Tonight on ABC Nashville starring Hayden Panettiere returns with an all new Wednesday September 24, season 3 premiere episode called, “That’s Me Without You.” In the third-season opener, Rayna must make a choice between two men and two different life paths. Meanwhile, Juliette auditions for a film biopic; and Scarlett takes a road trip home. Included: a performance by Florida Georgia Line.
For those of you who are not familiar with the show, set against the backdrop of the Nashville music scene, the critically-acclaimed series follows Rayna Jaymes and Juliette Barnes. Both women face personal and professional challenges as they navigate their paths as artists and individuals. Surrounding them and often complicating their lives are their family, friends and, in some cases, lovers, as well as the up-and-coming performers and songwriters trying to get ahead in the business. Music City can mean so many things to different people. In “Nashville,” musicians and songwriters are at the heart of the storms driven by their own ambitions. Some are fueled by their creativity and passion for fame, others struggle to cope with the pressures of success and doing everything in their power to stay on top.
On tonight’s episode in the uniquely structured season premiere, a torn Rayna must choose not just between two men, but two directions that her life could take. Juliette, struggling to repair her relationship with Avery, auditions for the leading role of a film biopic. Meanwhile, Scarlett, determined to start fresh, embarks on a road trip home and bonds with an unexpected stowaway, and Will and Layla manage the fallout from his on-camera confession.
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?
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
Saturday at 6 pm, Rayna looks at two rings – one from Deacon and the other from Luke. Juliette tells Glenn she’s done being someone else. She’s looking for scissors. Her assistant hands them to her and she stomps into the bathroom. Layla and Will are at the Bluebird for him to perform and the show to film. Layla is still mad about his gay revelation.
Rayna talks to her sister about her marriage decision and then she calls someone and tells them she’s going to come tonight. She says she loves them. Tandy asks if she made up her mind and she says she did. Juliette hacks off her hair in her anguish over cheating on Avery. Will takes the stage and says a lot of artists he respects have taken this stage. He dedicates the song to his wife.
You have to look closely, but you can see that Chris Carmack (Will) is performing live on the stage right now and some of the parts with Layla were pre-filmed. They mentioned this on a promo for the show. You can definitely tell when they cut between the two. Layla is crying then walks out. Deacon stands out back and sees Luke pull up.
Luke comes up and punches him in the face and asks why he just can’t let her be happy. Deacon asks him the same. Luke gets back in his SUV and leaves. Rayna wakes to a kiss from Luke. He tells her he snuck away to be with her. He shows her the newspaper – with frontpage news about their engagement. He tells her what they have is damned near perfect. He says timing really is everything. She says she guesses it is. She looks distant for a moment but then embraces him.
Juliette pounds on Avery’s door and tells him she’s been up all night. She tells him she has to know what he’s thinking. He asks doesn’t she have a movie audition. She tells him she’s sorry and hugs him and begs him to forgive her. She begs him to forgive her then kisses him. He pushes her away and he says he’s not trying to be mean but can’t stand the sight of her right now. He tells her to go. She won’t, so he does.
Deacon plays his guitar when Scarlett comes in and tells him she’s done packing and asks for the mug he’s drinking from. He tells her it’s a new song he’s playing at the Bluebird. She looks at it and asks if he thought about the fact that Rayna is marrying Luke. He pushes at her about moving/running away. She says there’s nothing there for her. He tells her she has an uncle and cousin there.
Avery staggers in looking rough with a bottle of liquor. He says he has to get the hell out of town and asks to hitch a ride with her. Will peeks in on Layla and tells her he brought her coffee. He sets it down by her. She cries and asks if he ever felt anything for her, ever loved her at all. He says he did and she asks what they do. He tells her the camera crew is setting up so for now, they have to do the show.
Maddie plays her guitar when her Dad comes in. She snaps at him but he says it sounds nice. He asks Daphne to go so he can talk to Maddie alone. She protest but goes. Teddy tells her he knows it’s been harder but wants her to share. She says she doesn’t want to talk about it. He asks about Rayna and Luke and she says there’s nothing to tell.
She asks how she can talk to him about someone he hates. She asks how she can tell him that she wanted Mom to marry Deacon and not Luke. That stops Teddy. Tandy tells Rayna that Deacon is a jackass for asking her to marry him and says it was him trying to pull her into his drama. Rayna doesn’t see it that way and says she loved Deacon for a long time.
Tandy says her relationship with Luke is healthy. Rayna says she has to tell Luke about Deacon but Tandy says it’s a bad idea. Rayna says if she can’t be honest, she can’t marry him. Deacon hugs Scarett goodbye and says he’ll really miss her. The phone rings and he heads in and she goes to the car. Avery sleeps drunkenly in the car. Gunnar is hiding in the back of the car and tells her she can’t leave since she’s too talented. She tells Gunnar to get out. Avery yells at her to go and says his head is going to explode.
Gunnar says he won’t get out until she changes her mind. She tells him fine and says if he won’t leave, she’s going. She drives away with both the guys in her car. Juliette is hiding out in Avery’s apartment. She tells Glenn that he’s gone and they broke up. Glenn tells her that she has an audition to play Patsy Cline and can’t miss it. He says it’s too big a deal. He hauls her out of bed and tells her to take a shower and nail it. She tells him she’s right and says that’s what she does. They haul her out.
Avery rides with his head out the window complaining about the lack of AC. Gunnar calls Zoe who is mad that he’s with Scarlett. He says he was kidnapped and she says it’s not her fault. Avery tells her to kick him out at the next bus stop and she says it will be a while since she’s taking the scenic route. She asks Avery what’s up with Juliette. Gunnar knows and Avery tells him to shut up and the guys get in a slap fight. She slams on the brakes and threatens them both with the bus station and that stops them. But then the car won’t start. Gunnar says that’s not good and Avery asks where they are.
Deacon is being interviewed before his Bluebird performance. They talk about all the famous people that performed here. He asks about his collaboration with Rayna. Tom mentions Rayna’s engagement with Luke and if they will still collaborate. Deacon says he thinks things will work out the way they’re supposed to.
Rayna comes to see Luke at the stables and greets him with a kiss. He asks if she couldn’t stay away. She says they never got to talk about last night because they got carried away this morning. He tells her he knows he put her on the spot, but it came from the heart. She tells him she wanted to tell him what happened after that. She tells him Deacon came by her house and proposed to her after that.
He asks what she said and she says she didn’t say anything. Luke walks away from her angrily. Rayna sits and waits and Luke finally says he’s not sorry for being mad but he understands why it happened. He asks what she feels. She says she loves him but she and Deacon have this deep thing that’s about what was and what could be.
Luke says he knows she’s the one for him but she needs to figure out who or what is the best for her. He tells her he can go stag to the charity event tonight and says he won’t rush her. He tells her to let him know what she wants to do. He kisses her and goes.
Scarlett and the guys wait in the hot sun for the tow truck. She tells him the dispatcher was crabby and he says that a bad childhood doesn’t mean you get to be a jerk. She tells him some scars run deep. Then he blabs that Juliette slept with Jeff and then stops and asks what’s going on with her. She says she pictured herself married to him, living in Nashville. Avery says he always thought he didn’t deserve her. Gunnar comes out of the woods and says he thinks he got chiggers.
At the audition, they tell Juliette that Patsy just got into a big fight with her husband but still has to sing so she does Crazy, but mournfully with lots of emotion. She gets teary as she sings. As the song progresses, she looks to be in more and more emotional pain. Tears stream down her face. Towards the end her voice breaks and she can’t sing the last line. Glenn looks worried. Juliette says she’s sorry.
Rayna looks through her old mementos from Deacon and her and their long life and career together. She looks at albums, photos and letters. She plays a couple of records and thinks back to them singing together on stage back in the day. She thinks about finding him passed out drunk in bed and begging him not to do this again. We see her talking to Luke back in the day volunteering to cover when Deacon was drunk and didn’t show up.
Maddie tells Teddy she didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. He tells her she didn’t and that he doesn’t hate Deacon. He says without him he wouldn’t have Maddie. He tells her he also doesn’t hate music. He tells her and Daphne to go get dressed and she asks if it’s a mayor thing and he says sort of.
At the repair shop, they tell her that it’s a sign that she shouldn’t leave Nashville. The mechanic asks if she’s the singer that had that nervous breakdown. She says she is and he asks if she ever got help. She says she did. She asks Gunnar where Avery is and he says across the street at Happy Hour.
Rayna comes to see Deacon and he tells her not to do this. He says he’s changed and she says she has to and that Luke can give her something that he can’t – a clean slate and no addictions and bad memories. Deacon tries to convince her and Rayna says their lives will always be connected. He tries to take her hand and tells her they’re in love with each other. He tells her it was all meant to be so they could be right there in that place and time.
Rayna says they need to stay just like this. Deacon kisses her hand and begs her to come to the Bluebird tonight and sing with him and then tell him she’s going to marry someone else. Avery sits at the bar and a local flirts with him and tells him her ex is selfish, unstable and no good. He says his is too. She tells him to buy her a drink.
Scarlett and Gunnar sit at a table and she tells him she can’t believe that guy recognized her. Gunnar says she has more friends and family in Nashville and says she can’t drive away from her problems but can fix her mistakes. Avery drunkenly complains about his ex and says she was selfish. He accidentally touches the woman and her ex BF – who is giant – screams at him to get his hands off his woman. Scarlett and Gunnar shove him in the car, crank it and peal away. The giant chases them down the road.
Glenn comes in and finds Juliette crying and sobbing – she cut off more of her hair and she says she lost Avery, her soul and the part. Glenn tells her the producers loved her and they want to screen test her for the lead. Glenn says she can sit there with bad hair or go for it. She say she feels sick and he says he’ll get the doctor but he won’t let her throw away the opportunity of a lifetime because she got dumped.
Will looks for Layla after his set and she calls him a psychopath and says she just can’t pretend to be happy like that. They’re jumping back and forth in time. We see Deacon wiping away blood from his lip where Luke punched him and Rayna taking off Luke’s ring and trying on Deacon’s. Will says maybe they should just call it quits before she gets any more hurt. She agrees.
Their producer comes in and tells Will the set was amazing. She asks why they wanted to see her. Will tells her that they want off the show and Layla says they’re splitting up. The producer says if they have to opt out of the show, they have to explain why. She shows them some material from last night, including his confession that he’s gay.
She tells them the network doesn’t want a show about a gay cowboy and his naïve wife. Avery and Gunnar tell each other they love each other. Avery says Scarlett is like his girl bro. Gunnar says he thinks the mile markers are going the wrong way and asks if she knows which way she’s going. She says she does.
Juliette looks at her new shorter hair. The doctor says he has a preliminary urine test and she asks for something to sleep. He says he can’t give her anything because she’s pregnant. Maddie, Daphne and Teddy show up to the Bluebird. Deacon is pleasantly surprised then asks them if Rayna is on the way. Maddie says she doesn’t think so. They sit and Maddie thanks Teddy for bringing her.
Luke is at his charity event and they ask where Rayna is. He says they need to focus on the foundation. At the Bluebird, Tom introduces Deacon as a gifted songwriter, talented performer and his friend. Luke tells them the ring is seven carats but he can’t comment on the wedding. Then Rayna shows up and he’s pleased as punch. He walks to her on the red carpet. She tells him she’s sorry she’s late. She tells him she loves him. The press asks for a shot of the ring and she proudly holds it out.
Chip Esten (Deacon) is also performing live at the Bluebird. He sings a song about broken promises breaking Rayna’s heart. It says he let everything fall apart and that he was a fool. It’s all about him being a brand new man that knows how to love her. We see Rayna showing off her ring at the event with Luke and chatting happily and smiling at Luke. Then she gets a far away look and seems a little sad. Florida Georgia Line is performing now and Deacon is singing and playing along with them as the credits roll.
THE END!
