SEASON GUIDE
4.12 "How Does It Feel To Be Free"
(Directed by Steve Robin, written by Ben St. John & Mollie Bickley St. John)
Rating: 6.5/10 (C+)
So let’s start this review with the best part of the episode which is Will’s subplot of standing up for himself against a homophobic bully. After spending time on his own and doing some soul-searching which is something Will was in desperate need of doing, he returns home still not having any idea of what he wants to do next but is now assured enough not to let that eat away at him anymore. He agrees to an impromptu performance during The Exes’ set but Will’s song is cut short when a man from the audience assaults him by throwing a beer bottle right in his face.
I just knew that guy was gonna be trouble, although I didn’t expect it to go beyond the gay slurs, so I was genuinely shocked it took such a drastic and violent turn. I wasn’t surprised Will decided not to make an official statement with the police; I expected him to fight fire with fire but I’m glad I was wrong.
Instead, he got up on that stage again to sing his new song, refusing to be told off, and it made me so damn proud of Will. The entire place supporting him and having his back with the jerks being thrown out was a better lesson than prison.
Elsewhere, we have Avery fed up with his current situation of having to keep up the facade that is his marriage. You can’t really blame him for wanting out of it. It might have started with a lie here and there but with his panic attack, it’s understandable that he wouldn’t want to keep lying about it. He finally gets to tell Layla the truth who convinces him to take the plunge and give Juliette the option of announcing their divorce before he does.
Speaking of Layla, Avery and her spend a lot of time together in this episode. They make for a good musical duo. I’m still not sure what kind of game Layla is playing here. I don’t know what her intentions are with him. Is she merely using Avery to ultimately get to Juliette to make her pay for her role in Jeff’s death? Is she gonna go single white female on Avery himself? Or is she genuinely warming up to him? They did share some heartfelt moments and bonded with each other, so I’m quite looking forward to seeing more of this dynamic, even though I’m not sure what to make of it all yet.
Vita.. She’s quite a character. She makes her first appearance and seems like a talented, young woman with an incredible voice but she also has a criminal past and is looking to start over in Nashville, even if that means temporarily living in her car.
A music career is obviously very important to her and something that she is willing to work hard for to get, so when half a grant are missing from the register after her first shift as a waitress at The Beverly, she immediately becomes the prime suspect. As much as I’m rooting for Vita, I do hope that she took that money. I wanna believe that she was telling the truth about turning over a new leaf and that all those things she did are in her past now but if she truly was innocent, it would leave us with Option B which is: Frank took it and is framing her.
He didn’t seem completely on board with hiring her in the first place and while we haven’t really seen enough of Frank yet to know if he is capable of such an act, I hope he isn’t. Otherwise it would mean that Deacon’s business partner is a shady and devious person and I just really, really don’t want any kind of drama whatsoever as far as Deacon and The Beverly are concerned. Which brings me back to Vita: As much as I’m rooting for her, I do hope that she took that money. I need Frank to be a good guy, for Deacon’s sake.
Meanwhile, Luke is in fixer-mode trying to rectify the sticky situation he finds himself in. Fans are upset with him for claiming to be an Ordinary Joe while nothing he does and says backs it up. His financial scandal has also resulted in a decline of ticket sales for his current tour. In an effort to change that, he asks Avery for Juliette which obviously doesn’t end very well for him.
He runs into his old buddy Riff and apparently Luke is already desperate enough to ask him to join his tour, even though Riff hasn’t been in the music industry for decades. He agrees to come along, under the condition that his family can come as well. Luke seemed excited about it but you just know that he is going to regret inviting Riff to his tour, especially with his picture-perfect family tagging along. It’s going to blow up in Luke’s face - akin to everything else Luke has been doing as of late.
"How Does It Feel to Be Free" is a rather lackluster episode. After last week’s monumental entry, this is an underwhelming follow-up. There were a few nice character moments here and there but for the most part, it feels insufficient, lacking an exciting A-plot to carry the various subplots.
Other thoughts/stuff/remarks/observations/whatever you wanna call this section:
- I’m sorry for having dropped the ball already on the reviews. C’est la vie and whatnot. The upcoming reviews will be posted by Sunday/Monday.
- Cash and Maddie sure are spending a lot of time together. I’m getting strange vibes from Cash. And Daphne is lurking in the background, feeling left out (again). Maisy Stella is a talented, young girl and should be given the chance to play more than an angsty teenager.
- Gunnar and Erin broke up because Gunnar doesn’t care enough about Erin smooching other guys. Go figure why we should have cared about these two as a couple when apparently the characters themselves didn’t.
