The ‘Nashville’ series finale was as nutty as we could’ve hoped

“OK, you’re crazy, and we’re done.”

That was Avery Barkley (Jonathan Jackson) ending his short-lived relationship with Layla Grant (Aubrey Peeples) on Wednesday night’s series finale of “Nashville.” But Barkley’s line works equally well as a viewer’s farewell to this prime-time soap, which after premiering in 2012 as a surprisingly credible backstage drama proceeded to go downright nuts over the course of its four seasons, piling up fistfights and overdoses and jilted lovers like they were going two-for-one down at the Boot Barn.

Case in point? Rather than tie up all of the show’s loose ends, the closer finished with a cuckoo cliffhanger in the suggestion — spoiler alert! — that Juliette Barnes’ (Hayden Panettiere) private plane may have gone down while she was on her way back to Music City from the Oscars.

How far is “Nashville” from “Dallas” again?

Sure, other storylines were neatly wrapped up Wednesday, including Maddie’s (Lennon Stella) return to Rayna (Connie Britton) and Deacon (Charles Esten), from whom she recently won emancipation, following a scary encounter with a creepy record producer. Scarlett (Clare Bowen) and Gunnar (Sam Palladio) kissed onstage during a gig. And good old Will Lexington (Chris Carmack) patched things up with both his estranged father and his ex-boyfriend.

Even Luke Wheeler (Will Chase), who hasn’t had much to do over the past few weeks but sit behind a laptop and furrow his brow, put in an emotional phone call to a neglected daughter we’ve scarcely seen on the show.

But as “Nashville” used its not-quite-a-finale to seek out an afterlife on Hulu or CMT or wherever — check out this suggestive tweet from the show’s creator, Lionsgate — you couldn’t help but tip your cowboy hat in recognition of its last over-the-top gasp.

Shine on, you crazy rhinestone.

Twitter: @mikaelwood