The “Nashville” Season 4 winter finale put all the couples on the ABC drama through the wringer. While Deacon’s (Charles Esten) jealousy caused problems with Rayna (Connie Britton), Scarlett (Clare Bowen) had to decide if she was ready to change her life for Caleb (Nick Jandl). Meanwhile, Luke (Will Chase) discovered the downfalls of mixing business with pleasure. With so much drama, not all of the couples survived episode 10.

Rayna and Deacon: Markus suddenly disappears before a live interview. When Rayna finds him, he claims that he has made a huge mistake and he can’t do this. He worries the audience will think he is a fraud, but Rayna assures him he’ll be fine. That night, thousands show up for his concert, and it goes wonderfully. It seems that his worrying was all for nothing.

Afterward, he takes Rayna to a rooftop and they share a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Markus suddenly kisses her and claims they have chemistry. Rayna is shocked, especially since she directly told him that they wasn’t a chance for romance last week. “If we’re gonna work together, you’ve got to respect me,” Rayna tells him. “Respect my boundaries.”

After her dramatic night, Deacon brings her breakfast in bed. He is in a good mood and says that Markus isn’t that bad after all. Then, Rayna tells him about the kiss. Deacon and Rayna start fighting, but Markus suddenly texts and says that he is dropping the tour and moving to L.A. Deacon can’t believe Rayna is leaving to go see Markus in the middle of their fight about Markus.

When Rayna arrives, Markus claims that his band has suddenly reunited. She can’t convince him to stay in Nashville.

Deacon opens his new bar, the Beverly, and he and Scarlett sing a song dedicated to the venue’s namesake. Rayna is nowhere to be seen. When she finally shows up, Deacon is angry that she chose to go to Markus on his big night. Rayna reveals that the egotistic artist has left town, which essentially kills her label. Deacon claims it's good that Markus is gone, and Rayna storms off.

Deacon finds her later and apologizes. He remembers how intimate making music with her was, and he didn’t love the thought of her doing that with another artist. He assures her that he knows how important the label is, and he supports her dream. He says he wishes he could go back to when they were writing together all the time and Rayna asks what he’d do differently. That’s when he pops the question.

“Baby I love you so much. Will you marry me?” he asks. Rayna, of course, says yes.

Scarlett And Caleb: Scarlett and Caleb have a nice reunion when she returns from the tour. However, Caleb reveals that he was offered a position as head of a department at a hospital in Seattle. Scarlett can’t leave Nashville, and Caleb decides that he’ll turn down the job offer.

Scarlett asks Gunnar (Sam Palladio) if they could make their partnership work long distance. Gunnar says as long as she is happy, they can make it work. Scarlett doesn’t want to go, and she can’t hold her love back. She breaks up with Caleb, and the doctor immediately gets angry. He thinks she would’ve never looked twice at him if it weren’t for Deacon’s cancer and he is too “normal” for her.

Luke’s Money: The IRS visits Luke to tell him that his business manager has been embezzling money from him and several other clients. He owes $40 million in back taxes, and his business manager has suddenly fled the country. He has to start liquidating assets to avoid bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, the media finds out about the back taxes, and Luke starts losing business deals. He says that he lost his son because he was trying to protect the brand, and now he doesn’t have the brand either. It leads to a fight between him and Gabriella (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams) and they breakup.

He visits Colt (Keean Johnson) at his grandfather’s house. He apologizes and asks him to come home. Luke promises not to put work before his family again, and says that the brand is officially gone. “Wow, I guess you lost it all then, didn’t you?” Colt says before shutting the door in his father’s face.

Juliette and Avery: Emily (Kourtney Hansen) tells Avery (Jonathan Jackson) that Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) is finally getting treatment, but he doesn’t believe it. He thinks Juliette is manipulating them, and he gets angry with Emily for even seeing the pop star. Avery goes to his lawyer and makes sure Juliette can’t see their daughter.

When Avery tells Will (Chris Carmack) and Gunnar that he fired Emily, the boys tell him that it’s a bad plan. Emily is great at taking care of Cadence, and Avery is overreacting.

Juliette’s therapist visits and says that Juliette needs to see her daughter. Avery refuses, and the doctor says that he’ll have to one day tell his daughter that he is the reason Cadence and Juliette don’t have a relationship.

Emily comes over and Avery slams the door in her face. She comes in anyway and tells him that Juliette has done exactly what he wanted. She has acknowledged that she has a problem and gotten help. At this point, Avery is the only one holding Juliette back. Emily reminds him that Cadence will always be Juliette’s daughter too.

Finally, Avery arranges to send Candence to Juliette for supervised visits. However, it will be Emily supervising. He still isn’t ready to see his ex.

Elsewhere in the “Nashville” midseason finale:

  • Cash (Jessy Schram), a songwriter, was introduced. She offers to write with Maddie (Lennon Stella) some time.
  • Maddie wants a more adult sound, but Daphne (Maisy Stella) points out that they’re not adults.
  • Juliette has Oscar buzz.
  • Wade (Josh Coxx) hits on Will and says staying in the closet has given him everything he ever wanted. Will isn’t cool with the secrecy, though. “Turns out, I’d rather be me than you,” Will says.

“Nashville” Season 4 returns Wednesday, March 16 at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.

RELATED STORIES