S05.E20: Speed Trap Town

[Cranberry]

Gunnar visits his hometown and faces the ghosts of his past. Maddie and Juliette are nominated for the same music award. Deacon helps Jessie record; Scarlett learns self-defense.

[luna1122]

omg! They named the episode after a Jason Isbell song!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DOnjrb8FnE

[WhosThatGirl]

"How many songs can someone have about water anyway?!?!" Glen, you win this episode.

Everything else was kind of a snooze fest.

Also is Summer Roberts still on this show? 

[CrystalMoon]

Is Avery in this episode?

[missbonnie]

Shockingly, I'm starting to come around to the back half of the season. I'm hoping that they keep getting better. I love that they didn't have Gunnar hop in bed with the homegurl, Scarlett finally pulled her head out, Daphne and Maddie are NOT annoying (100 bonus points right there), Juliett and Deacon are great and I don't mind Jessie Caine. I do miss Will though. 

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, CrystalMoon said:

Is Avery in this episode?

Yes.  We get some phone calls between he and Juliette and some scenes with Avery and Gunner. 

I was bored by this episode.  Now that Scarlett seems to have found peace, can we move on?  And I like Gunner but probably not enough to spend much time exploring his past.  I wanted more scenes between he and Avery. 

I want the "stolen" song to wrap up soon even if I do think it's giving Hayden some of the more interesting material she has had to play in a while that wasn't too saintly or too over-the-top (PPD).  I'm going to ignore the silly Hallie jealousy episode which I now hope isn't foreshadowing. 

[GaT]

Bored now.

[TVbitch]

I will pay whatever ransom they want to get Will back!

Kind of a sleepy episode. Poor Gunnar has not had it easy when it comes to the womens in his life. As least he looked stylish rolling out of town. 

Hope we don't have to listen to too much Jessie and the evil ex bickering. If he was so crap, why all the super sappy break-up songs about him? 

[WhosThatGirl]

1 minute ago, GaT said:

Bored now.

It was really slow moving tonight. Gunners backstory isn't something I'm really into watching and I couldn't care less about the stealing song drama or anything else. 

Also.. what is the deal with Jessie and bad ex husband? And the kid? And all this? Just hook her up with Deacon and be done with it. 

I miss Will. But for some reason they have him sucked into dating Zach and his storylines are tied with him. I miss the old boyfriend of his. Kind of funny that they ended that romance because Will wasn't ready to be long term so soon after coming out and then they had him in a romance with Zach pretty soon after.

You know what I miss most of all out of this show: the fun! When the songs were super fun and no one was getting into plane crashes and Juliette's biggest problem was staying up late at night crying black mascara tears! 

[GaT]

18 minutes ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Also.. what is the deal with Jessie and bad ex husband? And the kid? And all this? Just hook her up with Deacon and be done with it. 

 

Yes! I feel like they're building up to something (besides hooking up with Deacon), but I don't know what it is & I'm not interested in the buildup.

[nlkm9]

I want to see Gunnar rocking out with Avery, I want to see Will, tired of the tease that Avery might cheat......Maddie getting an AMA nomination? Oh please <eyeroll>

[luna1122]

I wasn't bored. I don't know how much I care about Gunnar's past, but I thought it was all fairly interesting, and the kid they got to play him was a great choice, he looked so much like him. Who played mean ole granny?

I don't care about scarlett, either, but it was nice to see her take some power back and actually smile for a change.

I like Jessie, and I like Jeffrey Nordling, so I'm interested enough in their storyline, whatever it is. I'm assuming the break up songs aren't about him...she had an affair, right? I'd supposed the songs were about whoever the affair guy was.

Maddie getting nominated for an AMA...at least in that category...seemed stupid, but what do I know. seems like she would be in best new artist category, if she were nominated, not best pop singer.

The previews:

Spoiler

More with Avery maybe cheating on the road? Can they not think of anything else to do with him? I don't want to see him be a douchebag.

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

7 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

You know what I miss most of all out of this show: the fun! When the songs were super fun and no one was getting into plane crashes and Juliette's biggest problem was staying up late at night crying black mascara tears! 

I'm with you! And I don't care if songs about boys and buses and black mascara tears weren't artistically fulfilling for Juliette!

"In the End" - Avery:

[gesundheit]

Hey, Scarlett's hair was decently styled in her last self-defense class scene! Red letter day. (It looked ridiculous the rest of the episode, though.) No Will, not enough Avery. Again. What's the point? Jessie's ex is a little too mustache-twirling evil for me. Overkill. Certainly there are men that evil in the world, but I want a little more nuance from a TV show if they want me to be engaged.

[Madding crowd]

I thought Gunnar's road trip was the only interesting part of tonight's show. I find it hard to believe Maddie would be up for an AMA award, then again her mother dying probably was the deciding factor there. I normally applaud when women do things like take a self defense class to feel better about protecting themselves-but the implication seems to be that Scarlett was somehow hurt by Gunnar and that wasn't the case. I know they were attacked by those kids, but Scarlett was upset and scared before that. She used to be such a sweet person and now I just can't stand her. I did feel sorry for Gunnar with the unfeeling and cold grandma (who talked just like Lily Tomlin). 

Jessie's character is OK but her and Deacon and the cutesy bickering-just blechh! Honestly, she seems to live in a nice house and must have some money. She needs to get a new lawyer who can help her get a decent and fair custody agreement and prevent her ex from coming in her home every time he wants. Now that her son is eleven years old there should be no reason for her to no get 50/50 custody. Also, I loved Gunnar's song.

Edited July 28, 2017 by Madding crowd

[LekoBoy]

30 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

and cold grandma (who talked just like Lily Tomlin). 

I thought so too!

[bybrandy]

Okay, I would have rather watched Daphne watch Daria than anything that aired last night.  And I don't have a particular desire to watch Daphne.   But seriously that's how boring I found last night.   Tis might be it for me.

Why can't I have Avery and Will?  And if I have to have Gunner can't he be rocking out with Avery and Will?

[Aulty]

I turned off the TV halfway through the episode because I just can't be bothered anymore. Judging by your comments I haven't missed much. Let me know when its worth tuning in again.

[tennisgurl]

I actually did like Gunnar's road trip back home alright, it was nice seeing his backstory and his song at the end was really good. On the other hand, it wasn't really anything super exciting, and I was hoping we would see more of Avery and Gunnar instead of more flashbacks and such. I did like the extra context of his relationship with his brother, and why he gave the guy so many chances, even if he was an asshole. He really was the only person he felt like he had, from what we saw, and he jumped ship as soon as we could. Gunnar also clearly has SUPER questionable taste in women, even when he isn't trying to. "Oh, I know I just kissed you, and now your not into it...also I'm married BTW!". Real nice, lady. At least Gunnar looked great driving out of town.

I like Jessie, and she and Deacon are fine together, but I'm not sure why we are spending so much time with Evil Ex. I assume this is going to lead somewhere, maybe Deacon helps with custody, but  haven't we done that already? With characters we actually know? Deacon has really become everyone's favorite advice/support giver lately.

I really hope this means that Scarlett will actually stop being the biggest drip in the entire Western Hemisphere. I'm not even talking about being skittish after being robbed and losing the baby, that's at least understandable, but this is just how she is. She has been a constantly on the verge of tears basket case for ages now, so if all she needed this whole time was someone finally telling her to stop being such a damn wimp (I would have told her that ages ago if I was her friend. Maybe nicer, but still), I will take it. And its a good thing too, Scarlett has always struck me as one of those quiet pushovers that finally snaps and beats a delivery guy to death with a hammer or something. "Scarlett was such a nice, quiet girl, I cant believe she had several bodies in her basement this whole time!"

Edited July 28, 2017 by tennisgurl

[ElectricBoogaloo]

NashChat with Bucky and Glenn:

[OoogleEyes]

What happened to Gunnar's brother? I forgot. Is he dead? In jail?

That kid who played Young Gunnar was good. He had Old Gunnar's goofy facial expressions down pat!

Edited July 29, 2017 by OoogleEyes

[WhosThatGirl]

3 hours ago, OoogleEyes said:

What happened to Gunnar's brother? I forgot. Is he dead? In jail?

That kid who played Young Gunnar was good. He had Old Gunnar's goofy facial expressions down pat!

His brother died in the first season. I believe he was shot but my memory is fuzzy. I know he was staying with Gunner and Scarlet when they lived together before they were a couple and he was just out of jail.

[RedbirdNelly]

I liked Gunnar's song. I agree the episode was less than exciting but was ok getting his back story. I would like to see more Avery plus Gunnar.

I was actually kind of moved by Scarlet when she let out her issues on the instructor. Somehow that was kind of moving to me--unlike other times (video shoot) where she supposedly tapped into a deeper side. 

they need to wrap the stolen song story up quick. It was not nice of Juliette but it's not like she took one of Maddie's songs and lied about being the writer or something--or sabotaged Maddie's version from being popular. There is no guarantee the song would have worked for Maddie (and personally I think it would not). 

[amaranta]

I was looking forward to this episode - Gunnar joining Avery on the road.  They'll play some music together, perhaps during Avery's show, and maybe do some writing.  But no.  While Gunnar's back story wasn't bad I was looking forward to friend time and how well they gel together musically. 

More Avery.  And any Will would be nice; he should be hot right now with the Budweiser tie in instead of being a candidate for a missing persons report.

Scarlett smiled.  Maddie and Juliette glowered.  But I'll still keep watching.

Avery cheating would be so out of character; I hope they don't go there.

[ladle]

The issue is, I just don't care about either Gunnar or Jessie. 

I will say, Scarlett did look good in that first self-defense class scene, and the sweatshirt she was wearing was something I would totally wear -- and I've never said that before about any garment that has ever been on Scarlett's body.  So there's that. 

[Data Cat]

On 7/29/2017 at 3:32 PM, WhosThatGirl said:

His brother died in the first season. I believe he was shot but my memory is fuzzy. I know he was staying with Gunner and Scarlet when they lived together before they were a couple and he was just out of jail.

He was jumped outside a bar after Gunnar had thrown away his illegal gun.

 

I loved getting more of Gunnar's backstory because he's my favorite character, but I really regret that we did not get to see Gunnar and Avery on the road. Maybe with some phone calls to Will. That would have been awesome. 

 

I would also also love an episode with no Scarlett for once. Soooo tired of her. Though I will say that I do understand why she and Gunnar can't break ties completely, even if it annoys me because I want them to be over so, so badly.