‘Nashville’ Recap: Chilly Scenes of Spring

Spring has finally arrived for those of us who live in the real Music City. It’s the time to mow our lush green lawns again, enjoy the rising temperatures (and tornado warnings), and plan our trips to the drugstore to buy pollen-allergy medicine by the gross. But in the fictional country music capital, winter lingers on, what with Maddie freezing out Deacon and Rayna, Jeff having an icy reunion with former flame Jade St. John (played by a fierce Christina Aguilera) and Juliette not exactly warming to the idea of motherhood.

Home from the hospital, Juliette and Avery have named their daughter Cadence. Get it? It’s a musical term meaning the notes or chords that come at the end of a musical phrase. However, the word also applies to the modulation or inflection of the voice, and Juliette’s was all over the place as she grew increasingly frustrated with Avery, who left her at home with the newborn to tend to some band business. Instead of trying the “shushing” technique to get little Cadence to sleep, he should have tried that on Juliette – and hidden all the sharp objects in the house. When she finds out she missed out on recording of a song for the end credits of her Patsy Cline movie, Juliette wants Avery to write one with her. Failing that, she reaches out to Deacon, who’s a little preoccupied with that whole having-cancer-and-not-telling-anyone-about-it thing. Needless to say, their writing session doesn’t go well.

Rayna and Deacon are trying to navigate some icy territory at home, especially with Maddie, who is not making it easy. Perhaps because she is A) a hormone-riddled teenager with a secret boyfriend B) Deacon and Rayna’s strong-willed offspring or C) not sure how to deal with Deacon’s diagnosis. If you’re playing along at home, the answer is D) all of the above. The “early study group” she has at school is apparently meeting inside Colt Wheeler’s mouth, because that’s exactly where Rayna finds her daughter when she turns up at the school. Rayna, who had asked Maddie to go with her to the upcoming Jade St. John concert, is none too thrilled to find out that Maddie can’t go because she made plans with friends. She’s even less thrilled when she discovers that Maddie lied about her plans and is going to the concert with Colt. (Rayna obviously doesn’t watch much Judge Judy. To quote one of the esteemed adjudicator’s patented “Judy-isms”: “How do you know when a teenager is lying? Their mouth is moving.”) With Maddie grounded, Luke decides to go to the concert with Colt, even though he laments that he “left all his sparkles at the dry cleaners” and her music isn’t his “cup of whiskey.”

Layla hatches a plan to open for Jade St. John’s opening act and wants Jeff to make it happen. Turns out Jeff and Jade were once engaged and haven’t seen each other in a decade, so their eventual reunion is a mighty frosty one. They once made a great couple obviously, since they can still use each other to get exactly what they want. Layla will sing three songs at the concert and Jade will get to meet her idol, who surprisingly turns out to be Luke Wheeler. Apparently the fumes from the pink (or whatever the hell color that is) hair dye have gone to Jade’s head.