The TV Column

Nashville amps up new season on CMT tonight

It’s no spoiler that Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) survived the Season 4 cliffhanger on Nashville. What is a mystery is the exact course the series will take now that it has moved to CMT.
It’s no spoiler that Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) survived the Season 4 cliffhanger on Nashville. What is a mystery is the exact course the series will take now that it has moved to CMT.

When last we heard of the troubled Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) on ABC's Nashville in May, her plane had dropped out of radio contact.

Did it crash? Was she dead? Was ex-husband Avery (Jonathan Jackson) waiting in vain on the tarmac with their baby daughter Cadence in his arms?

Turns out everyone was dead, in a manner of speaking. After the Season 4 cliffhanger, ABC canceled the series.

Ah, but it was CMT to the rescue with a green light for Season 5.

I know CMT wanted to pique viewers' interest by airing Part 1 of the two-part new season premiere on Dec. 15, but in my experience that means plenty of viewers who wanted to watch missed the debut. It's not too late.

The official season premiere rolls out at 8 p.m. today on CMT. It'll be a two-hour affair, with the Dec. 15 episode, "The Wayfaring Stranger," repeated in the first hour, and "Back in Baby's Arms" coming in at 9.

I won't spoil the details for those who missed the sneak preview, but the pre-season promos, the Nashville blogosphere and fans ("Nashies"), and TV teasers are full of Juliette Barnes in all her glory. So, it's no spoiler to reveal that Juliette did not die. Juliette remains, as always, one of the show's strongest protagonists.

Two other characters did sort of die, but that has been common knowledge ever since CMT announced it was picking up the series.

In what must have been a cost-cutting measure, and an attempt to narrow the focus of the series, two regulars were dismissed in the move to CMT. Will Chase and Aubrey Peeples (who play Luke Wheeler and Layla Grant) were let go because, officials said, "their story lines had run their course."

The actors are open to return for guest spots.

Never fear. There will be just as much juicy drama as we've come to expect in the show, with a bit of tweaking.

Still to be resolved is Rayna Jayme's (Connie Britton) attempt to completely rescue her older daughter Maddie (Lennon Stella) from the clutches of an evil, evil record label.

And there is the ongoing saga of off-again, on-again lovers Gunnar Scott and Scarlett O'Connor (Sam Palladio, Clare Bowen). The couple were kicked off the tour with Autumn Chase (Alicia Witt) once Autumn realized she couldn't have Gunnar for her boy toy.

Yeah, Gunnar and Scarlett seem to be on again, but if history is any indication, that'll last about 15 minutes. Those crazy kids.

Oh, yeah. Rayna's record label, Highway 65, is busted flat.

And what about Maddie's adorable little sister Daphne (Maisy Stella)? Maddie seems to have left the younger half of the duo in the dust and Daphne is all in a funk.

And there's always the problematic relationship between Rayna and her soulmate Deacon Claybourne (Charles Esten). If those two remain in a happy place for longer than two episodes, it'll be a series record.

Most interesting, perhaps, will be Rayna's relationship with herself. After a gig in San Francisco, Rayna sets out on a cross-country road trip to find herself. The first hour will have her discovering something about herself that will be explored in greater detail in the second hour.

CMT has brought in new co-showrunners with veterans Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick (thirtysomething, My So-Called Life), who told the New York Post they were much more interested in the show's dramatic elements than the soap opera aspects.

"Not that we would entirely get rid of [the soap opera aspect]," Herskovitz said, "but the balance will move toward the drama of their inner lives. It seemed like that's what the fans wanted ... after four years.

"Everyone's very shaken up about what happens to Juliette. That fits into this moment in Rayna's life. The exigencies of life -- of running a business, having a family and trying to figure out how to fit into the landscape of country music today -- has led her to a moment of crisis, of questioning herself as an artist [and] as a woman.

"What does she want from life? She is going to be on a journey to try to find those core elements of her motivation and talent and passion that sustain her."

Herskovitz has hinted at a more diverse cast, shorter scripts and longer scenes and, what sounds like the best news to me, "time for the music to play out."

Hulu note: The streaming service will continue to air new Nashville episodes the day after they air on CMT.

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