Damn, if Season 4 has made anything clear, it's that Luke Wheeler has some bad luck on Nashville . I used to think it was Deacon Claybourne who was the sad sack of the country crew, but Luke’s circumstances lately have really changed my mind. First, he started to take his brand public (like he was forming his own GOOP or something) and his first choice CEO, former label head Jeff Fordham, fell off a roof trying to stop Juliette Barnes from killing herself. Come to think of it, putting Juliette on his own tour was a mistake too. Then, Luke’s son, Colt, ran away from him, because Luke refused to believe what he saw the night that Jeff died. Finally, the circle of bad luck has kept moving, right in time for the winter break— Luke owes the IRS $40 million dollars in back taxes. Crap.
You see, the good old Internal Revenue Service popped in for a visit and told Luke that his business manager had been quietly siphoning money away from him for years and filing bad tax returns in order to hide it. Obviously, Luke didn’t know. Luke’s brand manager/girlfriend Gabriella decided that they'd pay it back, but keep everything quiet so as not to ruin Luke's brand. The IRS accepted their restitution plan and payback. They saved the brand! Except… all of this bankruptcy business got into the press, everyone knows, and they are dropping the country star faster than a pacifier at a day care. Luke is, needless to say, displeased.
So what did Luke do? He blamed Gabriella for all of it, including Colt running away. Gabriella aptly points out that all of this mess started way before she got there and she “bet on the wrong horse,” and damn, does she have a point. None of this is really Gabriella’s problem — Luke is just really bad at facing his own. He was bad at facing them with Rayna, he is bad at facing them with his money, and he is especially bad at facing his son. He tried to make up with Colt, but the teen wasn't exactly welcoming. When will Luke ever learn?
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