BWW Recap: It's Still Winter, but NASHVILLE's on Fire

There's nothing like a multi-thousand dollar diamond necklace to welcome your newest recruit to a record label... especially when it's send in care of her mother- Rayna James. We haven't seen Rayna as desperately passionate about anything this entire season (her wedding doesn't count- she handled that very calmly and rationally, albeit a bit emotionally). It's absolutely fantastic, and why I love Connie Britton. Rayna's fury isn't the only conflict of the night, however; Deacon is frantically Googling his potential life expectancy- while attempting desperately to avoid Maddie.

The world's most dysfunctional couple (well, one of them, anyway) returns to attempted civilization. Will has plans to move in with Gunnar, while a lowly Layla- who passed her psych evaluation- sits in a stupor, dead set on leaving Nashville as soon as possible.

Part of me wants to be sympathetic towards Teddy during his confrontation with Rayna (the most contact the two have had, by the way, for at least 5 or 6 episodes). The dramatic irony here is on point- he's putting on a somewhat believable (albeit jerky) façade to cover the fact that he's being blackmailed. Aside from the fact that this will not end well for Teddy (does it ever?)- I'm surprised he doesn't just tell Rayna, thus saving himself a large argument and attempting to settle this from another source (what Rayna is, in fact, now trying to do).

As much as I want to believe the Sadie anxiety has come to a head- I know that isn't even remotely the case. Her sweet moment with Avery was the highlight of the episode for me. Laura Benanti's acting (obviously) cannot be beat, and I'm on the edge of my seat with just as much anxiety and worry as Sadie is- NASHVILLE writers (and casting) are doing something right with this one.

Thank goodness Teddy finally comes around (though it meant a pull of the Deacon card on Rayna's part) and tells Rayna the truth. Well, not exactly the truth- but close enough to it. Finally Rayna and Teddy are on the same side, fighting for the same thing, together. It's far from the best of circumstances, but it's a hell of a lot better than where we were 20 minutes ago.

Annnnd Maddie and Deacon's scene takes top billing for sweetest moment (so far...there's still 20 minutes left, mind you). Maddie's music giving Deacon the will to not only live, but also fight, is priceless- and his tears nearly made me choked up myself.

Sidenote: I'm not at all a fan of Luke Wheeler, but he, Will, and Gunnar make a pretty adorable bromance. And I'm sure one helluva song will soon come out of it. And Deacon and Scarlett's moment when she realizes he's going to fight the good fight also takes the ranks as one of the sweetest moments all night.

Sadie finally comes clean to Avery of all people, giving her the fire and strength to confront her ex (though I'm sure it's not the last we'll see of him), and mimic the drive I was so happy to see in Rayna just a few scenes ago. This episode is so full of passion and I am completely eating it up.

Rayna prances into Edgehill with a strut and a smirk that is just delicious. She's raging war on Jeff Fordham and I couldn't be more excited to see what comes of it. Anger, fire, and passion (I'm running out of synonyms, okay?) look amazing on Connie Britton. And she knocked it out of the friggin park.

A bit of a shorter review tonight- yes, we saw a lot of passion, anger, and drive- and I loved it. The character arcs are fabulous, the second half of this season is really picking up in a way I often claimed the first half didn't. Did a ton happen? Not really. Was it exciting to watch? Absolutely.

What was your favorite part about tonight's episode? Rayna coming out on top, Jeff getting fired, Sadie Stone standing up for herself and recording one helluva song, or something else? Let me know in the comments or tweet me @WendiReichstein!

Photo Credit: ABC

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