Despite Deacon's (Charles Esten) repeated refusals, Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) continues to try to woo the singer-songwriter to dump his tour with Rayna (Connie Britton) and sign an exclusive contract to join her on tour. Deacon's refusal, despite his concern over noticing Rayna's growing uncertainty about going on a small, intimate tour with the man she used to love, isn't the teen starlet's biggest problem as Juliette's mother (Sylvia Jefferies) shows up at the record label, the recording studio, and later her home, trying to hit up her daughter for money she can use to pay for her drug addiction.
Rayna and Teddy (Eric Close) also are forced to deal with the reality of that her halted tour, his failed business dealings, and his campaign are all putting a strain on their limited resources as the family is blowing through more money than they have to spend. Rayna is less than pleased with the terms her father (Powers Boothe) offers for a loan which would severely limiting Rayna's ability to tour or even perform locally in Nashville. A conversation with her sister (Judith Hoag) gives Rayna insight for the first time why her father has always been so dead-set on squashing her career.
And Scarlett (Clare Bowen) and Gunnar (Sam Palladio) head into the studio to record their demo but the musicians' first attempt is nearly derailed by the young woman's nerves. Scarlett isn't comforted by Watty's (JD Souther) solution of having Gunnar record the songs with a different singer to help sell the pair as a songwriting duo. But, in a nice twist, it's her boyfriend Avery (Jonathan Jackson) who steps up to the plate and convinces Scarlett to give it one more try.
The episode isn't bad, although the clumsy last-second twists involving Juliette shoplifting and her mother moving in certainly don't bode well for next week's episode. The frank discussion between daddy and daughter only partially works to flesh-out their dynamic as the show's premise for his hatred of his daughter's chosen profession is pretty damn half-assed. The continued Deacon/Juliette drama feels a little too drawn out, but it appears (hopefully) any discussion on him joining the young woman's tour has been resolved. On the plus side I was very pleased with the choice to use Avery as more than the selfish prick we've seen so far and let him be the one to convince his girlfriend she has what it takes to fulfill her dreams.
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