Nashville is...not good?

[k2daisy]

I had forgotten how soapy the show Nashville was. Doing a rewatch in between eps of China Beach, and the most problematic character for me is Rayna James herself.

Connie Britton does a fine job, acting mostly with her hair and eyes, but they have put her in the Good Girl soap role, and so the contortions the plot and dialogue have to do to ensure she is always the better person in the scene is exhausting. SHE is the one who has had a emotional affair with her ex-boyfriend during her entire marriage, but somehow it is the husband who is in the wrong. SHE is the one who has secretly raised her ex-boyfriends' child as her husband's, but somehow it is the ex-boyfriends' fault she had to lie. And on and on and on. I want to like her and feel for her, but her "flaws" are always someone else's fault, and so she gets to walk around with worried eyes.

Honestly, by constricting Rayna's character, it gives Juliette a chance to have a much wider range of emotions and experiences. She is pushing against herself, her past, and her image to try to figure out who she really is and who she wants to be, and even at her brattiest she is compelling.

It's still only season one, but so far Scarlett remains an uptight pill with incredible chemistry with Gunnar. At least she is consistently self-righteous and rigid.

Avery is on a side quest now that he is out of Scarlett's life. I don't remember what happens to him, and I can't remember if I was watching the show when he finally got together with Juliette but I am looking forward to that part.

Even though Deacon is the glue of the show, being the one person connected to all three women, I honestly forget he exists until he shows up. I mean, Charles Easton is handsome enough and he has his own sad story and "demons", but he is kind of forgettable.

I do enjoy the singing still, though. I think Rayna does less of it as the series progresses, but she sure does a lot more than I had remembered. Her voice is...ok. Juliette is a bit better. The lyrics for both of them are terrible and predictable. Scarlett is the best of the women, and her duets with Gunnar remain magical.

But they all have terrible, syrupy accents.

Comments

[denynothing1]

Interesting! I recall being fairly engaged with the first season and then drifting away, though I don't have any idea why. I do have it on my list to re-watch, but confess the only character I remember with any clarity is Rayna, and that has a lot to do with her being played by Britton. I think Juliette was little and blonde? I don't remember anything else at all.

I did like the show enough to download some of the music back in the day, but I haven't listened to that in years either. It feels like this all happened a long time agao, though surely it wasn't *that* long!

[k2daisy]

Ha I downloaded a number of songs too; I think after a couple of years most of the cast even did a concert tour in between seasons. They haven't quite hit that phase but there is a lot of singing going on even in the first season. Juliette is little and blonde, yes. Heh.

[lisforlilydale]

I never finished watching Nashville, bailing on the last season or two, and part of that was because of how its soapy factor, already present, turned up to 11. And Rayna was always the worst! But you mentioning the show makes me want to do a re-watch because the show had its moments, and I did really enjoy some of the music.

[k2daisy]

Yeah, I didn't watch the final seasons for the same reason. I am curious on this re-watch if I can pinpoint why/when I bailed on it. LOL!