thoughts on the Nashville season finale.

Well. I thought that was brilliant, though I didn't think the whole car crash cliffhanger ending was necessary. For one thing, enough exciting stuff happened during this episode; trust me, Show, I'm tuning in next season. For another, I feel like storylines like what this could potentially turn into-- by which I mean Horrible Tragedies that cause all of the main characters to reevaluate their priorities, reflect on What's Really Important in life, and forget about the current, very real, problems that they are facing (I'm looking at you, Smash, with your whole "Kyle's death magically cures Jimmy of his drug addicton and makes him a better person" nonsense)-- are really cheap from a storytelling perspective. Maybe this storyline won't turn into something like that. Here's hoping.

Aside from that, though, like I said: brilliant. I was really dreading Rayna's secret coming out. I thought that it was awful of her to not tell Deacon that he was Maddy's father for all those years, and I thought that at this point, she really just needed to take it to her grave. But the thing is...

1) She very well might have taken it to her grave, had Maddy not figured it out on her own, and let's face it: Maddy is thirteen years old, and she figured it out on her own pretty darn easily. If Deacon didn't at least suspect she could be his, he had to be in pretty deep denial. Or if, like Rayna suggested, he simply didn't remember that he had slept with her within the timeframe that she could have become pregnant with Maddy, that speaks volumes about his state at the time, too. Also...

2) Until this episode, we had never seen what Deacon was like when he drank. We only knew him as a nice, reliable, in-control guy. We've seen the clear love and chemistry between him and Rayna. Despite the discussions that he, Rayna, and other characters have had about his alcholism and his multiple stints in rehab, Rayna-- am I right, people?-- seemed kind of cold for turning her back on him and marrying Teddy so quickly all those years ago. It seemed like she had decided just not to "let" him be Maddy's father because she wanted to be with Teddy, and it made things easier for her. That seemed like a selfish decision. But this episode? First off, as my mom said when we talked about this on the phone, it didn't really take that much to make Deacon start drinking again. If this is the type of thing that could set him off, then Rayna really, truly had good reason to suspect that she was not going to be able to count on him to stay sober and be a father. Second of all, when he drinks, he drinks CONSTANTLY, from the time he wakes up until the time he passes out, every day. Third of all, he is violent and a liar when he drinks. So, yeah. It makes sense that Rayna was willing to let Teddy raise Maddy as his own and not even tell Deacon that she was his. She honestly had no way of knowing what he might do in that situation, and she had every reason to be scared. The only thing I don't get (and my mom agreed with me about this, too) is why Teddy even took a paternity test. If he was willing to raise Maddy as his own and didn't care that she might not be his, why even find out? It might have one day been necessary to find out for medical reasons, or something, but even then Rayna would have had plausibile deniability, like, "Oh, we knew she COULD have been Deacon's, but it was such a slim chance..."

3) So, Deacon reacted to the news that Maddy was his in a way that proved that Rayna had very good reasons for not telling him. Maddy's and Teddy's reactions were actually pretty great. Yeah, Maddy shouldn't have run and told Deacon. Yeah, she flipped out on Rayna a little bit. But that scene near the end, where Rayna told her that she hoped that she wasn't mad at her forever because they need each other, and then Maddy came and sat on her lap and cried, was just amazing. Yeah. Not everyone has great parents, I realize, so what I say next isn't going to apply to everyone, but the thing is-- even though you might not agree with or understand everything your parents do, they generally do have your best interests at heart. Rayna may or may not have done the right thing by keeping this secret from Deacon; at this point, I understand her reasons and don't feel like making a judgment on whether she was completely right or completely wrong. Life's more complicated than that. But I do believe that she did what she thought was right for everyone, not just herself. I'm glad Maddy was at least willing to let her in at the end, even if she will probably be dealing with this for a long time. And Teddy? Man. Generally, I think he's kind of skeezy, making shady deals with Rayna's father and sleeping with Kimberly Williams-Paisley (Peggy, I guess her character's name is) and all. But I loved when Maddy said she wanted to come live with him, and Rayna started to freak out, and Teddy just calmly said something along the lines of, "This is how she needs to work through this. Trust that I won't keep her from you." It's nice to see Teddy and Rayna start to learn to deal with each other as rational adults post-divorce, you know? Because they do need each other and are tied to each other no matter what, you know? I also loved-- LOVED-- when Deacon drunkenly came at him, like literally trying to ram him in the stomach with his head, and Teddy was just like, "You were a drunk and still are. Rayna and Maddy both deserved better, and still do." But then when he turned away and straightened his clothes, you could see that he was about to cry. Great acting there, Eric Close!

So, obviously this was the storyline that dominated most of the show, and my attention. However, Hayden Panetierre also did some very nice acting as Juliet dealt with her mother's death, and it was very touching how all of the other characters, including Rayna, rallied around her. Aside from that, Gunnar proposing to Scarlett was stupid; though yes, they have known each other for awhile, they became a couple in the wake of his brother's death, and he has spent the majority of their entire romantic relationship-- which seriously, hasn't it only been going on for like a month or two?-- dealing with it very badly. However, I LOVED the end, when they cut between the different characters with just music and us unable to hear their dialogue: Rayna and Deacon fighting; Gunnar proposing; and Will (a.k.a. the cowboy played by Luke from The OC)just shaking his head barely, almost imperceptibly, at the guy he had presumably hooked up with. Very effectively done.

Oh. And Peggy's pregnant. Of course she is. Stupid Teddy, getting himself in over his head all the time.

Great first season, Nashville! Seriously, this has consistently been the most compelling show this year. Loved it!