BWW Recap: The Hollywood Hangover Hits NASHVILLE

While NASHVILLE's writers have been described (by me) as leaning on the cliché side, having a flair for the dramatic, and trying to multitask too much at once, at the start of this episode they've gotten it right. The quick, influential one-liners that pretty much perfectly depict where our favorite characters are right now lead the episode- starting with a stubborn Avery and Juliette.

"Too intimate? We've had sex!" "Well, all we're having now is a baby."

Despite the chuckle this line got out of me, it nails down Avery and Juliette's relationship to a T. Two weeks since the latest baby confrontation, Juliette seems to want to yin when Avery yangs- and apparently the feeling is mutual.

Meanwhile, "it's either a weekend off, or Rolling Stone," is the quote depicting Rayna James' current situation. Torn between FAMILY TIME and the upcoming CMAs, her anticipated weekend with Luke and the girls slowly begins to fade away as winning Entertainer of the Year lurks closer. In a very uncharacteristic move, Rayna seriously considers putting the interview ahead of her family- clearly Luke's competitive influence working here.

One writing flaw this episode? The passage of time. Somehow in two weeks we've traveled forward several months. Whether it's just me who missed this until 15 minutes in or the rest of the audience, as well is beyond me. If anything, it catches up with Hayden Panettiere's real pregnancy. Ah, movie magic at its best.

The overall pace of the show- like I've said before- seems to be slowing down. Quite honestly, the Rayna and Juliette storylines run the show. They're the most interesting, the most engaging, and the only two that seem to be going anywhere. The filler that is Layla climbing back up to stardom, Scarlett collaborating with a fairly random, albeit talented, homeless songwriter, and Gunnar's tug-of-war relationship between his son and Zoey seems to be just that- filler. I'm ready for it to pick up and go somewhere, and with the drama jumping months forward in time, I was hoping for a little more character progression. You can see that a tad in Layla and Will's relationship, but not really anywhere else.

The competitive Luke has finally had enough of the Rayna press-fest. Whether it stems from his love for her or a little bit of jealousy is anybody's guess at this point. Wasn't he the one gloating, over-the-moon about his CMA nominations? Enjoying his moment in the spotlight? It's moments like that that make me question the reasons for his frustration.

A not-so-surprising moment, yet one guaranteed to add to the drama that is Ruke, occurs when Luke, Rayna, and of course the Rolling Stone reporter walk in on Maddie and Luke's oldest son (what is his name? it is important?) making out. More on this (I'm sure) to come.

Meanwhile, Avery and Juliette are stuck in a constant, never-ending round of "will they/ won't they (I feel like I write that sentence every week. Doesn't make it any less true)?" They both love each other- but they're both equally as stubborn- with good reason, yes, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Rayna is finally seeing that the decision she made was the wrong one- on several levels. Not only is the Rolling Stone reporter dead-set on discussing Maddie's liplock unless Rayna fesses up the dirty details of her and Deacon, but, as the reporter so insensitively pointed out, she's starting to see the collateral damage of two superstars getting together. We, of course, have been seeing signs of this for weeks (oh, that lovely little thing called dramatic irony...), but it's slowly but surely all starting to hit Rayna and Luke at once. Layla and Will got a harsh shove back down to the earth when their reality TV shot was heavily edited. Maddie is slowly discovering the reprucussions of the press. Rayna notes that the day of the interview, the day she was forced (or encouraged, possibly?) to relive her love story with Deacon was coincidentially the original date of her and Luke's wedding. The Hollywood hangover is just geeting started, y'all.

The episode cliffhanger? Gunnar's baby mama Kylie decides to completely abandon her son in pursuit of a selfish fling. Classy move.

Do you still think- after all that began to come to a head tonight- Rayna and Luke will stay together? Anybody still rooting for Rayna and Deacon? Tweet me @WendiReichstein or let me know in the comments!

Check out a sneak peek at next week's episode:

Photo Credit: ABC

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