TV Review: Nashville 3×9 “First to Have a Second Chance”

Quite a lot was jam packed into the mid season finale of Nashville.

So let’s get right to it.

The Royal Country wedding is going down this weekend and things are getting hectic.

Rayna’s sister comes into town and she immediately asks if Rayna is really happy. I have to say that I saw this coming. Rayna and Luke may really love each other but their views on life are drastically different. Rayna prides herself on trying to be the best mother she can meanwhile Luke sends his kids to boarding school. When he speaks with Maddie and Daphne about it without Rayna’s knowledge that was just a huge red flag for Rayna.

But while Rayna is hesitating on what she really wants out of life Deacon is trying to keep himself from going over the edge. Thankfully, he has Scarlett who always looks out for her uncle—I truly love their relationship.

It’s hard for Deacon not to be tormented by his demons since Rayna’s face is on every picture. And as his outburst knocks down the mini bar and he stares longingly at the whiskey it was easy for us to assume that he had overdosed when Scarlett finds him knocked out on the floor. It turns out that he didn’t drink a drop and the pills he took were only for a headache. Deacon really didn’t feel well and it turns out he has cirrhosis which could lead to cancer. He doesn’t want everyone to know and being his stubborn self doesn’t even want to go to the doctor for treatment.

As Scarlett is overcome with sadness Gunnar appears at the door looking for some comfort too.

Mika’s grandparents showed up this week and they’re determined to take him home with them. Gunnar decides to take them to court because he’s just an extremely good guy who wants to do his kid right. But Gunnar is such a good guy that it didn’t even occur to him to have a paternity test when Kiley first even told him about Mika. And so as his lawyer suggested for court reasons he has the paternity test done and the results are pretty heartbreaking. It turns out that he’s not the father but they are related…which means that Kiley cheated on Gunnar with his own brother. Yep, Mika is actually his nephew. Man, Nashville never disappoints with this plot twists. The question now is if Gunnar will still want to keep Mila? The poor guy has no family whatsoever and Mika is now his only link to his brother who really loved and tragically lost. Also, let me mention real quick how rude Mika’s grandparents are—Gunnar won a CMA award and this lady was still reminding him about his past, I don’t get it.

But anyways, let’s move on to Sadie. Her nasty ex-husband showed up and he’s one of the biggest jerks I’ve seen. He has come to try to get credit for Sadie’s success and he doesn’t seem like he’s going to stop anytime soon. He shows up at the studio and then creepily gets her address too. Sadie decides to stand up for herself and I’ m so proud of her! Pete wasn’t too keen on it and he literally sucker punches her right in the face! That’s not going to be pretty and I’m hoping that Rayna steps in on this and Sadie doesn’t stay quiet! Ugh, I don’t know where this storyline is going to go. I just hope that Avery as Sadie’s producer doesn’t get too involved.

Why you may ask? Well, because Avery finally came to terms with the fact that he can’t be without Juliette. It’s obvious the two can’t be only friends. The birth of their daughter is only getting closer and Juliette even extends an offer for him to move into the guest room so he can be with his newborn. But, he knows that won’t be enough.

 

So he decides to ask Juliette to marry him! And my heart was swooning at these two! They get married in a quaint and simple ceremony at city hall just the two of them. It’s perfect and it shows that Juliette has come a long way from being the diva and tormented young woman she was. She’s maturing and she’s realizing what she wants out of life. More importantly she’s taken responsibility for all her actions. I’m so happy for these two! I can only hope that Jackson did this for all the right reasons and that he truly will forgive Juliette for all her past mistakes. Crossing my fingers!

 Will, Layla and Jeff didn’t have a great night on the other hand. A magazine is spreading rumors (that are very true) about Will being gay. So Will comes up with the idea of taking Layla on the second leg of his tour to squash those rumors. Unfortunately, that’s going to be hard to do since she’s completely hooked on her fling with Jeff. Will gets a whiff of what’s going on and demands Jeff to stop it right now. Layla literally falls apart before his eyes. It’s too bad that Will couldn’t overhear his conversation because he proceeds to sleep with a reporter in order to put down the rumors. Layla walks in and she’s just about had it. I mean the girl finds out that her husband isn’t attracted to her, her new boy toy pushes her away and then she finds her gay husband sleeping with ANOTHER woman—her self-esteem has hit rock bottom basically. She decides to take too many of the pills that Jeff gave her to “take off the edge” and it’s a bad mix with all the liquor in her system. Will finds her in the pool unconscious and I’m hoping she’s not dead! We have only just begun tapping into Layla’s talent and I truly want to see more of her—there’s more layers to her character than we’ve seen. If she does die I’ll probably be blaming Jeff because instead of calling 911 he calls Teddy for help!?! I’m not sure what he’s thinking but we all know Jeff can be a little heartless. Even though it did seem Jeff was truly connecting with Layla because of the reaction he had when Will confronted him. I don’t put it past Jeff to let her die just to get rid of a problem though.

Teddy was having issues of his own. He spent another night with his escort friend who then offers him the “girlfriend experience” 2 days a week for a price. It hits Teddy that his ex-wife is getting married and he’s paying someone for company. I do think he really likes this girl but her job is making things a bit difficult. So how long is it going to be before his escort escapades make the headlines? I assume the clock is ticking.

Rayna is having some self-reflection too. I’m not sure if it was the PEOPLE photographer at her wedding rehearsal that finally set her off but she realizes that the way she has become in her relationship with Luke isn’t who she wants to be. She decides to call the wedding off and Luke is destroyed…so he proceeds to destroy his wedding chairs. But Rayna needed to do this because it wouldn’t be fair to make him a “casualty of her life.”

 

She needs to figure out who she really is and she needs to stop making the same mistakes over and over again. She gets in her car and sobs herself to pieces but as she’s driving the road it seems she’s gaining clarity. I think Rayna is secure that she made the right choice and I’m so happy for her because it seems she may be on the road to happiness!

I always had the feeling things wouldn’t work out with Luke.

But this does leave a lot of things up in the air.

Nashville returns in February 2015 and until then we will have to wonder:

-Will Layla survive?

-Is Luke going to strike back in revenge?

Personally I have a feeling he might end up with Sadie.

-Rayna and Deacon, are they back on?

-Juliette and Avery, happily ever after? AND WHEN DO WE SEE THIS BEAUTIFUL CHILD?!

Leave your comments below of what you’re expecting for the second half of season 3! Till February, y’all!

Gif Credits:

http://juliette-claybourne.tumblr.com

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