NASHVILLE continues on ABC tonight with a whole new episode called, “I’m Tired of Pretending.” On tonight’s season 2 episode 9 Rayna struggles to strike a balance with Deacon and Teddy and Juliette are feeling the pressure to step it up. Did you watch the last episode before the break? We did and we recapped it here for you!
On last week’s episode Rayna joined Scarlett on the road for her first tour date with Luke Wheeler (Will Chase, “Smash”) and was blindsided when Deacon confronted her about putting too much pressure on Scarlett too soon. Jeff went to war against Rayna on control of the album she produced with Liam, and Juliette made a decision about Charlie Wentworth. Gunnar struggled to write a song for a major artist, and got help from Scarlett—sparking an idea for Rayna that could potentially be liberating for her and life-changing for Gunnar.
On tonight’s show Maddie wants to spend more time with Deacon and Teddy begins to feel like he’s being replaced. Rayna is struggling to strike the right balance with the two dads and their fatherhood responsibilities. Meanwhile, Lamar makes a plea to Rayna to secure Tandy’s support as a character witness. Charlie has declared his love for Juliette but she couldn’t be more distracted by the fact that Layla’s career is stealing some of her spotlight. Zoey and Avery make plans to visit Scarlett on the road in an effort to boost her spirits, though that feeling may be short-lived.
Tonight’s episode looks like it is going to be great and you won’t want to miss it, so be sure to tune in for our live coverage of ABC’s Nashville at 10:00 PM EST! While you wait for our recap hit the comments and let us know what you think of Nashville, so far? Check out the sneak peek of tonight’s episode below!
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
The tour is in Minneapolis and Layla adds another number at the end of her set and dedicates it to Will. Juliette is horrified that the Connecticut-born Layla is using “ya’ll” in her dialect. J also wants to know when is Layla allowed to reward herself an encore when she’s just an opening act. J complains she’s costing her money in union fees and pissing her off. Glenn says he’ll talk to her manager. He opens the door and finds Charlie there. She tells Charlie she needs time to think and he says he gave her a week. He tells her he loves her and that he’s serious.
J says he likes games and she’s not a toy. He says he wants them to build a life together and J says she doesn’t believe him and walks out. Rayna picks up Maddie at Teddy’s office and smiles at the poster of Juliette as the face of the music festival Teddy’s sponsoring. She proudly shows her mom the all-access pass he got his daughter and Rayna laughs and says she never thought he would become a J fan.
Maddie tells her parents that she wants to talk to them about something since they are rarely in one place together. She asks if she can take guitar lessons with Deacon and Teddy demands to know if she’s been talking to him. She says Deacon told her that it was up to them if she could have lessons with him. Teddy tells Maddie that he and Rayna need to talk about it in private.
Gunnar gets a call from Zoe as Scarlett calls Avery to check in. She says she hasn’t heard from Zoe in awhile and Avery offers to drive her up to see Scarlett in St Louis. Zoe repeats it out loud so Gunnar can hear even though Scarlett doesn’t know she’s on the phone with her ex and he agrees to it was well.
Rayna tells Teddy that the guitar lessons aren’t an unreasonable request. She reassures him that no one is trying to replace Teddy but says it doesn’t make sense to try and keep them apart. Rayna gets a collect call from her dad from jail.
Deacon is trying to get snugly with Megan but she has work spread out on the bed. She asks him to give her a few minutes and he kisses her neck and distracts her. He stops and tells her to get back to work. Deacon gets a text from Maddie telling him “they said yes.” Megan asks how he feels about it and he plays it cool saying he’s known her her whole life and plays guitar so it’s no problem.
Will is out drinking at a bar when Layla hunts him up. He is drunk and asking for honky tonk. She tries to drag him out since they have a radio interview in the morning. Instead, he takes the crowd request to sing and hops on the bar and sings while doing shots. Then he falls flat on his face on the floor! Uncool.
Glenn and Juliette head to her dressing room after the show and she gets a call. She asks Glenn to give her a minute and takes a call. Charlie tells her to turn her TV on to Extra where the show announces he’s filed for divorce from Olivia. Charlie asks if she believes him now.
Rayna is visiting Lamar in jail and he tells her he doesn’t want her or the girls to deal with his mess. He says his attorney is working on getting him house arrest and says he needs character witnesses. He tells her he needs Tandy to vouch for him but she won’t take his calls. He begs Rayna and says he wants to see his granddaughters again before he dies in there. I think he’s working an angle, but he seems sincere…
Scarlett rushes to hug Zoe and smooch Avery as they come into the hotel. Gunnar walks up and he and Zoe hug awkwardly as if they’re strangers. Scarlett has a sound check and Gunnar offers to take them on a tour of the arena.
Rayna tells her sister that Lamar needs a character witness and how unhealthy he looks. Tandy asks if he asked Rayna to do it and she says Lamar wanted Tandy instead. Rayna encourages her to do it and says he doesn’t look good.
Layla finds Will getting checked by a doctor and he tells her the label cancelled their morning interview. Brent comes in and Layla tells him Will dived off the bar. Will says she shouldn’t have been in the bar. Layla stomps out. Brent asks why he’s been in so much trouble lately and mentions the fight in Houston. Obvi he doesn’t know Will was actually taking up for him and his boyfriend…
Brent tells him the label has assigned him to keep an eye on him and Will says he bets he loves that. Brent ignores the dig and tells him to patch things up with Layla.
Charlie comes into J’s dressing room and he tells her he ditched the paparazzi. She says she doesn’t want a ding on her reputation. She asks what they’re doing and that he shouldn’t give up half his money to be with her. He says he had a prenup and respects her greatly because she earns her own money.
Rayna drops Maddie off for her guitar lesson with Deacon.
Teddy comes home in a foul mood and Peggy says her week has been bad too. She gives him a sob story about the “miscarriage” and he says that they’ll still have a family. He tells her he’s angry about Maddie’s lesson with Deacon and she talks him down then kisses him.
Avery heads to the bathroom and leaves Gunnar with Zoe. He takes the opportunity to smooch on her and Avery nearly catches them. They discuss telling Scarlett and whether or not they are really involved.
Deacon tells Maddie all you need are three chords and the truth to write a song. He tells he’s performing at the music fest and she invites him to an open mic she’s performing at.
J tells Charlie about her frustrations with Layla and that she wants to bitch slap her. Layla rushes over to say hi to Charlie and mentions his divorce. J tells her that she’ll be going on first so their sets can be slit by a male presence on stage (Will). Layla apologizes for the extra song and J says it’s better this way so she can be back for curfew. She walks off and asks Charlie if he thinks Layla got the message. The kid does not look happy!
Will finds Layla at craft services and she asks if he’s there to gloat. He didn’t know Juliette flipped their sets and says he’s sorry she got screwed. He offers her a bouquet of flowers and says he’s sorry for being a jackass the night before. She says she knows a way he can make it up to her.
Tansy is with the prosecutor in her dad’s case and he tells her she can’t come to court on his behalf. He says if she does they’ll have no choice but to reveal her as their star witness against her dad.
Glenn is angry that J flipped Layla’s set – he says he was handling it. She says not fast enough. He tells her that now Layla is doing a duet with Will and J is furious. He says 19 year old girls do 19 year old things and J asks if he works for her or Layla. She says sometimes you have to go right to the source and talk to them. Glenn tells her that Charlie brings out the worst in her. He says he thought she’d changed and she tells him that he should go work for Layla.
Rayna arrives at the open mic and Peggy rushes up and shocks her with a kiss on the cheek. She tells her they saved a seat for her down front so that the whole family will be together. Deacon comes in and Teddy asks why he’s there.
J is raging at her hair and makeup team when Charlie comes in. He asks where his happy girl is and she says she has a stiff neck from looking over her shoulder. She tells him her manager, the label and Layla’s manager are aggravating her. Charlie tells her she can do whatever she wants when she wants because she’s special. He kisses her and says he has to leave for a meeting but will see her tomorrow in Nashville. He says he wants to hear all about how she dealt with her annoying little problem.
Maddie comes to the stage at the open mic and says the song she’s singing is important to her and asks if someone can come up to sing with her. They say she can and she calls Deacon to the stage since she’s singing his song. He comes to the stage as Peggy tells Teddy she didn’t know they were that close and he says he didn’t know either. The crowd whispers excitedly “it’s Deacon Claiborn…” Rayna watches them sing smiling but Teddy is furious.
Deacon watches his daughter as he sings. Peggy gives Teddy a reassuring smile and takes his hand. Rayne is caught up in the memory of the song Deacon wrote for her long ago.
Scarlett joins Zoe, Gunnar and Avery at the table where they play cards. Scarlett asks her if she’s met any boys and she says all her time is spent with these two. The three laugh and you can tells Scarlett feels excluded.
Outside the open mic Teddy stops Deacon who is leaving. He asks Teddy if he can tell Maddie that he had to run and Teddy asks what the hell he’s doing. He asks if he can just swoop in and dazzle her with music. Teddy is furious that he performed publicly with Maddie. He says he and Rayna have no interest in co-parenting with him. Teddy grabs Deacon and yells “you are not her father.” Unfortunately, Peggy, Rayna and Maddie walk out at that moment. Maddie yells and then runs away. Rayna goes chasing after her.
Will is doing his last number and says he needs the help of a very special friend. Layla primps at the edge of the stage and J grabs the mic and says she’s sitting this one out. J says that she wanted to sing a song with her favorite opening act. I know Will has to be happy with this since he secretly hates Layla.
Avery and Scarlett snuggle in bed but she’s not happy. She says she never thought she would see the three of them all friends hanging out and admits she feels left out. Avery tells her they all still love her but she says she felt like she was behind glass. He tells her she’s the sweetest girl that he knows. She asks if he wants to watch TV and they snuggle.
Peggy asks Teddy what his problem is with Deacon. She says that goes beyond a bad mood and he admits that Deacon is Maddie’s biological dad. She says – she’s Deacon’s daughter – and he quickly clarifies that Maddie is his daughter.
Deacon is angry and asks his lawyer GF Megan if he has rights and she tells him what he can get. She asks if he’s ready to be a permanent part of Maddie’s life.
Maddie tells Rayna that it should have been a great day but it was awful. She says when she’s with Deacon her Dad gets upset and when she’s with her dad she knows Deacon hates him. Maddie says maybe she shouldn’t see either of them. Rayna says they both love her and Maddie says if they did they wouldn’t act that way. Rayna said mistakes don’t mean the love is any less.
Zoe comes to Gunnar’s room and says if they really are a thing she has to tell Scarlett. She says she’ll tell her alone but then they get distracted kissing.
J comes off stage and tells Layla that’s how it’s done. Layla runs off in tears and Glenn glares at her. She tells him – come on, she started it…
Will comes off stage and Brent is there waiting. He defends letting J sing with him and Brent says juggling a diva and diva in training can be a hassle. Will says he doesn’t know if Brent is his friend or the label guy and he says he’s both. Will says he has to go check on his “girlfriend.”
Zoe comes to see Scarlett and she tells her that she feels so ostracized on tour. She says Gunnar is making friends left and right and that she just feels so alone. Zoe tells her that she felt the same way when she came to Nashville. She hugs Scarlett and tells her it will get better. Scarlett says she’s glad they’re friends and doesn’t want to know what she’d do without her.
Will finds Juliette and she thinks he’s mad at her but she tells him that she made his career tonight. He says he doesn’t like Layla but if she can help his career he’s willing to stick with her. Will says he hopes on day he’ll find someone to make him the best version of himself and J rolls that phrase around.
In court, Tandy doesn’t show up and Rayna grudgingly takes the stand. She says she doesn’t know anything about his business, but she can say for sure that he’s no flight risk. She says he values his family and would never hurt or leave them. Lamar’s request for house arrest is denied and both he and Rayna are floored. He’s taken away to go back to jail.
J’s on her private jet and calls Avery. She leaves him a message and says she’s coming home for the festival and wants to see if he’ll be around and to call her. Avery gets the voice message as Scarlett walks up. He tells her he wishes she was having a better time on the ride. She thanks him for coming to see her. He asks where Zoe is and she tells him she’s always slow and goes to get her. She (of course) sees Gunnar and Zoe kissing and stomps away.
Rayna brings Teddy and Deacon together and tells them they are both risking losing Maddie with their antics.
Charlie shows up at Juliette’s and she says they have to talk.
Tandy comes in and tells Rayna that she’s sorry. She says that she doesn’t think her testimony would have secured a ruling in his favor. Rayna asks what happened between her and their dad and Tandy says she needs to keep her distance for awhile.
Lamar talks to his lawyer and quote the Bible saying the blameless walk safely and the others need to be careful.
Teddy calls his assistant and tells her to strike Deacon from the festival and says he can’t make it.
J says she saw real tenderness between Charlie and Olivia at their anniversary. She tells him he doesn’t love her – that he likes the rush and challenge. She says love is wanting to help someone be the best version of themselves. Charlie says he doesn’t do that for her and she nods. She tells him to go back to Olivia and that it’s a good thing they figured it out before they told the whole world.
Will brings Layla home with him to crash for a bit and she knocks him onto the bed and kisses him. She asks what he thinks of J and he says she’s all right. Layla says she’s a bitch. Will goes off to take a shower and Layla calls TMZ to give them a tip that Juliette broke up the Wentworths.
