Nashville 2.08 Review: Get Tough Or Move On

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Nashville, entitled ‘Hanky Panky Woman’, now would be a good time to go and do that. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

As always, this series brought it this week. This series is easily the most consistently good show on television. I really feel like I’m invested in these people’s lives, that I’m in it with them, and that inclusion is beyond brilliant writing and acting. This season is definitely building on how good last year was and just making it even better. I actually enjoy watching this every week and am sad that I now have to wait two weeks for a new episode.

We learned a lot about the characters this week. Jeff toyed with Scarlett before her very first stadium performance and it ended up kind of crushing her, but then she seemed to make a comeback the next night. Problem is, it seems like she’s not too happy with all that performing and fame bring, so basically she’s just going to fake it. She did really well performing the second night, I’m not sure why she wouldn’t think she’s good enough, but insecurities do that to a person.

While Raina and Luke heated things up in their relationship, both physical and musical, including an amazing duet, which I’m going to say Gunnar and Scarlett did better, her troubles with Jeff hit its climax. Basically the man sequestered her masters only for her to go out and do a duet partially in hopes that it would help him get his quarterly so that she might get her masters back. Definitely some brilliant back and forth between them tonight. Also, does anyone else agree with me that Jeff has a thing for Raina beyond a work relationship?

Elsewhere, Juliette’s relationship with both Charlie and his wife got mixed up. Olivia basically made it appear as though Charlie had told her and thought it would be a good idea if they hooked up too. I was not at all surprised by Juliette’s reaction, and was quite proud of her speech to the couple spurred on by advice from Avery – who we all know she has feelings for in some capacity. And then Charlie shows up at the end and says he’s falling in love with Juliette. Major (girl) squeal moment right there. I kind of adore Charlie, so I’m hoping something persists between the two because I’d be utterly disappointed if he stopped showing up on my television every week.

All in all, this week was a quality episode. Raina looked amazing, particularly her hair when she sang that duet with Luke. Scarlett also looked fantastic with her make-up both nights and her hair with the pink tips. Deacon looked like his character was going to move forward with a life away from the guitar but still consisting of music. And everyone else had some nice, quality progression for each of their individual storylines. Also, nice throw back to the first time Scarlett and Gunnar practiced poolside together. It really made me miss them performing together. This series really is a nice, homegrown, drama-filled, heartwarming, character production.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“In case you haven’t noticed, there’s no one I can’t say ‘screw you’ to.” – Juliette explains to her manager.

“Well, you ain’t dead yet.” Scarlett says to Deacon, after he tells her that he’s screwed up every solo career chance he’s had.

Alright, I’m off to watch the last new Revolution episode of the year before it goes on its winter hiatus, and God knows how long that’s going to be. Afterwards, I’ll be checking out American Horror Story: Coven, so stay tuned.

Nashville 2.03 Review: Sometimes Talking About It is the Best Thing

This is a warning. All those that have yet to watch Wednesday night’s episode of Nashville, entitled ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk About It Now’, then now would be a good time to exit your screen. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Amongst all the other crap series that are being pushed out these days, this series is a gem. Along with fellow series like Revolution, The Blacklist, and a few others, this series is just beautifully done. The writing is tight, the acting superb, and the music is perfect for the tone of the show. Not only that, but the cinematography is also wonderful, particularly during Juliette’s concert for the Wentworth couple’s fifth wedding anniversary. Which reminds me about how much I love the clothes on this series as well. Juliette’s specifically are always fabulous, and quite fitting of her character.

I can’t recall if this show has explained it quite yet, but why did Raina name her label Highway 65? What was the significance? For the life of me I can’t remember, and every time it’s mentioned, I wonder. Also, whatever the significance, obviously it wasn’t big enough for me to remember that detail, you’d think I would.

As always, the characters were very well done in this episode. Aside from Juliette and Deacon’s progression, I particularly liked seeing Gunnar in this episode. Just the way he stared up at Scarlett, it was clear as day that he’s in love with her… It makes me wonder why I can’t have that. Also, can I just express how madly attractive Charlie Bewley, who played Charles Wentworth in this episode, was? Especially with that accent.

While I did see Charles making a pass at Juliette coming, though I thought it might’ve come sooner, this was still a great episode. Depth, emotion, character development, all in realistic ways. The only way a show can grow an audience is if the audience can relate in some way to one of the characters, even in just a small way. So I definitely think this series is doing quite well, and I look forward to future weeks. Although I really do hope Raina gets her voice back, it’s going to be rather tedious if she doesn’t.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Where’s the bachelorette party?” – Scarlett questions Will, with excellently quick execution.

“Are you gonna tune it, or breast feed it?” Juliette asks Avery.

“I already made your afternoon.” Raina tells Liam, after he asks her if she’s going to make his night.

So, I got to tired last night to watch American Horror Story: Coven, and since I don’t have that channel, I’m off to watch that online and review it now. Otherwise, next is The Crazy Ones, Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, and Grey’s Anatomy. I’m probably not going to get to The Vampire Diaries tonight, though. So expect that tomorrow night.

Best Performances of the Week: Nashville's Scarlett and Bones's Sweets

Welcome to the third edition of Best Male and Female Performances of the Week. This is a weekly update that will occur, for the most part, on Thursday’s – or shortly thereafter – once I’ve finished watching and reviewing the past week’s worth of episodes, where I will single out one male and one female performance that I believe merits special attention for the week. This, like my reviews, will be based solely on my opinion of the shows I watch in a week, and if you don’t like who I’ve picked, well that’s just too bad for you, go off and make up your own mind.

This week my choices came out of a pot of sixteen series’ (and if you don’t know which, go check out my reviews from the last week). For any not caught up in  and Bones, please feel free to exit promptly from this blog. I am not a spoiler free source for shows. THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Best Female Performance of the Week:

Clare Bowen as Scarlett O’Connor in this week’s second episode of the second season of Nashville. Although I quite enjoyed a number of female performances this week, particularly on this series, as well as the character that’s quickly becoming my favourite female this season Charlie on Revolution, Bowen’s characterization managed to stand out above the rest. Though, to be fair, I might have chosen Spiridakos had I not highlighted her performance last week.

This week, Scarlett played most prominently against three characters on Nashville: Gunnar, Avery, and – most significantly – Deacon. The way Bowen just subtly made her character appear awkward against Gunnar was quite realistic for the character. She also managed to almost play down any reaction to Avery, who so obviously wants to get back in her good graces. But what stood out the most was how stubborn she was acting opposite her character’s uncle, as he struggled with possibly never playing the guitar again. The way she pushes his character, and stands strong against him, despite how weak-willed she was early last season when it came to Avery, not only shows an improvement in the character, it demonstrates how much stronger her acting has gotten.

While this is the first time I can recall ever witnessing her acting skills, I still think the very fact Bowen is able to play Scarlett is quite astounding, and I would definitely be willing to check out her other performances after this. Also, can I just highlight how awesome her hair looks? I mean, I’m completely jealous of how she kind of resembles an old time movie star, with a vintage kind of style. Also, her voice is wonderful, being that I am not a fan of country music.

Best Male Performance of the Week:

John Francis Daley as Dr. Lance Sweets in this week’s third episode of the ninth season of Bones. While I at first thought I was going to choose Justin Hartley in his short appearance as Patrick on Revenge, Daley won me over with his performance as Sweets this week.

The variety he was able to intone into his character this week was just astounding. Normally, Sweets is this happy go-lucky kind of guy, with this almost geeky sense of humour, but after Pelant used Sweets profiling of his coworkers to their disadvantage, he was left guilt ridden and needed to feel useful to society. Enter, this center that he’s been giving back to the community through. It creates this whole new Sweets, that’s more driven, and has more of a backbone than he previously had. He’s standing up for himself and becoming his own person, without having to rely so heavily on Booth in the field.

One particular reason I think Daley’s performance this week stood out above all was because of how good he is at a more dramatic role. As I said, normally this character is a lighter kind of persona, but with all the drama that Pelant has created, Daley is able to play his character at a deeper level. Humour and a light air are certainly useful when dealing with the often strange and gruesome material that Bones handles, being that it is about murder, but drama is also necessary. Finally being able to see a deeper version of Sweets is a refreshing change, and something I’d very much like to see more of with Daley. I know he writes comedy, but he can definitely do drama.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, that’ll be all for tonight. My apologies for both the lateness, and if it’s not quite as good as the last two, I’m running on three hours of terrible sleep, and having worked an eight-hour shift. I’ve been up since nine thirty this morning, had three red bull, three coffees, and been through several spurts of burnt energy. I’m tired, had to go to a great uncle’s funeral, and turned out to be the only one of my first cousins to actually go (and I come from an Italian family). You can tell all this by the over hour long time it took me to write what will likely be my poorest blog review… Okay, maybe that medal’s already been given to one of my How I Met Your Mother or New Girl reviews. Anyways, to make a long story short, no Haven review tonight, unless I wake up fully rested in the middle of the night (okay, the middle of my night, aka most people’s day). Okay, I’m signing off now before I write any more ramblings down.