Nashville Season 5 Episode 14 Review: A Fool Such as I
Tiffany Staton
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It's hard to believe we just watched Nashville's 100th episode.
Nothing exploded, no one died, no one eloped, and nobody cheated on anyone. Not a single punch was thrown. Someone was arrested, though, so I guess that's something.
While Nashville Season 5 Episode 13 focused on Juliette, Nashville Season 5 Episode 14 centered on Scarlett and Maddie. Both dealt with serious issues and consequences.
Most importantly, Damien stopped by to make the most awkward announcement ever: Three musicians and a baby!
Well, that's not exactly what he said, but that was his plan, at least at first.
We’re having a baby!
Damien [to Scarlett and Gunnar]
He wants to be a dad. He's 99% sure. He even went as far as putting an offer in on a mansion in Nashville. Is it just me or does Damien seem more like the fun uncle? It's easy enough to buy a house, but can he make it a home? He can definitely have fun, but can he show emotional support?
I honestly don't know because we barely know the guy. All we really know is he's a rich, accomplished musician.
Scarlett, we're told, knows him better than anyone, but I'm not exactly buying that, either. They were hooking up for, like, three weeks before he left, and she got pregnant. How much did they really learn about each other? It's not like their time together was spent talking.
Not only that but suddenly they're in love with each other? That seemed to come out of nowhere, as well. At this point, Scarlett doesn't even seem to be in love with Gunnar, but at least they have a long romantic history.
Scarlett: I wish I was having puppies so I could give one to everybody and we could all go on our merry way.
Deacon: That would uncomplicated things considerably.
It's more likely that Damien and Scarlett are just caught up in the moment. They created a life together, and that's exciting. Scarlett has more of an excuse than Damien because she's got those pregnancy hormones running through her, and HOW.
One second, she's telling Damien he's not the guy who settles down and raises a baby, the next she's pissed when he confirms it.
The poor girl is weaving a very tangled web, not just around herself but around Gunnar, as well.
Scarlett knows Gunnar loves her and wants to be with her. The fact that she's hesitant to choose him over Damien, coupled with the news that he's not the father is killing him. He's trying to be mature about it, but that's not exactly Gunnar's strong suit. He wears his heart on his sleeve.
What's worse is not only is Damien not the guy that settles down with a family but Gunnar IS that guy. He wants to be a dad, he wants a family, and he wants it with Scarlett.
When it comes to love, if it's not meant to be there's nothing in the world that can make it happen but if it is, ain't nothing in the world gonna stop it.
Deacon
When she finally chose between them (maybe?), I didn't blame Gunnar for not wanting to watch her cry over Damien.
Although, I'm not convinced her feelings are all about him. I'm sure some of them stem from being in this position in the first place – an unplanned pregnancy, no stable relationship, and little chance of raising the baby with the biological father.
While Scarlett was making a hard decision, Maddie was on the other end of one.
Maddie tries so hard to act and appear older than she is that I sometimes forget she's still a teenager.
She is young and confused, both of which are amplified by the loss of her mother. But there are no days off in the entertainment industry, and anything and everything that is said and done is of public interest. Nothing is off limits.
Maddie gets a dose of that during an interview when all of the questions appear to be about Rayna and how her death influenced Maddie's music. The clueless interviewer obviously didn't pick up on how uncomfortable he was making her. It was either his first day on the job or he didn't care; both are completely plausible.
But that situation was nothing compared to her and Clay's run in with the police.
I saw the scene in the previews and had some assumptions about it, but I was surprised about how it actually went down. For example, Clay asked for permission before he did anything – basic things like reaching for his wallet, opening the glove compartment and taking off his seatbelt.
I was surprised because I would never think to do that.
I hear a lot about white privilege, and I'm pretty sure Maddie illustrated it perfectly. The crazy thing is she didn't mean to. In fact, she had great intentions. She wanted to protect Clay. Instead, she only made things worse and ultimately highlighted the differences between the two of them.
I've learned some lessons in these mistakes I've made. One thing is for sure babe, life is long. Things change; nothing stays the same forever. You know that by now.
Deacon
I hesitate to talk too much about race because it is a sensitive topic, and I don't want to offend anyone. But it's also an important topic that shouldn't be ignored.
It is very clear Maddie and Clay grew up in different worlds. This is no more obvious when she and Clay talk later each explains what they were worried about in that moment. Maddie was upset they were being wrongly accused of a traffic violation; Clay was concerned about getting out of the situation alive.
That the video was online the next day is definitely true to the times, so why was Maddie so surprised? She was filming the cop herself. What did she intend to do with her video before she got arrested? Sometimes Maddie can be really clueless. It's in those moments that it's very clear she shouldn't be with an older guy.
Juliette did her best to comfort her, which of course involved professional advice regarding damage control.
Juliette: Do you feel like you did something wrong?
Maddie: No, I don't. That's the thing.. it just looks like I did.
Juliette: If you feel alright about it then great. Own it. Stand up and take whatever comes. I know you've heard the expression there's no such thing as bad publicity, right? Well in this day and age, it's the truth.I'm not saying it's right, but at least you've gotten everyone's attention.
Juliette's right – in this day and age there is no such thing as bad publicity. Hell, the Kardashian's built their whole empire on it.
Clay's decision to break up with her was a long time coming. Not only are they from different worlds, but they're at different times in their lives. Maybe they'll find their way back together in the future but now is not the right time.
The best thing for Maddie to do right now is to take the pain and put it into her music. The song at the end showed that's exactly what she's going to do. Hopefully, this isn't the last we see of Clay. He's really developed into an interesting character, one to admire.
Side notes:
- I knew Juliette was going to steal Maddie's song the second Travis handed her the CD. How long will it take before it blows up in her face?
- Kaitlin Doubleday made her first appearance as Jessie Caine, and her debut song was FANTASTIC. It also seems like she might have a little crush on Deacon. More than that, it seems like Deacon may be fond of her. Are we ready for that?
- Bucky showed exactly why he needs to stick around when he talked Deacon into playing at The Blue Bird. His impression of Rayna wasn't the best, but the message was dead on.
What did you guys think? Let me know in the comments!
If you missed this episode, you can always watch Nashville online via TV Fanatic.
Tiffany Staton is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
