So I know I said in last week’s Nashville review that we finally got a good episode, but “Ghost in This House” was even better. “Not Ready to Make Nice” was a huge improvement over “A Change Would Do You Good,” but it still had the problematic Juliette/Avery/Hallie storyline where Juliette became completely insane in her reaction to Avery and Hallie working together. I was willing to accept last week’s episode as “good” because it was compared to the rest of season 5B, but “Ghost in This House” sets the bar for what the rest of the episodes of the season should look like. This is the kind of show fans deserve, the kind of show that makes you feel warm, the kind of show we look for solace in.
So Scarlett finally confronts the vile reporter, whose name is Mackenzie Rhodes by the way. I was pleasantly surprised with the turn this storyline took. It could have gone a few different ways, and the way the writers chose was unexpected and enjoyable. This is actually the first episode in a long time where I liked Scarlett. I’ve done my fair share of Scarlett-bashing this season, but I’m giving her the award for the most improved character. I’m still unclear about a few things involving her and Gunnar, but I assume that drama will be saved for later in the season. I’m not naïve enough to think Scunnar will ride off into the sunset, but for the time being it was nice to take a break from the unnecessary drama. Of course, it could be utter madness next episode, but I’m not going to question the reprieve we get this episode.
We also pick up with the storyline of Will shooting his Budweiser commercial. So firstly, congrats to Will for having a substantial storyline and not being relegated to the background. However, the commercial with plenty of product placement isn’t the main focus, but rather the backdrop for a potentially larger arc involving Will and Zach. By default, I support Will over Zach any day, but the storyline does add some dimension to Zach. Zach has been a relatively underdeveloped character, and I’m glad he’s fleshed out more without devoting an entire storyline revolving around him. It’s what should have been done with Hallie instead of trying to make her the sole focus and cram Javery drama down our throats. In the future, I would like to see Will get storylines that feature him more prominently. Chris Carmack is woefully underutilized, and I feel like he’s had nothing to do this season except bounce from relationship to relationship with his limited storylines revolving around romantic problems. As a side note, it was fun to see the behind the scenes of how a commercial is made.
So Deacon feels pressure from the outside world to move on from Rayna. I’m just going to rant for a bit about how ludicrous the idea of Deacon with someone else right now is. It’s been less than six months since Rayna died. Besides it being too soon for Deacon to date anyone, fans have been rooting for Dayna’s happy ending since the pilot. In theory, Dayna was supposed to be endgame, but that didn’t work out. I’m not going to reveal too much about Deacon’s love life other than by saying I think the show should take a page from
Grey’s Anatomy. When Derek died, it about half a season before Meredith had any sort of romantic relationship. It took two seasons before she was really ready to be with anyone else. Since the characters of Jessie and Alyssa were introduced, there has been a lot of fan speculation about if either of them would pursue a romantic relationship with Deacon. I personally feel Deacon should be alone for the time being and focus on raising Maddie and Daphne, as last week’s episode proved he’s somewhat inept when it comes to parenting.
We also get a few scenes on the Javery front as seen in the promo. I have mixed feelings about the length of screen time this mini-storyline gets. It almost feels like an afterthought, like “oh, we should resolve the massive bomb we dropped of Juliette being completely unhinged.” While I’m glad the show has decided to stop trying to shove every storyline under the sun down our throats in one hour, I feel like there should have either been more scenes or saved the storyline for an episode where they had more time. However, the few scenes we get, set up a bigger arc for Javery going forward, so it was somewhat necessary.
So don’t forget to watch the newest episode of
Nashville when it airs Thursday, July 6 at 9 on CMT.
As your weekly parting gift, I leave you with some of my favorite quotes from the episode:
“My fans hate me. They like literally hate me.”
“Call it blasphemy, but only 43% of success is talent. The rest is just how you feel when you watch the person.” / “And you’re sure about that number. It’s not like 44 or 90?”
“We love Johnny Cash.” / “Have you ever listened to the [
At Folsom Prison] album?” / “No, not exactly.” / “Then don’t take to me about Johnny Cash.”
“We’re starving.” / “Well, you should probably fix yourself something, huh.” / “We don’t want to make something. We want something already made, like, by you.”
“Now I understand why ever women over the age of 33 gets all goo-goo eyed when I say that I’m working with you.”
So hit the comments below to let me know what you think. What direction does Scarlett’s storyline take? What’s the larger arc involving Will and Zach as well as Javery? Is Deacon ready to move on? (The last question was rhetorical because the answer to that is a capital NO!)
