Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 2, Episode 6 of ABC's "Nashville," titled "It Must Be You."
"It Must Be You" features the anticipated exposure of the Nashville elite and their role in the music industry. Headed to the polo match, Rayna tells Tandy that she feels out of place at "big hat events" and we soon see it's not just because she's typically down to earth. As she roams through the sea of J. Crew, Rayna is temporarily robbed of her Queen of Country status -- a simple performer amongst the people who fund and require performances (and also literally autographs and photographs in this setting).
Deacon, Juliette and Luke Wheeler are also less celebrated amongst the big hats. Our exposure to the place of music industry titans in this highest echelon of Nashville society really puts the structure into perspective. And Rayna's failed quest to obtain donors for Highway 65 only exemplifies the fact that the lil' old country singers are dependent on big money, no matter their influence elsewhere.
Introducing this scene through Charlie and Olivia Wentworth allowed Juliette and Rayna's plot threads to remain delightfully tangled. Any growing up that Juliette may have done last week, does not refute her apparent love for danger/trouble/illicit sex. She rolls up in a body-con reinvention of country club chic, ready to play hard-to-get with the rich and powerful Charlie who has set out to woo her. But -- as we can read from Rayna's warning and the reaction of various hat-wearing ladies -- the Wentworths are not a couple to be messed with.
Heck, "People magazine named Charlivia the most powerful couple in the world!" They are the kind of people who have fights that end in "I'm taking the jet, find your own way home." Yet, that's not enough to scare off wrong-headed Juliette. Instead, the fight and Rayna's harbinger of doom seem to compel her into Charlie's arms, where she is almost immediately found out by Olivia herself. Mrs. Wentworth's terrifyingly Blair-Waldorf-esque reaction is everything we need to know about the sabotage that will surely follow.
This big hat Nasvhillians are playing in a different league. Removed from the the event, both Rayna and Juliette seem instantly more at ease. Yet, though their respective confidence returns, our knowledge of this other world hangs over their respective goals and desires. Unable to procure funding, because of Lamar's current charges, Rayna seems almost forced into pushing for Scarlett's place in Luke Wheeler's tour -- a development which yields his romantic interest in her as an almost dark turn of events. To see the ever-strong Rayna pursue something with a man she is not interested would be a paradigm shift in her moral character that would almost completely alter the landscape of the show.
Loose Ends
- Scarlett slept with Avery and I kind of didn't hate it! Maybe because he has been pretending to be super wise and mature for so long ... he's actually becoming super wise and mature? Something about Avery feels softer and their chemistry was a satisfying foil to less-than-compelling Gunnar and Zoe.
"Nashville" airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
