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Randall Can't Be Trusted On 'Nashville'

Nashville may technically be a drama, but one thing it doesn't often trade in is mystery. So the great Who Is Stalking Rayna storyline of Season 5 really feels like one of the show's most intriguing elements right now. While we may not have gotten any more intel on who her stalker is from Episode 3, we did see her new social media guy steal a personal object off her desk. So what did Randall take from Rayna on Nashville? It involves one of her daughters, which is next-level disturbing.

We see Randall and Bucky burning the midnight oil at the office when Bucky finally packs up to leave. He checks in on Randall, who confirms that he's just getting Rayna set up with a Snapchat account (hilarious, by the way) before leaving for the night. With Bucky barely out the door, Randall sneaks into Rayna's office, where he sees a small, DIY-decorated trinket box on her desk. He notices that Maddie's face is decoupaged onto the lid and takes a little peek inside of it. We can't quite see what's in it, but it seems like a craft a younger Maddie must have gifted her mom at some point, in which she keeps like, paperclips or something on her office desk.

The bottom line is, it's definitely a very personal object with a lot of sentimental value, and Randall just swipes it clean off her desk and tucks it into his bag. In an earlier scene, we get to see him repeat one of his brutally uncomfortable interactions with Rayna. Suffice it to say, he hasn't relaxed into their dynamic. Like, at all. He obsesses into oblivion over a fresh pressed juice he got her and poor Rayna just takes it, polite as ever. Bucky teases her once he leaves the room about what a big "crush" Randall has on Rayna, but she just shrugs it off as him being "very good at his job."

The thing is, he actually does sound really competent — if totally over the top enthusiastic — when he briefly chats with The Exes about their social media strategy. So considering that Rayna et al aren't seeing what we see — which is Randall's totally inappropriate private behavior — they probably aren't likely to suspect him of anything for a long time. And we know from the previews for next week's episode that Rayna's stalker is going to the next level soon. She gets a hand-delivered envelope full of rose petals and a multi-page love letter/manifesto in the preview. The possibility that Randall is a red herring is looking slimmer and slimmer.