Clemgo3165

All those 1st season performances at the Bluebird sounded good. She even did pretty well live with Chip at the Ryman.

Where are these photos? Curious to see them. I'll reserve judgment with Pam until I see more than just the clip. I didn't get a "rode hard" vibe from her, but she's definitely been around the block a time or two. But then again, so has Deacon, and he's all hot and broody, which makes him even hotter. It would depend on the truck stop for me - a good Flying J and I just might try it ;) She's supposed to be his muse with a dark past. I'm hoping that the angst-ridden songs come pouring out of him and that it's HIS music that steals the attention from Luke and Will on the tour. And that the CMA award race between Luke and Rayna is for song of the year, with her duet with Deacon being the winner. A girl can dream, right? Will Chase on the View tomorrow - Esten was on Meredith today. When will they stop trying to make Luke and Rayna happen in the viewers minds and hearts? It ain't gonna.

I don't know what the law is in TN, but the Virginia debate ended up with a mandated ultrasound for anyone seeking an abortion, regardless of how far along they are. So the over the belly procedure, as dumb as it is for those who aren't far along, it may be accurate within the law.

Really she needs all 3 of her parents present in her life and communicating with each other regularly. This is a hard situation for anybody, most of all a teenage girl whose been through all Maddie has in the last year. It's a wonder she's not cutting herself in the bathroom during lunch. (And Daphne, we've seen little bits of the impact this has had on her, but really? She's just totally cool with her Mom leaving for a year? Or does she keep a flask in her lunchbox?) There are so many ways that Rayna could have the expanded media presence she needs for the label that wouldn't involve her being away for the better part of a year. She could arrange for the tour dates to happen during her "off" weeks with the kids - maybe being home Sunday thru Friday on her "on" weeks and then back out for Friday night; radio and TV appearances can be done remotely, she can hire an internet/social media wrangler to be her presence on the interwebs, etc., etc., etc. And what about the Rayna of season 1 who cancelled her part of the all-important NYC leg to be back in Nashville after her Dad had his first heart attack?

I volunteer to take out Layla - what a waste of airtime. Will's story would be much more interesting if it was really about a closeted country music singer with either a significant other (Brent) hanging in the wings or random hookups in various cities. There's so much there to make a great story, we don't need Layla to muddy the waters.

Maddie already knows about Deacon's past and knows that he fell off the sobriety train when he found out about her. No, she doesn't know the most sordid details, nor does she need to, but all Rayna would have to say is that she loves Luke and feels there's too much baggage with Deacon given their past. For me, there's a big difference between telling your children that their Daddy's an embezzler and telling them that their mother would rather marry another man. Sure, Maddie's going to be upset that Rayna chose Luke, but she was upset about that anyway. Knowing that her father cared enough to put himself out there goes a long way toward establishing a bond of trust between the two of them without really damaging Rayna in any way. I too hope Maddie REALLY starts acting out. They don't need a pregnancy plot with her, catching her with alcohol would be plenty given her family history.

Amen to that, she seemed to barely even put up a fight to that notion. Sure, later on she acknowledges her ambition to Tandy, but not to Luke. And what does it say about how much he knows Rayna that he thinks that would EVER float her boat?

Was anybody else squicked by Luke's offer to Rayna for her to stay home and be "Mrs. Luke Wheeler?" Barf.

Looked like it was Luke he was telling off, but then there's a scene of him walking toward the door of his house and Rayna coming in, neither look happy.

I love how Luke's reaction was "is he trying to undercut us?" rather than "is she OK?" Kid's going to be shipped off to boarding school right after the wedding if he has anything to do with it. I did think Rayna was trying to do the right thing in attempting to move the date out of concern for the girls. I didn't see a problem with Deacon telling Maddie that he'd proposed, though he should have given Rayna a head's up on that (and maybe he does) so she wouldn't be blindsided. I don't think it's wrong for Maddie to know that he did stand up and fight for them. And he did say that they had to accept her Mom's decision. I'm with you MM on the last scene, I would have liked a hug too given the circumstances. In her mind, everybody IS leaving her and it's most definitely the wrong time for that. Wonder if the preview showing Deacon and Rayna in the house is from a different episode or if they have it out over his telling Maddie about the proposal?

Aww, I don't generally like Amanda as a designer but I thought she acquitted herself quite nicely last night. She won't be nominated for an Emmy for the guest shot, but she held her own just fine.

Was that Maddie on Kimmel? Was she in that Sia video? I just can't keep up unless I'm reminded more than 5 times an episode ;) Seriously though, I don't keep up too much with pop music, though I usually know and have heard the big names. Is Sia a big deal? Thought Maddie did a good job with her role in it.

So Tandy Hampton? Did she marry Bucky? Bucky can't leave...

He make look less skeevy, but he's pretty seriously shallow, and it seems that Rayna's following him right down that rabbit hole. You turn your children's lives upside down and then add 40 more dates to your tour???? my heart was bleeding for Maddie at the end.

Why in the world would he have called in Rayna or Teddy to deal with it? It's not their issue, the issue is between Deacon and Maddie. They've both said their piece and now they can put things back together again. I don't think he handled it poorly at all - no throwing things, no screaming, just the flat out, God's honest truth.

Yeah, either Deacon or Maddie will apologize and all will be well, but that was definitely intense. Though not unrealistic given the hurt on both their parts running under it all. Looks like the apple didn't fall too far from that tree. You know, this is the first time I've ever been angry with Maddie. Not because of the blow up, but because she just sat there for an hour while Deacon put that cabinet together and didn't even offer to help. Maybe it's just me, but I built decks and hung siding with my Dad and learned the ways of all things electrical from him. And those projects usually go faster when two of you are working on it - bonding experience missed!!

I think you're right on there MM. Rayna's fears were valid at the outset, and I think she made the best decision she could for herself and for Maddie at the time. But that was a long time ago and things have changed. Keeping her head in the sand, as she is currently, not only hurts Maddie, it hurts Deacon and Teddy, Daphne, herself, and if you think about, Luke too. It's high time that there was some firm ground for Maddie to stand on, and some clear delineations for Deacon and Teddy, which would benefit Luke as he tries to move into this family. That would also help Daphne who is scared to death she's losing her sister - and probably more than a little jealous of Maddie's special relationship with Deacon.

That may be it. I'm not sure that they've really brought that out too clearly though. I guess I can see it. She knows he couldn't get sober while he was with her initially, and then he came crashing off the wagon pretty spectacularly when they got back together. But the reasons behind that crash are largely due to her lying to him for so long, and then not coming clean until she was confronted with the issue. Deacon's crashing is solely his responsibility, but I can't help but understand why he took that drink at that point - doesn't mean it's responsible behavior though. But that leads me back to the point where Rayna needs to take a good look in the mirror. She needs to own what she did in regards to Maddie, not just initially which I think most of us would understand, but for the rest of the intervening years and she needs to apologize to both Deacon and her daughter. We don't know how he would have reacted if she'd told him herself back when Maddie was 3 and Deacon's sobriety was fairly firmly in place, but it'd been nice for both of them to have had that chance. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Rayna needs to stop running away and deal with her issues head-on. Big rings and race cars are nice and all, but they aren't going to solve your problems Rayna.

Nicely put Madam Magpie. I have to question too the characterization of their relationship as entirely abusive and dysfunctional. We've seen a few flashbacks here and there of Rayna's memories of the relationship. We've seen Deacon drunk, we've seen him miss a performance due to his drinking, and we've seen him accidentally elbow her in the face because of the same. We know from the stories she's told that he can be mean when he's drunk and doesn't hesitate to break the furniture. Though we've seen nothing to indicate that he regularly takes that anger out on anything other than inanimate objects. Certainly the relationship was dysfunctional, but unless he was verbally abusive (which is a possibility), I've not seen a pattern to indicate that he's an abuser of anything other than alcohol and household furnishings. What we don't know much of is the good parts of the decade or so they were together. We've seen only a couple of brief clips that show good times, and only head a couple of stories about them. I don't know if that means there was more bad than good, but I'd find it hard to believe she'd have stayed for so long if she didn't think the good outweighed the bad until it came down to bringing a child into the situation.

But Deacon does not regularly exhibit this behavior. Until the time he found out about Maddie, he had been sober and mostly in control for 13 years. Every once in a while he punched a guy, but one could argue that they deserved it. I recall one time where he'd torn up the house before Juliette dragged him out on tour with her. But I've seen very few of the behaviors you describe above and he's relapsed just once in 15 years and then in reaction to discovering that he'd been lied to by the woman he loved, on a daily basis. He's been nothing but kind, gentle and supportive of both of Rayna's girls. I don't think they're in any danger from him. Rayna may indeed be wary because of the relapse. She knows what he was like before he got sober and may very likely fear what would happen should he fall off the wagon again. But I think if she deals with him honestly, she'll find that he's able to handle things in a reasonable manner. Maybe I'll be proven wrong later this week, but from the previews he certainly seems to be in control when talking with Maddie about her Mom's engagement to Luke. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

My favorite part of this episode was the live promos from Chip and Chris leading up to the show - they were a hoot together! Overall I thought this episode was kind of meh, I won't be rewatching any of it. Not a fan of the baby daddy story, but I thought Hayden rocked as Patsy Cline. Loved the road trip and was happy that it ended up with them headed back to Nashville. I've wanted to do the Natchez Trace since I live in Nashville 20+ years ago, so was a little jealous of them. Love Will, but this storyline with Layla is just a stupid waste of airtime. Get rid of Layla and let's really show what a gay man would go through in the country music world - surely there's one or two of them out there?? Knew that Rayna would choose Luke because that's the supposedly safe choice. What struck me was that she did a lot of looking back last night, but no looking forward. What will her life be like with Luke? What would it be with Deacon? I don't see any real joy or passion between Rayna and Luke, nothing that suggests to me that she's going to be happy with her choice for the long term. And I'm troubled by Luke's manipulative streak, not to mention his anger management issues and his condescension of Rayna herself, as well as her children, Gunnar and Deacon. And I nearly blew a gasket when that preening, self-absorbed jerk had to be DRIVEN to the alley behind the Bluebird in an SUV just so he could punch Deacon before he went onstage. And then he was all smiles for Rayna. Hoping against hope that certain spoilers about his involvement with Deacon and Maddie come true. Applause for Teddy last night who acted like a real man for his daughter. Way to listen to her concerns and take them seriously. Way to be a stand up guy for her. Hoping that he and Deacon come to some good terms and work together to do what's best for Maddie.

Amen, sick to death of the baby daddy stories, nothing good about them. Frankly, I hope that Juliette decides to either terminate the pregnancy or she has a miscarriage. If anyone's not ready to be a mother, it's Juliette. Though given the audience, they won't go with an abortion. If people were freaked over the First Lady's brief appearance they'd be headed for the hills over that. That, what you said about Connie's tweet. Rayna never has accepted the part she's played in this whole mess and I'd love to see her come to terms with that. But she doesn't have to face it as long as she's with Luke, and maybe that's what she really meant last night about the clean slate. I hope that Connie is more informed and not just hopeful - at least she sees what we do. I do hope they don't drag this out for the entire season. This one is surely their last unless something drastic changes, and I'd really love to have a few episodes to watch Rayna and Deacon deal with their issues, come together with the girls (and a decent nod to Teddy) and build a family. I don't want the last minute run away from the wedding and ride off into the sunset ending, that wouldn't be worth the wait. Really, it's just lazy storytelling not to have them moving toward each other now. There's a ton of story to be told there.

Read this a little bit ago, coupled with Dee Johnson's quote from yesterday (in the article), I'm feeling a bit reassured. http://www.tvfanatic.com/2014/09/nashville-exclusive-charles-esten-talks-raynas-decision-tells-fa/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

Ack! Y'all are killing me with this news! I had hoped that Rayna would choose to go solo for a bit, or at least to put off the wedding to Luke and give back the ring for now. With this surely being the last season, I don't want to wait until the end of episode 21 to see Deacon and Rayna back together. Frankly, if she chooses Luke, I'm not sure I want to see them back together at all. And what does Luke have to do with Deacon's time with Maddie??? He'd not even married to her mother yet for goodness sakes!! Rayna's turned into a shell of herself since the accident. She's not anything like the woman from Season 1. And while you would surely be changed by that kind of accident, it shouldn't change your core character to such a degree that your head's turned by an insecure man who buys you race cars and 7-carat diamonds while denigrating your friends, your attempts to make your business work, and your young daughter's attempt to put her family back together. Of course, Callie's been so blinded by Will Chase and the Luke character that she doesn't see a problem. I'll tune in, mostly for Deacon and Maddie (and Avery, Juliette & the music), but I hope he's able to put Rayna behind him for once, let him not be staring back when she gives those long lingering looks his way.