The cliffhanger (or one of them, at least) that Nashville left its fans with at the end of the show’s third season has finally been answered, and I’m super grateful that the Nashville gods were kind enough to let the cat out of the bag early in the Season 4 premiere. Deacon is alive on Nashville , everyone! He survived his liver transplant, but, unfortunately, his sister and donor, Beverly didn’t fare so well.
While Deacon is seemingly cured of his cancer (so far, at least), Beverly had an aneurysm during her surgery. It turns out that she was taking supplements for menopause, and these thinned her blood and made the aneurysm worse. Now, Beverly is in a coma on a ventilator. This is drumming up all sorts of survivor’s guilt for Deacon, who blames himself for needing the surgery and a piece of Beverly’s liver in the first place. Even Scarlett — Beverly is her mother and they have a fraught relationship — told Deacon that it was not his fault at all and he needs to lighten up. I mean, Deacon is basically sleeping next to Beverly’s hospital bed and playing music for her 24/7. Who would have guessed that he’d take this to heart (besides everybody)?
While I’m glad that we know Deacon is alive, because I didn’t want to sit on three episodes of Rayna staring at a hospital bed, this storyline is a little tricky because Deacon is the ripest character for martyrdom on the show. He is Nashville’s Eeyore — always depressed and always a naysayer. Add to that some serious addiction problems (and a propensity to blame himself for everyone else’s problems), and you’ve got a Season 4 of everyone telling Deacon to snap out of it. He could even start drinking again, and that’s something that I definitely couldn’t watch.
For the sake of Deacon and the viewers, the Nashville writers need to lock this storyline down fast. Don’t let it drag into the season, especially when there are so many more interesting ones (like Juliette’s depression or Will’s coming out) to focus on.
Images: Mark Levine/ABC; Giphy (2)
