SEASON GUIDE
4.13 "If I Could Do It All Again"
(Directed by Callie Khouri, written by Sibyl Gardner)
Rating: 8.5/10 (A-)
I really loved this episode. There’s a lot going on in this one and most of it worked out pretty great. I was initially a little worried as it seemed liked everyone was going to be in it but "If I Could Do It All Again" manages to dedicate just enough time to all the different characters.
Let’s start with Will for whom things are starting to look up again after spending the majority of this season being miserable. He’s looking for a new label and finds a possible match in Three Dollar Vinyl which is known for signing LGBT artists. But his interest quickly dwindles when it turns out the head of the label is more invested in Will’s image than his music. It’s great to see how much progress Will has made in the last three episodes. He finally knows what he wants but isn’t willing to achieve his dream at the expense of his beliefs like he did when he worked with Wade Cole.
He wants a music career but for Will, the music is more important than success, so he decides to pass on the label. "Who I am is not a gay country singer, I’m a country singer who happens to be gay." I just loved that line. I loved that Will isn’t letting his sexuality define him or his career. Good for him for rejecting TDV and contemplating making music independently and on his own. It might be harder for him to get off the ground but it assures that his homosexuality won’t get in the way as far as making music is concerned.
We learn more about Vita in this episode and it turns out that she did indeed steal the money from the bar but it’s a case of doing the wrong thing for the right reason as she needed the money to help her sister pay off an unknown party simply referred to as "some bad guys", or so she says. Just like Rayna, I’m not sure what to believe when it comes to Vita. She seems like a sincere, kindhearted and well-intentioned woman who has been shaped by her horrible life and is struggling to escape her past, so I understand why Rayna hasn’t given up on her yet. I just hope that it isn’t too late for her yet and that she is okay.
In my last review, I mentioned Layla’s intentions regarding Avery and it looks like she genuinely cares for him and wants to be (more than) his friend. I agree with Glenn’s advice that she needs a friend right now and that she shouldn’t rush into a new relationship because that is not gonna end well. I’m not sure how much she has dealt with Jeff’s death but it’s clear that she hass not entirely moved on yet and for her to rush into a new romance is gonna be detrimental because whenever people enter a relationship just for the sake of being in one, it’s just a matter of time until it goes south. So it’s a good thing that she has taken Glenn’s advice to remain friends with Avery. I’m just not sure how long that friendship is gonna last once Juliette comes back next week.
But Layla isn’t gonna be the only one for whom Juliette’s return is gonna be problematic as Avery seems to be done with her and is ready to move on, except that he’s not. He meets a fellow single parent, Sienna, at the park and sparks immediately fly. Their first date ends with a kiss but on the second one, Avery spends most of the time bringing up Juliette. Sienna was smart to back off and remain swing buddies for now since he is obviously not ready yet, as much as he would like to be, he simply isn’t.
What makes this episode great and entertaining is that the music serves a purpose and is the driving force behind most of the subplots, like with the listening party of The Exes’ debut album. Rayna suggests a song primarily featuring Scarlett’s vocals which surprisingly upsets Scarlett more than Gunnar as she feels indebted to him since she wouldn’t be a singer/songwriter if he hadn’t introduced her to this world. They decide to credit themselves equally on all of their songs, regardless of much how either of them contributed. If seems like a good, easy and fast solution but something tells me it’ll cause trouble somewhere down the road.
Something that I enjoyed more than I thought I would were Maddie and Colt. He has been fundamentally changed having witnessed Jeff’s death, something that becomes very clear as he expresses his disdain for anything related to music. He’s also agitated with Maddie for writing a song with sex as the topic which fortunately was performed by Cash and not Maddie. Watching her sing that song would have been really awkward. They end up breaking up and Colt contemplates joining the army which I’m all for. Layla knows Juliette is responsible for Jeff’s death, he isn’t Maddie’s boyfriend anymore and he is still ignoring his father, so there really is nothing left for him to do on the show other than being written off of it.
"If I Could Do It All Again" is a great episode of Nashville that has a lot of great character moments to offer and propels the various subplots forward by letting music be the driving force while managing to split the screentime between the increasingly big cast without feeling too crowded.
Other thoughts/stuff/remarks/observations/whatever you wanna call this section:
- Daphne is still feeling left out or is feeling left out again. I don’t know anymore, I was really sympathetic to her but this is getting stagnant. This subplot needs to be more than Daphne being sad and pouty.
- Can’t be said often enough: Cash is starting to creep me out.
- Luke seems to be doing better. His plan to bring Riff on his tour is a financial success. There is a little hurdle when lashes out and says some pretty hurtful things to Luke but after he relegates his ego and pride to the backseats and takes the wheel himself, he nails his performance at The Beverly.
- Frankie relapses! It must be shitty when puts in as much work as Deacon and he’s the only one who gets credited but damnit, this is not good. Frankie is already harsh and short-tempered as a sober person, I can’t imagine what he must be like when he’s drunk. Does anyone else think he might be the one who wrecked Vita’s car?
