Nashville “That’s the Way Love Goes” 

Nashville ties up some loose ends before it takes a few weeks off with some celebrity cameos and great music.

The night starts out with Rayna prepping for her 10 year Opry anniversary show and asking Maddie and Daphne to make their Opry own debut in celebration. Maddie, of course, pesters her mother to invite Deacon. Earlier, Maddie had been trying to talk Deacon into coming over for dinner, not understanding that her parents’ relationship was a little more complicated than the two of them just being free of their latest significant others. But she manages to get them to both admit separately to loving one another. Later that night, Rayna calls Deacon to invite him to her show at the Opry and asks him to play with Maddie and Daphne. He asks to think about it, but you know he’s going to show up. And he totally does.

Across town, Scarlett, Avery and Gunnar are working out some songs having decided to give SAG another go. Their plans get fast-tracked when Gunnar gets a call about a chance to open at a Rascal Flatts arena show the next night. That’s when they realize SAG needs a real name. But Avery is sleep deprived and Scarlett has her own secrets to deal with (Deacon’s illness is under wraps and torturing her), so the two leave it to Gunnar to come up with something.

Looks like Deacon’s hot oncologist may be around for awhile. When Scarlett left Gunnar’s house, she goes to the hospital asks him to dinner and the two proceed to have the Worst. Date. Ever. Scarlett nervously starts talking about cancer and never shuts up. Dr. Hottie shakes her hand when the date is over and tells her if she’d like to talk about her uncle’s illness, to come by his office anytime. It was pretty awkward.

Layla and Jeff Fordham’s personal and business relationship is all hot and bothered. After Layla comes home from a meeting with Bucky, the lovers get into a tiff about her career but make up the old fashioned way in the kitchen. I like this hot, fired Jeff Fordham. He’s a jerk but it’s working, you know? And what he lacks in sensitivity, he certainly makes up in marketing genius (and probably kitchen prowess). He and Layla take matters into their own hands and release one of Layla’s singles on iTunes in hopes that Indie bloggers will pick up the track and start writing about her musical shift. By the end of the next day, her song has been downloaded 3000 times.

The next day is a biggie for Rayna and her girls. They arrive at the Grand Ole Opry only to be greeted by Mr. CMA himself, Vince Gill. Country singer Lorrie Morgan also has a cameo appearance in a scene with Teddy Conrad. He’s about to watch his daughters (accompanied by his nemesis, Deacon) make their Opry debut, when my favorite storyline emerges from the crowd—NATASHA! Oh yes, Teddy’s hooker hook-up has finally tracked him down after he’s blocked and ignored her calls. Well, guess what, Teddy? Someone is watching Natasha and they’ve seen you go to her house, but what he and Nat don’t know is that whoever is tracking Natasha have her house bugged and heard him talking to her about a cover story for their interaction the night he frantically dropped by. Teddy is such a disaster and I love it.

My favorite moment of the night was the Rayna and Deacon duet. Even though I was never a fan of Rayna’s relationship with Luke, it was sad to watch him watch them from backstage. You could see his realization that he never really had a chance with her all over his face.

Rayna and Deacon leave the crowd on their feet, but Deke is so overcome with the feelings that he bolts, leaving Maddie, her Momma and the Opry behind.

Across town, Gunnar, Scarlett and Avery are ready for their big debut—but still nameless and Gunnar is freaking out. When Scarlett comes in with the doctor (who’s giving her a second chance), he comments, “So you’re the exes?” and BOOM! A band name was born. The Triple XXXs. That’s way better than SAG.

The Triple XXXs hit such a high note with their set that Rascal Flatts books them for the next six tour dates. The three are ecstatic, and Dr. Hottie (his name is Caleb so I guess I should start calling him by his name) grabs Scarlett and kisses her. The look on Gunnar’s face tells me he ain’t over Scarlett, so get ready for some drama.

While everyone else was in Music City, Sadie Stone flew to New York to be interviewed on Good Morning America by Robin Roberts, who has made several guest appearances on Nashville. Robin asks Sadie about the lawsuit she recently settled with that scumbag ex-husband of hers, and in a moment of clarity, Sadie lays it all out there on national television. The rage on her ex’s face as he watched Sadie tell the world about his abuse makes me think we’ve not seen the last of the creep and I hope Sadie kept that gun.

The last scene leading into a several week hiatus is the moment I’ve been waiting for. Rayna finds Deacon out at the lake, and she’s upset that he won’t return her calls. When she asks him to never leave her, Deacon FINALLY blurts out that he’s sick, he has cancer — and Rayna is so stunned and upset that she slaps him and collapses in his arms sobbing. And that’s it. End of episode until, like, who knows. And not even a preview of what’s coming!

The next Nashville fix happens on March 25. That’s when the cast performs on stage at the Opry in Nashville: On the Road 2.

Nashville airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on ABC.