“Nashville” Season 3, episode 12 was highly emotional. Deacon’s (Charles Esten) sister Beverly (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) came to town to see if she could help him with his liver transplant, and Rayna (Connie Britton) realized how much her history with Deacon was still affecting her. Meanwhile, their daughter Maddie (Lennon Stella) hated that her parents weren’t telling her anything. Jeff Forham (Oliver Hudson) might have found a way to lure their daughter to Edgehill Records while her parents weren’t looking.

Deacon told his AA group about his cancer, but he still hadn’t told some of the people closest to him. He wasn’t talking to his family much at all. Maddie was angry that her biological father kept canceling their time together. Yet Deacon couldn’t avoid all of his family. His niece Scarlett (Clare Bowen) invited her mother, Deacon’s sister, out to Nashville.

Deacon tried to yell at Scarlett for inviting Beverly, but then Deacon couldn’t speak. He started stuttering and looked panic when he couldn’t get the words out. He was all right, but the episode forced him to tell Beverly that he had cancer. Deacon’s sister was mad that she was brought to Nashville under false pretenses. She thought they were trying to build bridges and fix relationships.

Scarlett claimed she did want to fix the family, but they needed to help Deacon. She begged her mother to see if she was a match for Deacon. “If you can’t do it for him, would you do it for me?” her daughter asked.

That got her to take the test. She even started to bond with Deacon more, but then the results came in. She said she wasn’t a match for Deacon, so he still didn’t have an option for a liver transplant. Beverly packed her bags, and Scarlett discovered that she was actually a match. Beverly just didn’t want to have a major surgery for Deacon.

“You drank. You made the choice to destroy your body, and I just don’t think it’s fair that it’s up to me to save you,” Beverly said.

Gunnar (Sam Palladio) was trying to reconnect to his family. His nephew Micah (Gunnar Sizemore) was having trouble at home. He was fighting kids at school and disrespecting his grandparents. Apparently his grandparents told him that his father Jason was a bad person and a criminal. So Gunnar tried to show his nephew the good things. He took him around Austin and showed him some of the places he used to go with his brother. Gunnar explained to Micah that his father wasn’t a bad person. He just made too many bad choices. Eventually, Micah’s behavior started to improve and he agreed to see a therapist.

While Gunnar was letting go of his brief stint as a parent, Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) was getting cabin fever while waiting to have her baby. Job offers weren’t coming in, and the only endorsement offer she got was from a diaper company. She decided to head back into the studio, but that didn’t go so well. The baby was on her diaphragm and prevented her from catching her breath. She even tried to go back to the studio in the middle of the night, but it still didn’t work. Avery (Jonathan Jackson) told her not to worry about her career. It would still be around after the baby was born.

Rayna’s career was in trouble too. After calling off her wedding, she hadn’t been seen in public for a while and rumors were flying. Rayna had to out do Luke in her return to the public eye. Bucky (David Alford) wanted a big spectacle, but she decided that she just wanted to play the Bluebird in an unannounced performance.

Rayna invited Sadie (Laura Benanti) to the Bluebird gig with real-life country star Pam Tillis. Sadie explained that she’d been gone for a few weeks because of the flu (though it was really the black eye that he ex gave her) and was dying to leave the house. However, Rayna decided she couldn’t go on.

As Rayna arrived at the Bluebird, she flashed back to all of her memories there from Season 1. She remembered singing “No One Will Ever Love You” with Deacon and trying to stop him from driving drunk before their accident. Suddenly, she realized that she couldn’t do the gig anymore.

“You were right, there’s just too much history in there,” Rayna said.

When Rayna got home, Maddie tried to ask about the show and if Deacon was there, but Rayna didn’t want to talk. Her daughter tried to press the subject, but Rayna stopped her. “It’s just been a really trying time, and I’m certainly not going to drag you through it,” Rayna said as she started to break down in tears.

Maddie realized that she was too harsh on her mom. She apologized and explained that she was upset that Deacon blew her off. “It’s like he just disappeared,” Maddie said.

“The thing with alcoholics is they drink so they can escape, and even when they stop drinking sometimes they still need to escape,” Rayna explained.

The two wrote a song together that they would perform at the Bluebird later that night. Maddie told Rayna that she wanted to sign to record label, but neither of them knew about Jeff’s proposed record deal.

Jeff wanted young blood at the label. He was looking for a kid – Rayna’s kid. Jeff showed up at Maddie and Daphne’s (Maisy Stella) school in the recording studio that he helped fund. Their father Teddy (Eric Close) happened to run into Jeff while he was watching the girls sing. The label head tried to convince Teddy that Maddie could be a star, but Rayna Jaymes’ ex-husband wasn’t interested in fame.

Apparently, it only takes one parent to sign a kid to a label, but Teddy knew that he wasn’t the only parent that mattered (especially since Maddie has three parents). He reminded Jeff that the girls were a duo, but Jeff only wanted Maddie. In a conversation with Maddie, she emphasized that she was old enough to start a music career and didn’t want to wait for her sister to grow up. Still, Teddy knew that signing the girls wasn’t an option, so he didn’t even tell Maddie about the offer.

Later, Jeff called Teddy to meet and claimed it was urgent. He sent a contract over, but Teddy said no. Jeff revealed that his job was on the line and so was Teddy’s. “I don’t think the good people of Nashville would take kindly to their mayor’s salary being used to pay for sex,” Jeff threatened.

Earlier in “Nashville” Season 3, Teddy unknowingly hooked up with a prostitute that Jeff set him up with. Jeff made it seem like he was doing Teddy a favor, but it seems it was a part of a master plan to be able to blackmail the mayor of Nashville.

“Nashville” Season 3 airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC. Do you think Teddy will have to sign the contract? How will Rayna react? Sound off in the comments section below!

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