The second season of ABC's primetime soap alternates between bed hopping and country music business machinations. The opener finds Rayna (producer Connie Britton) recovering from a car crash, while her young competitor, Juliette (Hayden Panettierre), does her best to act concerned. After a spell behind bars, Deacon (Charles Esten), who was in the car with Rayna, attempts to get his life back in order with a new girlfriend (Christina Chang) and return to performing. When Jeff (Oliver Hudson), the head of Edgehill Records, steals the closeted Will (Chris Carmack) away from Rayna's new label, Highway 65, she concentrates her attentions on the delicate Scarlett (Clare Bowen), Deacon's niece. Gunnar (Sam Palladio), Will's songwriting roommate, also figures into the scenario, with Jeff sending him on the road with country superstar Luke Wheeler (Will Chase), Rayna's new boyfriend. And Gunnar forms a trio with his Bluebird Café colleagues, Zoey (Chaley Rose), Scarlett's best friend, and Avery (Jonathan Jackson), Juliette's guitar player. A new performer enters the scene in the form of Layla (Aubrey Peeples), a reality-show veteran who becomes Will's beard. Aside from Jeff, the other bad guys include Rayna's father, Wyatt (Powers Boothe), who serves time for financial misdeeds, and her ex-husband, Teddy (Eric Close), who marries his mistress (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) and attempts to put a crimp in Deacon's career. With several songs per episode, there's a lot of music here, and most of it is actually quite good (Buddy Miller serves as music producer). Britton may be the weakest singer, but she gives a strong central performance here. Compiling all 22 episodes from the 2013–14 second season, extras include a music special with the stars performing at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, deleted scenes, and bloopers. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)
Nashville: The Complete Second Season
Buena Vista, 5 discs, 948 min., TV-PG, DVD: $45.99 Volume 30, Issue 1
Nashville: The Complete Second Season
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