Tonight on ABC Nashville starring Hayden Panettiere returns with an all new Wednesday October 1, season 3 episode 2 called, “How Far Down Can I Go.” On tonight’s episode, Will’s debut album soars to first place, so a displaced Rayna gets proactive with her publicity. Elsewhere, Juliette gets shocking news; Layla seeks Will’s help with her career; Deacon witnesses Maddie’s rebellious side; and Gunnar and Scarlett collaborate on a song.
On the last episode, in the uniquely structured season premiere, a torn Rayna had to choose not just between two men, but two directions that her life could take. Juliette, struggled to repair her relationship with Avery, auditions for the leading role of a film biopic. Meanwhile, Scarlett, determined to start fresh, embarked on a road trip home and bonded with an unexpected stowaway, and Will and Layla managed the fallout from his on-camera confession. 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, after Will’s debut album bumps Rayna’s to second place, she’s more determined than ever to make Highway 65 and her record a hit. In turn, she decides to pursue some new and unexpected opportunities for publicity, including a visit to “Good Morning America” where her friend Luke Bryan surprises her on stage. Layla becomes especially disgruntled about her fleeting career and pressures her husband Will, Edgehill Records’ new #1 artist, to help her rebuild it. Meanwhile, Juliette deals with some life-changing news and prepares for a big audition, where she runs into some familiar competition. Then later, Maddie continues to act out while Deacon deals with the brunt of her adolescence, and Zoey becomes paranoid about Gunnar’s past with Scarlett. Her suspicions are only heightened when she finds them collaborating again on a new song.
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?
RECAP: Rayna brings Bucky and a reporter to see the future home of Highway 65. The reporter asks when the wedding is and she says no date. He asks what Luke whispered to her on stage and she says that’s the point of whispering. She refuses to talk to him about her relationship. He tells her he can’t guarantee to talk about her label unless she gives him some scoop. She refuses.
Scarlett finds Deacon looking bad and asks if he wants to talk. He says no. She tells him he’s in the weeds and she gets it. She says Maddie is coming over and he needs to do more with her than sit on the floor and look out the window. She tells him to start with a shower and a shave. She hands him a cup of coffee and he tells her she’s a pain in the ass and he doesn’t know why she came back but he’s glad.
She says Gunnar can be persuasive. He says he thought they weren’t talking and she says they weren’t and now they are. Gunnar kisses Zoe and asks her to move in with him. He tells her it’s stupid for her to pay rent on an apartment while she’s on tour. She says she’ll think about it but has to go to a wardrobe fitting.
Juliette’s dresser shows her some dresses and she complains then asks her to change the station. They are looking for an outfit that will look Patsy Clinish. Her song comes on the radio and she wants it off immediately. She gets a call from the doctor and takes it in private. Tansy and Rayna are at their dad’s house and they wonder where to start with his stuff.
Rayna says she’d like her mom’s portrait and some of her mom’s jewels. She says the interview was a waste of time but she got the keys to the office. She asks Tansy to come pick out an office. Rayna gets a text saying her album was bumped to number two by Will. Layla shows up to tell Will, on camera, that his album went to number one above Rayna’s. He tells her it’s huge and she tries to play along.
He pulls her aside and asks if she’s okay. She asks how he can ask that. She says she has no career, can’t get a divorce and her husband is… he interrupts. He says he can help her but she says there is nothing he can do to help her. She runs off. Juliette talks to the doctor to find out if it’s confirmed. She says she’s always careful and has only had unprotected sex once. She tells her doc she wants to “take care of it” as soon as possible. She says she’s made her decision.
Jeff is at a board meeting talking about Will’s number one album. The boss of the parent company complains that Edgehill is not doing what they expected. He says Rayna and Juliette both bailed and Jeff says he has big plans. They tell him that he has a problem with women and that he can’t have the label be one of only male artists. Jeff start sto panic and his boss says he’ll fold the division if the bottom line doesn’t improve.
Rayna rants to Bucky and Tansy about losing her first place slot. She says she’s not on track to make gold and all her other albums have gone platinum. They try to tell her that the industry has changed. Bucky says he can get her press and she says she doesn’t want to talk about Luke. He tells her that Will offers full access to his life and she says that’s not her but Bucky says the rules have changed and what got her there won’t keep her there.
Maddie and Deacon are furniture shopping and she complains about everything. She tells him her whole life sucks. Him on tour sucks, her mom marriyng Luke sucks. Juliette runs lines with her assistant for the Patsy Cline project. She yells at her to get Avery’s boots out of the room. Juliette says she wants to purge all of Avery’s stuff out of her life.
Avery is at the Bluebird and a new waitress, Nadine, brings him a drink. Zoe comes over and tells her it’s bothering her that Gunnar begged Scarlett not to leave town. She says he did all that then asked her to move in with him. She says it’s beg but doesn’t want things to be weird with Scarlett. He tells her to talk to Scarlett because he was drunk most of the road trip. Nadine tells him that his GF seems upset and he says that’s not his GF.
Jeff and Will meet for dinner and Jeff says they need to make plans and strike while the iron is hot. Will wants to talk about Layla but Jeff says he need to focus on himself. Will asks him to put her album back in motion and get her an audition for the Patsy Cline movie. Jeff agrees. Scarlett shows up to Gunnar’s and says she’s looking for Zoe. He says she’s there but sleeping because she was out late at rehearsals. She tells him she likes the house and he takes her to see the studio he’s building.
She says it’s cool and says he’s doing well for himself. Gunnar says he got lucky and asks her to take a look at a song he’s working on. Deacon tries to build Maddie’s dresser while she complains. She asks why he didn’t buy one put together and he says it was the only one she didn’t complain about. He tells her that he loves her but her attitude sucks. He says he hasn’t done anything. She says her mom is marrying Luke because he’s too pathetic to fight for her.
Deacon snaps and says he asked her to marry her but she says no. He says the fantasy is over and they have to let it go. She storms out. Gunnar sings his song for Scarlett. She listens and then joins in singing. Zoe watches through the window with a pained look on her face then walks away. Rayna thanks Luke for coming with her to her dads and about her album dropping in the rankings.
He tells her that not all albums go gold and that with her dad’s estate and his money she could always stay home and be Mrs Luke Wheeler. She laughs happily. Deacon tries to talk to Maddie. She opens the door and he tells her he’s sorry. She cries and goes to him. He says he shouldn’t have told him about the proposal and she asks how her mom couldn’t have chosen him.
He says she had her reasons and they have to respect that. He says the good news is Luke won’t have him on the tour now so they’ll have time together. She says she wishes it could be him and he says he does too. Jeff brings Layla to the audition but is really short with her. He introduces himself to Sadie Stone and asks if she’s auditioning. He tells her she should come over to Edgehill. She says she’s flattered and he flatters her some more.
Juliette comes in dressed in her Patsy outfit. She says she thinks she was born to play the part. They ask her to start with the first scene. She seems to do a really good job. Rayna goes through her mom’s jewels and shows them to Luke. She says her mom was the original Steel Magnolia and she wanted to be like her. Luke says it must have been incredible to grow up like this.
She says it’s over rated and Luke says growing up broke is over rated. He talks about growing up poor and Rayna says he had a good family. He tries to talk to her about her family. She says her dad gave the city his best self but his daughters were another story. He asks if that’s why she never had nannies for her girls. She says if you put too much distance between you and what you love, you lose out.
He tells her she should keep something of her dad’s but she isn’t interested. Scarlett and Gunnar work on his song and he says that his agency will be happy to have both their names on the song. She doesn’t want her name on it and says it’s not a co-write and she just tweaked what he wrote. She says she doesn’t need it and can’t and then grabs her stuff and runs out.
Rayna looks around her dad’s room then opens his closet. She looks at the wedding photo of her parents on his desk and a framed copy of her first album she didn’t seem to know he had. Zoe is rehearsing but is messing up. She apologizes and the choreographer tells her to get her act together. They are told Juliette won’t be there and practice is canceled. Zoe complains and the choreographer tells her that she should count herself lucky.
Juliette looks away as Jeff brings Layla in for her audition. After she goes in Jeff tells her it’s amateur hour to come dressed for the part to an audition then asks if she’s packing on pounds to play the part. She storms off. Rayna and Tansy look over papers from the auction house handling the estate. She shows her the album and asks if she knew Lamar had it. Tansy said he had it there for years. Rayna says she hates that he tried to take credit for her success but says she did get her ambition from him.
Luke rehearses for his tour. Deacon asks a stage hand where his crap is. The guy walks off and Deacon glares up at Luke onstage. Luke calls for a break and thanks Deacon for coming down. Luke says they need to talk about the tour. Deacon asks why he’s not fired and Luke says he’s tired of watching his stupid decisions wreck his career. He asks if it’s punishment and Luke says it’s just business and him on his tour is good business. Deacon tries to quit but Luke says he has a contract and can’t.
Rayna tells the girls she’s thinking about extending her tour and that means she won’t be able to come home as much. She says she has a lot of press to do. Rayna says they will stay with their dad and Deacon and at home with her when she’s in town. She says it will last about a year. Daphne tells her to go for it. Maddie complains about her marriage to Luke but refuses to talk more about it.
Gunnar is working in his studio when Zoe comes in. She sits on his lap and says she just hasn’t got to see enough of him. She tells him she’ll move in and he tells her he’s glad. Jeff is on the phone and his assistant says Will wants to know how Layla’s audition went. He says it’s junk but that Layla can tell her husband. Will meets with Layla and she says the audition was bad and that Jeff won’t push for her.
Layla tells Will that he owes her everything and she owns him. She says she doesn’t need Jeff when her husband is the number one country artist and her husband is taking her on tour. He says he has to check with Jeff and says this came out of nowhere. She says “I’m gay” came out of nowhere. She tells him she hates him, won’t forgive him and and won’t let him get in the way of what she wants. She sees the cameras and dries her tears and pulls him close telling him not to forget to smile.
Juliette drops off a box of Avery’s stuff but he sees her. He says it’s nice she can love him one day and drop off his stuff and run off on his doorstep on another day. She tells him she made a mistake and begged him to forgive her. She says he was too busy with Scarlett to care that Charlie flirted with her. She says she is dealing with her mistake and they can be really truly done now that he has his crap back. He slams the door as she stalks off.
Rayna is packing for her press junket and tells Luke she’s decided to play the game. He says next thing she knows, she’ll want her own BBQ sauce. She asks what that’s like having his face on stuff. He says it just lets him have the life he wants and says he doesn’t even know what it tastes like. She tells him the press is insane and wants an exclusive on the wedding and honeymoon. He offers to run off and hide with her but she says she doesn’t want that. He tells her once the press machine starts, it won’t stop. She holds his hand and says she’s okay with that.
Scarlett knocks on the door of the studio and apologizes to Gunnar for running out. He asks her to come in and she says she can’t write with him right now because she doesn’t know who she is right now. She says she has to find her own voice before she can add hers to someone else’s. He tells her that Zoe is moving in and that he wants to spend time with her before she goes. She thanks him for bringing her back and says it was the right thing.
Maddie comes to Deacon’s and she’s pleased with her new dresser. She says she has a lot of stuff to put in it since her mom is going on an extended tour. He says Luke is making him go on the tour because of his contract. He says he’s going to come back all the time. Maddie is upset and says everyone is leaving and says he was right – the fantasy doesn’t exist. She asks if they can just play their guitars.
Tansy tells Rayna that she’s resigning from the label. She says the music business is her thing, not Tansy’s. She says she wants to love what she does and Rayna asks what she wants to do. Tansy tells her she’s been working for a non-profit in San Francisco. She says she’s going to California for now. She says she spent years being Lamar’s daughter and Rayna’s sister and just needs to be herself. Rayna tells her she’ll miss him.
Nadine finds Avery at the Bluebird and says she heard his ex was Juliette and that makes it hard to compete. He says it isn’t and then grabs her up in a rough kiss. Juliette sits in her doctor’s office and is annoyued that her song is on the speakers. Rayna is on Good Morning America. But then Luke Bryan is there and Rayna tells the crowd she has added 40 dates to her concert tour.
Then the host asks Rayna about the other Luke. She asks about the proposal and Rayna says he whispered a little something in his ear. She says he was complaining about her trick knee and that’s why she didn’t realize what was happening. Luke tells her he has ring envy and then Rayna gets ready to sing. Juliette sits on the table waiting for the doctor to come in.
Rayna does her number. The doctor tells her that she has to tell her how far along she is. Juliette thinks she’s four weeks along but the doctor says it’s eight weeks. She realizes it’s Avery’s baby not Jeff’s!
