in too late to see the show, and so Juliette improvises that maybe they can spend the day together tomorrow. She's sure there's something exciting to do in Houston. Or, says Olivia, someone. Yes, Olivia knows that Juliette is sleeping with Charlie. But what she doesn't understand, she says, is why Juliette isn't sleeping with her. And…to quote Rayna Jaymes, "I was not expecting that!" Neither was Juliette, who despite her pioneering spirit is maybe not quite ready to be part of a highly dysfunctional triple.
week: Jeff Fordham lets loose and somehow manages to get Scarlett booed off the stage AND serve Rayna with legal documents to get her masters.
Potes released her own country-ish album last month. Jeff Fordham was not involved. You can listen/download/buy at traciepotochnik.bandcamp.com.