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