Tonight on ABC Nashville starring Hayden Panettiere continues with an all new Wednesday November 18, season 4 episode 8 called, “Unguarded Moments,” and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode, Maddie (Lennon Stella) gets a contract offer to work as a solo artist, but Rayna (Connie Britton) doesn’t approve.
On the last episode Rayna clashed with Deacon over his new business venture with an old pal from AA. Meanwhile, recent events jeopardized Luke’s personal integrity and his relationship with his son. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the ABC synopsis, “Maddie gets a contract offer to work as a solo artist, but Rayna doesn’t approve. Meanwhile, Luke strives to repair his relationship with Cole; Gunnar’s girlfriend makes waves with Scarlett; and a financially strapped Avery resorts to doing jingles.”
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!
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
#Nashville starts with Maddie shooting pics of her newly blonde hair. She texts it to Colt who says it’s hot. Deacon comes to the door and she hides her hair in a towel. Deacon says he knows she’s mad because she’s grounded and asks if she wants to start guitar lessons again and hang out. She asks to talk about it later. Daphne comes yelling and says stupid Maddie stole her phone. He says they can look for it tomorrow and she asks when her mom is coming home.
Rayna is working with Markus Keen when Deacon texts to ask when she’ll be home and she texts back soon. She says it’s 6 am and she’s exhausted. She says he killed it and she has to go take her kids to school and sends the crew home. She says he exhausts her. On the road, Scarlett and Gunnar hear they have good reviews and then Caleb calls her but she doesn’t take it. The guy says Bucky added some dates and Noel is setting up signings and interviews.
Scarlett kicks Gunnar when he’s not paying attention. The tour manager tells Scarlett he’s impressing her with her drive. She’s annoyed to hear Erin giggling with Gunnar. Avery knocks on Will’s door and he acts weird before he opens it. Avery asks if he’s okay and then asks if he needs something. Avery says he has a studio gig and asks him to watch Cadence until Emily shows up. He takes the baby monitor and shuts the door in his face. Luke talks to a shrink who saw Colt and says he’s very withdrawn.
Luke says he’s the fourth therapist he’s met this week and the doc says he’s got a detachment that needs addressed in therapy ASAP and indicates a lack of trust. Colt tells his dad he doesn’t want a therapist and Luke invites him to the show since Kid Rock is opening for him. Colt says no thanks. Colt says he doesn’t need therapists or Kid Rock. He says he just needs a dad who gives a crap about telling the truth. Rayna comes in and Rayna says producing is killing her and it’s like having a third kid.
He says two is hard enough then says Maddie isn’t talking much and Daphne is up. She asks him to drive the girls to school but he says people are waiting on him at the bar. Rayna calls for the girls and Maddie comes in and Rayna rants about the blond hair then says they can talk about it tonight. Bucky calls Rayna who says she’s got a teen crisis. He goes off about the overtime then says Sony calls and wants to sign Maddie as a solo artist but then Maddie hears she got an offer.
Rayna says they have talked about this and Maddie asks why she won’t let her sign then says she’s ruining her life. Maddie says she can’t keep her from doing the things she loves and storms out. Scarlett leaves Caleb a voice mail and asks him to call back. Gunnar chats up Erin at the hotel and she tells him what her schedule is and then asks if he wants to do something sexier. He says he has a room all to himself and she says okay.
Avery is in the studio doing jingles for money. The guy asks Avery to put some more smile on it. He tells him to play the guitar like he’s trying to sell a car. The producer says they can move on. Avery goes to make a call to check on Cadence. Emily says she and Cadence are at the park and he asks if Will was being weird then says he’s been cagey since the split. She says she liked Kevin and he wonders if Will has another guy but hasn’t seen anyone around.
He says maybe Will is bringing a guy in after he falls asleep. Deacon is overseeing the construction stuff and Frankie is there. He tells Deacon they should be reopened sooner. Rayna calls Deacon and says Maddie died her hair. He says he’s sorry and had her hair in a towel all night. She says she’s trying to be Juliette and now Sony wants to sign her because of the stupid video. Rayna says she’s so defiant and they need to talk to her. He says he’ll back what she decides but she wants his input but he ends the call when the new sign shows up.
Markus is outside her car with a latte. Frankie tells Deacon they should call it a day but Deacon wants to keep working. Frankie looks like he thinks Deacon is being obsessive. Scarlett finds Gunnar in a towel as she says she was going to go down and greet fans that Shep told her are there. Scarlett hears Erin call Gunnar’s name and he says he’ll catch up and slams the door. Gabriella comes to talk to Luke then asks to talk to him privately.
He asks about Juliette and she says she’s still in detox. She says they need to replace her on the tour and find a new CEO. Luke says he can’t believe all this and says Juliette spirals, Jeff died, and his son is shutting him out. Luke says he feels responsible but she says it’s not his fault and he’s doing the best he can. He asks if he is then kisses her. Gabriella tells Luke they can’t do this and he asks why. She says it’s inappropriate and he says he wants to know how she feels and says he likes her.
He says he thinks she likes him too and says she’s the one good thing in any of this. She says okay but it’s best to keep it quiet and says she’s not good for his brand. He says he won’t keep it from Colt. Shep tells Scarlett sounds check and she tells the fans goodbye. She says what’s the point without Gunnar. Caleb calls and she says she’s going into soundcheck. She asks to call back in 20 but he’ll be in with a patient. She says it’s not a good time and he asks when it will be. She says they talked about this.
He says he’s the only one trying and she says it’s not fair. Scarlett is called for sound check and she ends the call. Then Scarlett asks Erin to adjust her sound and Gunnar butts in and says Erin knows what she’s doing. Rayna works with Markus and she says the last verse needs work. He says let’s take a break. He comes in and asks what’s up. She says it’s not him but she’s preoccupied. He asks to hear about it and he asks if Maddie is stealing cars and she says she was offered a deal at Sony and Maddie wants it all right now.
Markus says what they don’t see is the distorted view of the world and you forget who you are and why you started making music. They agree it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Avery comes in and finds Will working on music and Avery says he thought he had someone locked in his room. Will says he’s trying to work through some feelings and says he’s terrible at it. Avery asks to hear the song. Scarlett and Gunnar do their show and Scarlett signals Erin to turn up her mic and she does.
She signals again and Erin turns up the boards too high and everything fritzes and shuts the show down. The crowd starts booing. The lights are out and everything. It’s a disaster.
Erin scrambles but it’s not coming back up. Gunnar tells her they can do it the old way and he unplugs. He starts playing and he and Scarlett do an acoustic set. Everyone holds up their phones. They sing really flirty. Erin isn’t pleased. The audience is lit up with phone lights and they are killing it. Shep is vibing too. Everyone but Erin is happy. Will plays the song for Avery who says he didn’t know it was hitting him this hard. Will says Kevin was his first and only love and says he feels like he lost his music too.
Avery says that song is amazing. He says he needs to quit hiding out and play. Will says this is too personal for public but Avery says all great songs are then reminds him he’s stuck playing radio jingles. Will says he’s done performing and Avery says he doesn’t have to be the one performing. Markus talks to Rayna about things being too much for him when he was in his heyday. He says he did all the rock star clichés. He says success became excess then a problem. He calls them dark days.
She says not even her dad could stop her when she wanted to be a star and he kicked her out at 16. Markus says it’s brave and she says she thought she had it handled and says a lot of people try to take advantage and she wants to protect her girls from that. She says she sees that Maddie is exactly like her and she’s terrified. He says it’s harder because they have Rayna James for a mom. She says Maddie wants to go her own way but Rayna wants to hang on to her.
Markus says she turned out all right and he touches her arm. She says she needs to go home and deal and he says okay. She thanks him and he says it was his pleasure. He is totally vibing Rayna. Maddie is on the phone complaining about Rayna and Sony and hands Daphne her phone back. Daphne asks about the record deal and then says – they only wanted you. Maddie says she’s grown up and ready for things she’s not. Daphne says no one needs her and stomps off.
Frankie finds Deacon knocking down the walls and says he should be at home. Deacon says everything is fine. Frankie says he’s doing dry drunk. Deacon reminds him he’s not his sponsor and is way off base. Frankie tells him he’s about to knock the ceiling down and that gets his attention. Deacon tosses down the hammer and says he can’t do anything right and he walks out mad. Seth tells Scarlett that was a great save. He says Erin overcompensated and blew the fuses.
Erin tells Gunnar that this is not her fault and she says the board was crappy. She says she doesn’t have enough experience running a whole show. Gunnar says if she can’t do the job she has to get the hell off her tour because he vouched for her and she’s making him look like he just brought a whatever she is on the show. Scarlett watches and wonders since she thought she was going to have to deal with it because he would wimp out.
Deacon comes home and says he thought Rayna would still be at the hospital. She says she needed his help with Maddie. He says he has no idea what Maddie needs and she says she doesn’t know either. He says she won’t even talk to him. He says he doesn’t know what he did but it’s different. Rayna says Maddie needs them and Rayna needs him as a partner and co-parent. She says they fought so hard for this and he says she’s right.
He tells her he’s here. She says they need to be a united front on everything – buying a bar, raising the kids, everything. He says he’s scared of doing things wrong and she says they’ll do the best they can. She says she has an idea of what to do about Maddie. Scarlett tells Gunnar she saw him with Erin and he says she’s tired of hearing he’s not taking this seriously. She thanks him and says being away from Caleb is hard and hopes she’s not taking that out on him.
Gunnar says he’s not distracted by Erin, he’s just having fun. She says at least they can rely on each other musically and they agree it was pretty cool. Luke goes to talk to Colt. He says he knows they are still working through things but says he’ll be honest with him and says he’s seeing Gabriella and they’re starting a relationship. Colt says he was with her the night Jeff died. Luke admits it and then Colt flips the TV back on and ignores him.
Avery takes Will to the Bluebird and he’s upset that it’s songwriter night. Avery says he’s overreacting. Will says he can’t do it and Avery says come on but Will gets in the car. Avery is called to the stage. He says this song was written by a friend of his. Will backs out as he sees Avery starting to sing. He thinks about Juliette while he sings. Some in the audience are crying. He thinks about their wedding and her holding their daughter.
He’s got tears in his eyes as he sings. The crowd loves it and several are wiping away tears. Rayna calls a family meeting and asks Daphne to scooch over by her sister. She does with a sigh. Rayna and Deacon tell them they have things to talk about. He says they’ve all been going through tough times and they are there to help each other. Rayna says they know Maddie is a teenager and wants to express herself but they need to find a way to do it.
Deacon says Daphne may feel left out and says they are all a family and they both love them. Rayna says they want to support things that are important to them in the right way. Rayna says the two of them can sign at Highway 65 with one condition – they do it as a team. Maddie smiles – it’s not as good as Sony. Avery tells Will that it went great and says that heartache of his is universal. He says he tapped into it and says they all felt something.
Will thanks him for doing it and Avery says it’s been a long time since he’s played real music. He says a publisher was there and says whoever wrote the song should give him a call and says it’s not bad for a first time songwriter. Deacon and Rayna talk later about how well it went. He says he’s sorry he didn’t help her come up with the idea and says he’ll be more present. She thanks him. Daphne is thrilled and tells Maddie they’re recording artists.
Maddie says their mom only did that to keep her under her control. Erin comes to see Gunnar to apologize. He says she has good instincts but smaller venues are tricky and she says she wants to learn and stay on the tour. She asks if he’d share some tips. He says just ask. She tells him good night then he asks if that’s it and she only wants to stay for professional reasons. She comes into the room and says there are personal reasons as well. Scarlett calls Caleb and says being away is not easy.
He says he’s sorry for questioning her priorities but she says the tour means a lot to her. She says she needs him and he says the tour will be over soon and she says it was something tonight. He asks if they can talk tomorrow and says he has an early morning. He gets off the call and Scarlett hears Erin and Gunnar banging the headboard against her wall. She puts a pillow around her head. Rayna and Deacon are also in bed sweating and she says the manual labor at the bar is doing wonder for his biceps.
He says his construction days are over. She goes to take a shower. She tells him to come join her. Her phone chimes and he picks it up. It’s a text from Markus that says – great talk today, hope it helped.
THE END!