‘Nashville’ Reaches Mid-Season Finale With Unexpected Wedding

The winter finale of ABC’s Nashville wasn’t exactly full of holiday cheer, but there were plenty of dramatic revelations, reunions, drunkenness… and a long-awaited wedding (although not necessarily the one we were counting on).

The episode opens in Memphis with Luke, Will and Deacon all on stage together performing “Ball and Chain.” Deacon can’t get away from Luke fast enough, but Luke does offer Deacon his most sincere thanks for his professional attitude, friendly demeanor and for not making things weird for him and his bride-to-be. Actually, that’s not at all true. He pretty much just says “thank you,” but the smarmy look on his face speaks volumes.

Deacon and Scarlett stay in Memphis, to steer clear of the “Ruke”/”Layna” pre-wedding hoopla, and also to watch the famous ducks at the Peabody Hotel, which for any Memphis tourist runs a close second to Elvis’s Jungle Room at Graceland. Scarlett also drags him to a karaoke bar where they sing “That’s Alright, Mama.” She’s doing a bit of avoidance herself, now that she’s conflicted (yet again) about her feelings for her ex, Gunnar. Even though Deacon seems to be into the whole karaoke thing (he even busts out an Elvis hip swivel!), his mood darkens and he heads back to the hotel where he eyes the mini-bar. When Scarlett returns, she finds him passed out on the floor, surrounded by a whole lot of broken glass. At the hospital, when he wakes up, he assures Scarlett that he wasn’t drinking. The news is much worse, however, as the doctor reveals Deacon has “undiagnosed cirrhosis of the liver with extremely elevated white blood cell count strongly pointing to cancer.” (Which makes a potentially astronomical mini-bar bill seem trivial.)

Back in Nashville, Rayna is trying on her wedding dress as her daughters watch. Her sister Tandy returns, and it isn’t long before she’s questioning whether or not Rayna is happy and whether or not Deacon has moved on. Luke, meanwhile, asks Rayna if they’ll have room for Tim and Faith at their table at the wedding reception. While we would, under normal circumstances, say there is always room for Tim and Faith, we agree with Rayna, who assumes their children would be at the table instead. Rayna also has her daughters in mind when she finds out that her tour is being extended. Maddie suggests that she and Daphne go to boarding school while their mom is on the road. Rayna is not happy to learn that the idea has already been talked over with Luke, who, naturally, thinks it’s a good one. Rayna wonders what Mayor Teddy thinks about the whole thing, but Maddie tells her they haven’t discussed it since he’s been “super busy” lately.  That’s one way to put it. Another way: “Frequenting a high-priced prostitute.” She texts Teddy while the happy couple is on another “date,” during which Teddy tells his escort that he doesn’t think they should see each other anymore. (Perhaps he’s running out of $100 bills?) He just needed someone to talk to about his ex-wife getting remarried. She suggests maybe exploring “the girlfriend experience” with her, which could either be some kind of role-playing thing — like “the farmer’s daughter and the ranch hand” — or an actual boyfriend-girlfriend/mayor-hooker relationship. Suspecting the latter, Teddy says, “That’s just messed up,” which is about the wisest thing Teddy has said in a very long time.