Nashville

Nashville

Episode 10: I'm Sorry for You My Friend

By: Carlos Uribe

Nashville is a series about the country music scene and the political scene of Nashville.

Spoilers Ahoy!

It really does seem like Nashville doesn't realize why I watch the show. I could care less about the latest backstabbing by Avery, the latest adventure of Gunnar, or the dull election plot. The marriage plot likewise doesn't really make me excited to see the show The music from the show might very well be great but it's not the reason I tune in. I watch because I want to see Hayden Pannettiere and Connie Britton barely get along and yet be forced to be in the same room together. That was the promise of putting them on tour together. They would be passive aggressive with each other and it'll be glorious. Does the show gives us that? Only in a couple of scenes-it takes most of the time to wrap up a lot of plots. This actually makes sense from a narrative standpoint and we can only hope the show is actually going to give us what I want now that they're out of the way. It's been ten episodes, the tour has begun, and the best part about the show remains hidden in the background. It simply makes for frustrating viewing because I know that there's a show I want to watch under all the distractions and noise the show keeps throwing into the mix. The show has been promising from the very beginning and it's time it starts to actually deliver before I ditch the show.

There are a few major plots that get resolved this episode. There is the election story. When the show first begun, I thought this might be an interesting look into the world of Nashville politics. It instead turned out to be a typical plot that barely touched on what makes this show's unique. It could have fit on any other show and it has been handled better before. Despite the family tension it created, the writers haven't really been able to justify the election plot. It's a good thing that we get the results for the mayor's race this week. There's a part of the episode where the family watches the television, waiting to get the results. If the plot had been executed well, I would have been on the edge of my seat to find out who won. As it was, I was simply bored with it and waiting impatiently for it the episode to end. Teddy ends up winning which hopefully wraps up this election plot. I say hopefully because the show hints that Lamar might have bought the votes to secure Teddy's victory. Resolving the plot feels like it's long overdue, especially since the plot began during an actual election season and dragged past the real-life voting day. It does call into question what the show plans to do with Coleman now but it's not like I really care about him.

A plot that is actually over is the football player one. Juliette left her man on the altar and the whole world knows it. She gets questioned on why she left him but the press hasn't figured out that the two are actually married. Juliette is hoping to get a divorce because she doesn't want to accept the annulment. This annulment requires her to accept responsibility that she proposed to the football player for fraudulent reasons. Juliette is a character that usually has problems accepting that she's a cause of her problems and it takes Liam's honest conversation with her to apologize and admit this was her fault. It's a small sign of growth from the character but it really doesn't make the plot exciting or that fun. It doesn't help that it was as predictable as possible. Of course Juliette gets the annulment rather than the divorce. Here's hoping now that since the election plot is over and Juliette's marriage has been annulled, that the series will allow Rayna and Juliette to actually have a plot together. There's really no reason to keep them apart now. Juliette doesn't have much else going in her life (other than her addict mom) and Rayna's failing marriage can only provide so many scenes per episode before it starts to make both of them look unlikeable.

The only possible distraction might be Deacon but he could actually be the reason the two share a story. Deacon got hired by a rock band but he wasn't happy with the lifestyle. When one of his band members tries to rape Scarlett, Deacon quits the band after punching the guy out. The show had hinted that he wants to back on tour with Juliette and now he doesn't have a rock band to keep him away. This would be nice but doesn't this completely feel like a waste of time? The rock band tour didn't reveal anything new about the character despite introducing a reporter. It's not like the plot was filled with the exciting drama to really justify it. It's pretty obvious that the writers needed to keep Deacon away from Juliette and Rayna for a while but they needed to give him something to do so they came up with this filler plot. I'm not sure why Deacon couldn't have just stayed at the Bluebird and offer his niece advice but I guess that's just not going to fill up time for episodes when their plot length runs short. Here's hoping the show draws Deacon back into the world of the two protagonists because that's when he's actually interesting.

Do you know whose not interesting? Avery. Avery is still sleeping with his agent and trying to get that a deal from that Atlanta guy. This guy sent his agent a contract but she doesn't want to sign it because he's trying to rip Avery off. Avery decides that the smart move is try and see if the guy is actually trying to rip him off or not. I'm not sure if he was actually expecting the guy to fess up but of course he denies it. Avery decides to the sign the contract and he gets a vintage car as a signing bonus. He then tells the agent that she better work for him rather than represent him because he's an idiot. I can't wait until he finds out that he actually WAS ripped off and she's completely right only it's too late. The only part I liked about this plot was when Deacon was telling Scarlett how some guys let the fame and talent to get into their head to the point where they think that people only work for them and the show cuts to this scene. That seems to describe Avery perfectly: he thinks people are there to serve him so he can use them as he wants. Still this clever edit doesn't make his career any more interesting or his character any more likeable.

In other news, Gunnar gets his own plot that isn't related to the love triangle mess. He goes down to Texas in order to pick up his brother after he's released from prison. Why was the brother in prison? Armed robbery and it's implied Gunnar was the getaway driver who freaked and left him. Gunnar feels like he owes his brother because he was raised by him. It also helps that his brother taught him music. This is why Gunnar decides to pick up his brother and try to set him up at a halfway house but this is a fool's errand. His brother decides to sell Gunnar's guitar in order to buy a gun, violating his parole. Once a criminal, always a criminal. This is a plot that adds to Gunnar's background but it doesn't serve to make him a compelling character. The relationship between the brothers never actually feels genuine which makes it difficult to really get into Gunnar's plot.

This episode Nashville is one that is entertaining whenever Juliette and Rayna are working on their tour together simply because it's the closest it gets to having them together. The rest of the plots might be wrapping up but none of them are really entertaining or even engaging. Here's hoping that Deacon goes back to Rayna or Juliette because he's not much of a character without them and that the show decides to actually use it's two female main characters in plots together.