Letting go was a major theme in this week’s installment of Nashville. Juliette was able to rid herself of her mother, Rayna finally cut off her relationship with Deacon, Deacon seemed to accept that his relationship with Rayna is over, and Gunnar continued to pursue Hailey, letting go of his hopes for a relationship with Scarlett. You’d have to be as naïve as Scarlett to believe that all of these relationships are gone for good, but tonight marked at least a temporary end to them.
Unfortunately, Scarlett and Avery, the couple I was most hoping to fall apart, managed to survive the episode intact, even if their relationship did sustain a bit of damage. Avery continued to be a jerk in this episode, attempting to steal the spotlight during Scarlett and Gunnar’s duet. I was extremely proud of Scarlett when she called Avery out on his behavior, but I was disappointed that she didn’t end things with him. I’m sure they’ll break up eventually, but it would have been a great moment for Scarlett if she’d been able to go ahead and let Avery go.
I was fully expecting Scarlett and Gunnar to start writing songs for Rayna this week after her conversation about having difficulty finding an available writer. Honestly, I’d love to see them pursue a musical performance career, but the show seems to be pushing them as writers. After their musical setback this week, I feel like there’s still a good chance of Nashville having them write for Rayna or possibly Juliette. I don’t really care how it’s done, but I want to see their storyline become a little more connected to everything else.
I complained about Juliette and Deacon’s relationship in last week’s review, but it didn’t bother me as much in this episode. The main reason for this shift in opinion is that their relationship was more of a friendship and less of a romantic fling this week. Juliette has become more sympathetic every week, and I think I just like seeing her have a friend.
I hadn’t thought about the addiction parallels between Deacon and Juliette’s mom, but having him convince her to go to rehab was an interesting way to use his character’s background. I’m relieved to have her mom out of the picture for a while. While I like seeing how Juliette reacts to her mom, the actual character does very little for me. Having her in rehab will still allow us to see how Juliette copes with the situation while hopefully giving us a break from her mom.
Deacon also tied into Rayna’s storyline this week. Ignoring Deacon’s phone call from prison was pretty harsh, but I do feel like Rayna’s just struggling to respect her marriage and do the right thing. I admire that she’s willing to cut off a relationship that’s important to her for the sake of her family. I also liked that Rayna finally showed she’s willing to swallow her pride a bit and do a cheesy commercial.
Rayna’s husband Teddy, on the other hand, seems to be heading down a darker path. Honestly, his storyline isn’t doing much for me. The best scenes in Nashville include at least one of the three leading ladies, and those without them pale in comparison. I was hoping that his secret would be something exciting, but embezzlement was pretty much along the lines of what I was expecting. I’m almost tempted to start fast forwarding through Teddy’s scenes, but maybe there’s something good in store for this storyline.
I can’t blame all of the episode’s faults on Teddy. As a whole, “Move It On Over” was a little bit dull. It wasn’t a bad episode by any means, but it wasn’t a great one either. I’m hoping the fact that a lot of relationships were let go of in this episode will lead to some fresher material next week. While there are some great relationship dynamics in the show, I’d love to see a slightly stronger focus on the singing careers of the main characters.
What did you think of “Move It On Over?” Were there any relationships you were happy to see end? Were there any that you were disappointed to see end? Do you think any of these instances of letting go will actually stick?
Written by Julie Matthews. You can find more of Julie’s television-related thoughts and share your own by following her on twitter @iliketvandmovie or by visiting her blog I Like TV and Movies.
