Nashville recap: 'You Can't Lose Me'

We left our friends down in Nashville in a precarious place last week, so let's jump straight into the action:

Scarlett wakes up afraid and alone, clearly having a response to the whole gun-to-the-face incident, while Gunnar sleeps — well, tries to sleep — on the couch. In the morning, a less-than-refreshed Gunnar (seriously, those are some bloodshot eyes) is heading to the police station to try to identify the kid with the gun. Scarlett opts not to go with him, but when she gets back into bed, she's clearly in some discomfort. And when she looks down, she spots blood.

Deacon rushes her to the hospital, where the doctor confirms she can't find a heartbeat and breaks the news that Scarlett's baby has died. The doctor assures Scarlett that it wasn't caused by the events of the previous night; sometimes these things just happen. Scarlett is in shock. When Deacon shows up to be with her, she asks him to let her be alone to give birth.

When Scarlett and Gunnar get home later that night, Gunnar rushes to change the bloodstained sheets, but Scarlett once again asks to be left alone. Gunnar leaves, and Scarlett hugs the blanket they wrapped her stillborn daughter in, sobbing. Back at his own place, Gunnar is furious with himself and with the kids who held them at gunpoint. Will can't understand his rage, but since Scarlett has asked him not to tell anyone they lost the baby yet, Gunnar can't confide or seek comfort. Instead, he reimagines a scenario from the night before in which he takes out the kids and protects Scarlett all at once. Gunnar falls into a fitful sleep and wakes up thinking the kid with the gun is standing over him.

Deacon tries to keep the news to himself too, but when faced with a scheduling conflict with Jessie, he ends up explaining Scarlett's situation. The next day, Jessie shows up with a gift basket for Scarlett. At first, Scarlett doesn't understand why she's there or how she knows, but it soon comes to light that Jessie has suffered two miscarriages of her own, and the two women end up bonding over their shared experience as Jessie offers healing advice. When Deacon gets home and finds Jessie there, he's a little peeved that she let Scarlett know he confided in her, but Jessie sets him straight, explaining that she meant to just drop off the gift basket unseen and that she was able to offer Scarlett some comfort having been where she is previously. Once again, Deacon feels like an ass, and Jessie points out that she's only ever trying to be his friend and he keeps just reacting terribly.

Meanwhile, Gunnar is not dealing well with his grief or with being shunned by Scarlett. He decides to take things into his own hands and starts driving around seedy parts of town looking for the young hooligan who held them at gunpoint. Eventually he spots him, chases after him, and starts beating the s— out of him. The kid whimpers and begs him to stop, and Gunnar comes to his senses and lets him go.

(Recap continues on page 2)

Elsewhere, the single Juliette stole from Maddie is a roaring success. Zach is delighted and is throwing a party to celebrate (apparently, EW's even going to be there!). But first, Maddie has a show to put on, and Zach thinks it'd be great promotion for them both if Jules popped up for a duet of her new (stolen) song. How apt. When Juliette joins her young protégée on stage, she feels so guilty she can barely look at her, and the duet devolves into J singing on one side of the stage while Maddie tries and fails to engage with her. Yeah, it's a little awkward, but those screaming fans who come to every gig for every Highway 65 artist don't seem to notice. (Side note: In Juliette's defense, the song suits her voice way more than Maddie's. Controversial?)

The next day, a confused Maddie shows up at Juliette's wanting to make sure everything is okay between them. J lies and says she's just busy, but she really wants to make time to talk soon. Maddie, appeased for the moment, leaves after assuring Juliette she'll be at her party on Friday night — a party that Travis, the writer of the stolen song, just so happens to be planning to attend also.

Jules is freaking out that the truth will out if Maddie and Travis meet, so she decides to snag Travis tickets to another show to keep him out of the way. It almost works, but on the night of the big to-do, Travis gets done early at the show and turns up to celebrate with Juliette. Here's where it gets kind of funny. Juliette — ever the master schemer — convinces Maddie she's coming down with some sickness by touching her head and telling her she just generally looks like crap. The really great part is that Maddie buys all this somehow and is all set to leave.

Of course, she and Travis then choose the same time to congregate by the exit, and the producer spots Maddie, comes over to meet her, and makes a comment about forgiving her for passing on his song. Maddie is perplexed but (lucky for Juliette) doesn't manage to fully convey this to Travis before he walks off. But boy, does she convey her feelings to Juliette. Quickly putting together what must have transpired with the song, Maddie storms back into the party venue and interrupts Juliette's selfie taking in order to yell at her. She grabs a cocktail from a nearby tray and throws it right in her sometimes-mentor's face. There's gotta be a song in it for both the ladies, no?

The next morning, the spat is all over the media. Glynn encourages Juliette to apologize and bury the hatchet, so she heads over to the Jaymes household to do just that. A loyal Daphne opens the door and lies for Maddie, saying she's unavailable, so Juliette delivers her apology speech to the younger Jaymes sister — and, as Daph later points out to a listening-in-the-whole-time Maddie, she did seem to genuinely mean it. When Deacon inquires about the falling-out and the cocktail throwing, Maddie says it's something she has to figure out on her own.

Back on the Scunnar front, things are bleak. Concerned for his wellbeing when she can't reach him on the phone, Scar heads over to see Gunnar, then does the most comforting thing ever and breaks up with him. Let's backtrack a little: First she realizes he's been blaming himself and tells him it's no one's fault; it just happened. She explains that being pregnant made her question everything and she was terrified the whole time of making the wrong choice. Gunnar tells her that she's everything to him, and she points out that that's part of the problem: She can't be the only thing that makes him happy because the pressure is crushing her. She says she can't carry that weight anymore, but she also can't make him wait around while she figures things out. It's too painful for them both. They come to the conclusion that time apart is for the best, so it's quite fortunate timing when Avery calls up Gunnar and invites him to join him on the road.

The next day, Scarlett is painting when Gunnar comes by to get some of his stuff. She says she's going to go ahead and do the fundraiser they'd been planning without him. He one-ups her by telling her he's leaving town; he's been wrapped up in the two of them as a couple for too long and needs to figure out who he is. They hug goodbye.

At the fundraiser, Deacon bumps into Jessie and apologizes once again. She's worried the lines between personal and professional are getting a little blurred and so has decided she shouldn't sign with HW65 after all, which Deacon agrees is probably for the best. He introduces her to the girls as "a friend" before they run off to see Scarlett. Maddie and Daphne ask how the baby is, and Scarlett has to face the music and tell them about the miscarriage. Then she literally has to face the music by performing.

Before she sings, Scarlett delivers a heartfelt speech about the stigma of birth control, S.T.I.s, pregnancy, and miscarriages. She tells the crowd that as women, we're not alone, and it's important to fight for our rights and share our stories. She says she's here saying all of this for her daughter because she imagined a limitless future for her where we strip away secrecy and shame and it makes us stronger. Then she sings us out while Gunnar drives out of town and Juliette sits at home reading an article about Maddie. The episode closes on a box containing the baby blanket and a pair of socks Scarlett had bought for her unborn child. The wooden box is engraved with "Amelia Rose" — the name she would have given her daughter.

Let's hope for a cheerier episode next week?