SEASON GUIDE
5.01 "The Wayfaring Stranger" / 5.02 "Back In Baby’s Arms"
5.03 "Let’s Put It Back Together Again"
5.04 "Leap of Faith"
5.05 "Love Hurts" / 5.06 "A LIttle Bit Stronger"
5.07 "Hurricane"
5.08 "Stand Beside Me"
5.09 "If Tomorrow Never Comes"
— I’m sorry for the late review. I fell sick with a severe cold and regulars reviews will be back with Episode 4.07.
— A few stray thoughts about 4.05 before I get to last week’s episode: I didn’t really enjoy it. It spent too much time with the music video shoot. Damien was a jerk, Gunnar should have stuck up for Scarlett way sooner instead of letting her unravel like that. Maddie and Clay officially move away from the friend-zone into relationship territory which could be interesting and a good opportunity to mature Maddie. They stuffed the episode with too many topics with these two without ever really giving any of them the day and time they deserve, such as interracial/intercultural dating, racism, mental illness. And then we have the reveal of Rayna’s stalker who turns out to be Carl Hockney, the guy from the street who asked for a picture a few episodes ago.
— After a few episodes of being a tolerable character, Maddie takes one step back but two forward. I really thought she was falling back into old patterns of being an annoying brat when she played the race card against Rayna but I enjoyed her for the rest of the episode and I found myself genuinely invested in where her character and her new relationship is headed. Clay is a nice foil to Maddie’s immaturity and I’m excited to see what kind of impact he’ll make on her.
— I loved the subdued and quiet scene of Deacon and Maddie eating ice cream. They spent so much of last season at odds with each other that it was really refreshing to see them have a genuine conversation. I especially loved Maddie talking about her realization of people being entire worlds. That line may have been laid on a little to thick but I think it just really goes to show how much Clay is helping her mature.
— Nope. Not here for a potential Damien/Scarlett romance. It’s probably too early to jump to such a conclusion but it seems to be where there are headed with this. Nope. Nope. Nope. Romance angle aside, I think they are trying to make Scarlett edgier which is a welcome development but it will almost certainly come at the expense of her relationship with Gunnar.
— I’m not really one to speculate over one’s sexuality but Zach is gay or at least bi, right? Or am I just reading too much into him basically drooling over Will changing out of his sweaty shirt?
— I think Carl Hockney is just a patsy and not the real stalker. It just doesn’t seem like a smart move to accost Daphne like that knowing that a restraining order has been filed against him and he is locked up now for violating it but I don’t think we have seen the end of the stalker storyline. Some fans are still suspecting Zach but if he is really being set up as Will’s love interest, then I think he is in the clear.
— Hey look, it’s Luke. I wasn’t too upset when he was written off the show but I’m glad they decided to bring him back one last time to give his character the proper closure. Rayna buying his label seems like a good way to bring everyone closer together and to bring Juliette and Will back into the musical fold.
— Avery is performing again! How much fun was his song? Cutting back and forth between Avery and Juliette going to church for the first time was also a great directive choice.
— It’s really a shame Juliette is back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. She’s not at fault this time but it still sucks. And she really needs to stop pushing away Avery already. He’s clearly in it for the long run.
— Weekly Daphne Watch: Still no own storyline of her own but they seem to have planted the seed for one with the introduction of ther crush Flynn.
Thanks for reading my review and feel free to share your
own thoughts about the episode in the comments below!