Goodbye Nashville. (Contains Spoilers!!)

Not the place (I wish), the TV show. I've been a huge Nashville fan for its full run of 6 years and I finally found a link last night to watch the - mostly blurry - series finale, aka the last episode ever! (the UK is about 2 weeks behind).

I'll just sum up my favourite and not-so-favourite parts below because I'm not going to go into a full breakdown. Let's start with the least favourite and end on a good note:

The least favourite parts:

Scarlett and Gunnar - They. Didn't. End. Up. Together?!!! Do I even need to say more? Well I will anyway. I always thought they were end-game. Their chemistry was everything when they sung together. But I had to find answers on it and found an interview with one of the show's creators, Callie Khouri, who when asked why they didn't end up together, said "Because sometimes the things you really want just don't happen.... I think it would've been a little too fairytale.", which I've now accepted. And hey, I can always just watch from the beginning again and pretend it works out between them.
Maddie and Twig - not their relationship, just that they ended in the episode. Twig seemed like he really cared about her and encouraged her with her music. Although it did seem like he was a bit needy, constantly clinging to Jonah and then moving on to Maddie. When he offered to go with her wherever she went, I was thinking hmm doesn't this kid have any interests or pursuits of his own? But the fact it built up for weeks between them on the show for it to then just end abruptly was a bit annoying, when they could have just maybe left it out of the overall storyline.
Alannah - just her character in general, taking up any of the precious airtime for the final episode. Ever since she made her entrance on the show, she's just annoyed me, from getting into the band with the guys (I'm probably just biased, because I wish it had been Scarlett in all honesty) to breaking up Avery and Gunnar's friendship for a while. I had to add this in really, because my favourite parts of the episode list is actually hella long compared.

The favourite parts (in no particular order):

Rayna's return - I knew it was coming, the promo for the finale 100% gave it away but it was still so satisfying to have Rayna in the final episode. It wouldn't have been right without her. At the beginning of the episode, I was thinking how weird it has been since the show carried on without her, and although there has been some good storylines, it just felt something has been missing this whole time.
Juliette and Avery's reunion - yaaaaay! I was nearly jumping up and down on my couch with happiness when they finally got back together at the end! I love their relationship and Juliette has a fiery temper, but she's had such a lot of character progression too and she deserves happiness. Come to think of it, Avery as well... I couldn't stand him at the beginning of the show but I really love the person he turned into. That was the cutest little storyline at the end, living on a farm with another baby on the way. Well done, Nashville creators/writers.
Brad getting what he deserved - I didn't take to Alannah the whole time she was on the show as you know, but she finally had one redeeming moment and that was teaming up with Deacon and Zach, plus some of Brad's other victims, to bring him down. I couldn't stand Brad and the way he treated his ex-wife and girls in the industry, however there is a lot of that behaviour going on as we've heard more and more of recently. It's still shocking to see the scene played out when he tries to trick Alannah into coming up to his hotel with the promise of a party and then threatening her career when she didn't respond to his advances, telling her how it works with powerful men and beautiful women. I'm glad the show told the story however, bringing awareness to the #metoo movement.
Daphne - being a badass really. Being her own person and not giving in to the pressures of Brad and his manipulations and knowing that it might cost her winning the show. The week that she went live and decided to ditch the guitar, she totally ended up owning the stage and I thought she was great, but she feels most herself with the guitar. I didn't think it was the best final song but she was her own person.
Scarlett - Scarlett looking amazing, fairy-like and bambi-eyed, as always when she sang at the Benefit night with Sean. And then after it, telling him it's never going to happen between them when he tells her how he feels. She has feelings for him, but I love how she reminds him that she's a fantasy and that his wife loves him and has always been there and makes him go after her to work things out. She doesn't want to come between a family, in spite of any feelings she has and that's definitely staying true to her character.
Gunnar - whoa!! What a well needed character progression for him. I loved it that he came into his own at the end. Gunnar hasn't been the most interesting character for a while now for me. He's amazingly talented but it started being a little bit too much like girls girls girls, whinge whinge whinge. And then that final episode, he's rocking out on the stage and being totally un-Gunnar-like and I loved every minute. I only wish we had seen more of that side, maybe earlier on in the show because I am so on board with that Gunnar.
Happy Endings - for Will and Zach, and for Jessie and Jake.
Deacon and his Dad - in the final scene where he's about to play but then tells the audience about a man who has greatly influenced his music and then gets him up on stage to play! And then before the song starts, whispering to him like oh Dad, I forgot, do you know the song and his Dad responding that he knows all of Deacon's songs. All. The. Feels. I loved that moment. And then all the main characters joining him on stage, with finally the rest of the cast and then crew members joining in.