Season 4 of Nashville has been quite the rollercoaster, hasn't it? There have been pregnancies, drug addictions, new loves, and plenty of tears and screaming to go around. Nashville’s winter hiatus is nearly upon us, so dedicated viewers like myself will have to do without country crooning and bar fights for a bit — but for how long? When does Nashville Season 4 return from its winter break?
Sorry, super fans — you’ll have to wait quite a while until Gunnar, Scarlett, and Avery come back to your screen. According to TVLine, ABC has given Nashville an extra-long hiatus, bringing new episodes back on Wednesday, March 16. Winter hiatus? That’s nearly spring. Last year’s Nashville hiatus was, according to TVLine, a series-high eight weeks, and this is nearly 14. What gives? It’s rumored that ABC’s second installment of Secrets & Lies will keep Nashville ’s seat warm, so that could be why there’s an exceedingly long break for the Tennessee-based show.
Well, now that I will have some extra time on my hands, let’s talk Nashville’s stories this season. There are definitely more than a few plotlines that I would like to see wrapped up before the show leaves us until spring.
Avery’s Ambivalence Towards Juliette
While it's definitely important for television to portray postpartum depression, since it's something many women deal with that isn't often discussed, the focus of Juliette's struggle has largely shifted to her drug and alcohol abuse. Meanwhile, Avery has been particularly useless in this regard, staging one half-assed intervention and then not reaching out to Juliette when she went to rehab. It's time for Avery to make a decision: either give Juliette the support she needs and eventually rebuild the relationship, or officially get divorced, and make sure Juliette has another support system in place. Being stuck in the middle isn't helping anyone.
Will Never Being Allowed To Be Happy
I'll admit it, heartache looks good on Will Lexington. Avery sung a song of his at the Bluebird and bam — someone wants a publishing deal. That’s great and all, but it turns out that the man who wants to write songs with Will, a Nashville legend, is also a huge bigot who discriminates against gay people. Will has chosen his wallet over his dignity thus far, but knowing how this can’t end well for him, I’m hoping Nashville will just give him a break after the hiatus and let the guy find happiness.
The Scarlett/Dr. Boring/Erin/Gunnar Love Rhombus
Erin is just the gal that Gunnar needs to shake things up, but it’s so half-hearted on his part. He wants Scarlett. It’s obvious. Everyone knows it. Scarlett wants him too, but she’s stuck with boring Caleb. Scarlett and Gunnar made beautiful music when they were together and crappy music when they were apart, so why not push themselves further into success as The Exes and get back together? Then, the name could be ironic, appealing to new masses of Nashville hipsters.
If Nashville is going to leave us hanging for three months, resolving these storylines first is the least it can do.
Images: Mark Levine/ABC; Giphy (3)
