Rayna's funeral is a very intimate affair. I understand wanting a private family gathering, but in the real world where you don't have to pay for extras and name actors, Luke Wheeler would be there. His kid might be there -- well, not the one that barely existed, but the one that dated Maddie would TOTALLY have come back and caused her some romantic complications. (I guess last time we saw him, he was in the military. He MIGHT have an excuse.) Mario Van Peebles, head of the record company that gave Rayna her start, might've shown up. Laura Benanti probably would've flown in. Not to mention the fact that Rayna Jaymes totally would've had more intimates in Nashville than this. Oh, the constraints of a TV show.
Deacon reads the W.H. Auden poem, "Funeral Blues," which is perfectly Deacon because it's both beautiful and depressing. "I thought that love would last forever. I WAS WRONG," he gulps, much as you also remember from Four Weddings and a Funeral. It's a great poem but don't you feel like Rayna would've wanted something more life-affirming and less wallow-y, as proof that Deacon is CAPABLE of not irretrievably wallowing? I hope she haunts him a little about it.
Everyone is so sad that even Emily sobs all over Bucky, despite the fact that I am not sure they've ever laid eyes on each other before.
Tandy can't even deal with all the casseroles. Maybe she's thinking back to that time their mother died and Rayna got her period all by herself with no help at all from anyone because she was ALL ALONE because I guess that week Tandy was magicked out of existence.
Where is this? It looks like Rayna's house, but I did not remember her having castle walls.
In one agonizing moment, a foggy Tandy jams a tray of passed apps at Clay and asks him to help. Gunnar notices how awkward THAT is almost immediately and relieves Clay of his burden. You know, Gunnar and Clay would get along. Maybe Clay needs to come into the bromance fold. Let Avery, Gunnar, and Will be your dudes, Clay.
Juliette Barnes apparently decided Rayna's funeral was a great time to use Donna Martin as hairspiration.
Poor Scarlett is trying to hold everyone together, so she needs to take a second to weep on a curtain.
But Bucky goes and curls up on a couch and sobs his guts out. BUCKY! I'm so sorry. I hope you still have a job. You know who could make Bucky feel better, though? Who also treats his client like the daughter he didn't have? GLENN. I remember when there was a weird hint of Tandy and Bucky, and I'm fine with that, but I'm still here for Bucky and Glenn being each other's surprise Grief Bangs.
Teddy is also present, because I guess in Nashville they let you out of prison without any security so you can attend your ex's funeral. He also seens to think that, despite being in jail still, he and Tandy can be the girls' guardians. Nobody trusts Deacon to do the job -- and honestly, I can sort of understand why, even if I'm still mad at them about it. One of you is in jail. One of you moved to San Francisco and is going to be gone again in the next episode. YOU DON'T EVEN GO HERE.
Sniffle. These two are really confused about all the fighting, and have been asked to weigh in. Daphne realizes that if she picks Teddy, she hurts Deacon and might damage the great relationship they have, and if she picks Deacon then Teddy will feel like crap. It's an unenviable position. Maddie also feels bad about that whole emancipation thing, where the horrible things she said about Deacon entered the public record. YOU SHOULD FEEL BADLY, CHILD.
Speaking of grief bangs, Zach Welles and Will are finally starting to get right up in each other's grills.
Scarlett tells Deacon what a rough time Daphne is having, so he approaches Teddy at Rayna's death concert and tells Teddy to be the guardian because the prolonged fighting is hurting the girls too much. But because this moment came with like 15 minutes left in the episode, we all knew it wouldn't stick.
Juliette finagled her way into singing the old Rayna hit "Sanctuary" at the memorial, and I guess that was her cue to scoop out the cleav. SHe SHOULD have done it in tight sparkly pants and a blouse, because there is no other way to pay tribute to Rayna. But, Juliette gets an attack of the conscience and calls Maddie backstage, telling her that this isn't the right time to make the moment about Juliette's comeback. It's about Rayna, and Rayna's DNA should be paying the tribute to her.
Maddie starts to sing, but he poor kid completely loses it, so Deacon and Daphne rush the stage and my tear ducts erupt like very wet volcanoes.
And then, Daphne turns around and picks up the song, to everyone's astonishment. (Because everyone forgets Daphne is awesome. DON'T SLEEP ON DAPHNE YOU GUYS.) She puts the gang on her shoulders and carries them home. She is their emotional pack mule, but cute.
So the family Jaymes-Claybourne sings together a tune about being each other's sanctuary. clinging to each other all the while. If the extras were not in their seats sobbing, then they were not paying attention.
And what do you know: Teddy was listening, and watching, and tells Deacon he wants HIM to be the guardian, provided that when he gets out prison they can figure out a way to be there for the girls together. I can't imagine they will actually bring back Teddy, but I would be sort of entertained if Deacon pops by prison occasionally to ask for advice on how to handle Daphne's future lovelife crises. He's an inmate, and he's an alcoholic! Join us every week for a new episode of Behind Bars.