The heart is a lonely hunter, especially when you’re 17. On Nashville, Maddie (Lennon Stella) was struggling to come to terms with the idea that Clay — despite his amazing qualities — might not be the one for her. Meanwhile, her younger sister, Daphne (Maisy Stella), was just getting her feet wet in the boys department, having some awkward social interactions with a classmate who clearly liked her. Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) was exploring new relationships, too, though hers was with God (she seemed as surprised about this development as everyone else). Here were the seven biggest moments on the Thursday, February 2, episode.
Juliette Goes to Church
Juliette’s recovery seemed to have expanded beyond the physical to the spiritual, and she accepted Hallie Jordan’s invitation to join her at church. (Hallie Jordan was the woman who found Juliette after the plane crash.) Juliette also tagged along to see Hallie sing to a group of school kids and joked that if she stuck with her, she was going to end up making an album.
Rayna Invites Juliette Back to Highway 65
Zach Wells continued his quest to make Highway 65 a powerhouse on the music scene, telling Rayna (Connie Britton) he wanted to acquire another label called Wheelin’ Dealin’ (which happened to be owned by another country star who Rayna happened to have dated way back in the day). Though nothing was set in stone yet, Rayna paid a visit to Juliette and asked her if she would be open to coming back to Highway 65.
After she got over her initial shock, Juliette said she wanted to make a gospel and spiritual album next. After Rayna got over her initial shock (there was a lot of shock going around during this chat), she said, “Whatever you do next, I want it to be on my label.”
Maddie Accuses Rayna of Being Racist
After a brief discussion about the new security system Deacon (Charles Esten) had installed in the house in an attempt to stave off Rayna’s stalker, Maddie went into meltdown mode and accused her mom of hating Clay. “He’s 24, and you guys clearly hate him because he’s black!” Maddie screamed. Rayna replied that his color didn’t matter, but he was too old for her. “Does he know he can go to jail for this?” Rayna asked.
“If he was your age, I would say, ‘Yes, you go girl! You love whoever you want!’ But he’s not your age. He’s 24, and he’s too old for you,” Rayna said. Maddie stormed off, and Rayna said she was worried about her. “She needs you so damn much,” Deacon offered. “That’s what makes her mad.”
Maddie and Clay Break Up
Ironically, after freaking out on her mom about not liking Clay, Maddie and Clay got into a big fight and ended up breaking up anyway. They were hanging out, having fun, when Maddie decided to ask him about his mood swings. He didn’t want to talk about it, and when she pressed, he said she was “really young,” and he thought “maybe this was a mistake.” He then accused her of being scared of him, and she admitted she was.
She asked him who started the fight that landed him in the hospital, and he said he never hurt anyone but himself. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” she sighed. She went back home and had a heart-to-heart with Rayna about the fight. Rayna said she wasn’t going to judge anybody for relationship choices because she’d made plenty of bad ones in the past, but she hoped Maddie knew that she deserved to be happy. Maddie then listened to a voicemail from Clay in which he broke up with her. So that settled that.
Zach Wells Has a Weird Interaction With Will
While Rayna was busy chatting with the owner of Wheelin’ Dealin’ to see if he was ready to sell to her (he was), Zach wandered around backstage at the concert they were at and found Will (Chris Carmack). Zach told Will he’d love to get to know him better while he was in town and said he thought Will was really “special.” Though nothing he said or did really stood out, something about the interaction was a bit off — and Will could definitely sense it.
Rayna’s Stalker Finds Daphne
Daphne had finally gotten the courage to talk to her crush when Rayna’s stalker approached her and tried to give her an envelope to give to her mom. He insisted he was a friend of Rayna’s, but Daphne knew better and ran away. Rayna and Deacon showed up at the school completely freaked out, but Daphne said she was fine and asked if she could just go back to class.
Maddie and Clay Get Back Together
After stewing for a while after their split, Maddie showed up while Clay was performing on the street and basically made him un-break-up with her. He didn’t put up much resistance, to be clear, but she was obviously not taking no for an answer.
Tell Us: Do you think Maddie and Clay will work out?
Nashville airs on CMT Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
