No Juliette Barnes For A Full Episode? Yessssss! #Nashville #ABC #SoCountry

No Juliette Barnes For A Full Episode? Yessssss! #Nashville #ABC #SoCountry

All pictures courtesy of ABC

Yet another blog post and this time it's on Nashville (#Nashville) which I'm pretty sure I haven't done all season I've been so busy with other posts. Currently, I'm also writing a post for my three week roundup of Ash vs. Evil Dead so expect that sometime in the next couple days. So, how was the last episode of the country music night soap? Better than it has been in a few weeks.

To begin, the episode was devoid of the most annoying character on the show Juliette Barnes. I know I might be branded a Juliette hater, but frankly that's precisely what I've become. When the show first started I thought her character as the young know-it-all with the dark past was interesting, Britney Spears-esque and would soften as time went on, and we'd all know and love her and root for her. But after so many seasons of this girl doing everyone around her dirty, I got fatigued on her bad girl persona. Not only have I not really seen any character development outside of her becoming more drugged out and a worse person, but she has been written and portrayed as one of the devil's own brides--like, his most favorite, evilest one. When she wanted to commit suicide about three episodes back I actually applauded the writers for possibly doing it, until they wimped out and killed off Jeff. Not only is she not needed anymore, but I feel like there's so much more going on that her story almost distracts from the rest of the plots and drags the show down.

In walks this week's episode of Nashville and what do we have but a Juliette-free episode with a lot going on. First there was the plot point of Rayna's daughter Maddie dyeing her hair more blonde, behind Deacon's back (he was left in charge of the girls while Rayna helped produce her new artist's album). As if the hair dye wasn't enough, Sony calls to gauge interest in signing the 16-year-old to a recording contract, something she overhears her mother flatly refuse. While she throws a tantrum her younger sister feels left out because her dad is currently in prison and nobody talks about her anymore since Maddie wants to go solo.

Next was the tour for The Exes starting. Gunnar in all his Gunnar-y glory figures that it'd be a good idea to hire his sex buddy as the sound person for the tour. Receiving reminders from everyone around him that he is unable of keeping it casual as this woman wants to do, he defies the odds when he and Scarlett's concert short-circuits do to the inexperience of the new hire. He actually yells at her for misrepresenting her ability but accepts her apology and offers advice when she comes to his room later.

Scarlett on the other hand not only suddenly gets serious about trying to make this group work, but finds it near impossible to keep in touch with her doctor boyfriend back home. A man who seems too worried about his girlfriend touring in close quarters with her ex-boyfriend, he gets frustrated and sounds it over the phone, straining the relationship even further.

The musical magic these two make! #Nashville #MusicMonday https://t.co/gSiDMcFIpl

— Nashville (@Nashville_ABC) November 16, 2015

While Gunnar is away, his roommates Avery and Will bond more as Avery looks for a place for him and the baby. Unfortunately people still think he and Juliette are a thing and can't wait to meet her which turns him off the whole apartment-hunting experience. He bonds with Will when the recently dumped gay singer emerges from his bedroom with sheets and sheets of lyrics he wrote about the break-up with his first gay love. Too afraid to perform it himself, Avery takes the song and performs it for a packed crowd at the Bluebird. Unfortunately, Will is even too afraid to stay in the back and take credit for having written the song, but is hopeful when an exec asks about the songwriter possibly coming to have a meeting with him. Will convinces Avery that Gunnar will be gone for two months and it's a big house, so Avery might as well stay for now and get the free babysitting that Will provides.

After the Luke Wheeler-heavy episode of the previous week, Luke had little play as he continued dealing with the fallout from his son's distrust, his budding new relationship with his manager/PR woman, and the drama that is Juliette. Deacon on the other hand got a great deal of the spotlight as his pet project of the newly renamed "Beverly" took off with a bang of the wall. Two former drunks owning a bar together sure to make a little drama, Deacon supervises the renovations and even tries to knock down a wall by himself before the other sober owner comes in and tells him that he's dry-drunk, or acting drunk because he's overcompensating for other problems in his life.

His main problem is that he suddenly feels useless after getting his sister's organ and hasn't been able to find his way. Not even his attempts to parent Maddie and Daphne go well. With Rayna bonding a little too deeply with her new artist (he's wanted to sleep with her since he met her on the plane) she spends full days and nights producing him. Only after she has a heart to heart with him and returns home do she and Deacon come together to try to figure out the best way to deal with Maddie and the Sony thing. Their solution? Sign both girls as a duo to Highway 65, Rayna's fledgling label. While we all knew and expected this to happen, Maddie also knows that this is just a way for her mother to control her further and feigns happiness about it. Time will tell if that blows up in her face.

At the end of the show, Deacon read the text of the new artist guy, discovering that the idea Rayna posed to Deacon about maybe having the girls signed was actually this other guy's idea. Never the best at not being jealous, the last shot is of him ruminating on the possibility of this guy wanting his woman.

What do you think? Is the show still interesting, if not better without Juliette? What do you want for her character when she comes out of rehab? How do you think this new artist will affect Rayna and Deacon's relationship next week and for the foreseeable future? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking

If you’re looking for a scare, check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, "you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when... you get the gist of it."

P.S. Don't know why I thought of that Geico commercial but I did. I might even have used that sign-off before but it's been a long day of moving leaves for me and I finally called it after realizing that I knew precisely when to fold 'em... for the day. I'll come up with something better next time.

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