The popular series is back and the first preview for the upcoming "Nashville" Season 5 has been released. Lasting 15 seconds, the trailer brings back series regulars and gives hints about the drama that's to come. Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton) and Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) are back, and so are Scarlett O'Connor (Clare Bowen), Avery Barkley (Jonathan Jackson), Deacon Claybourne (Charles Esten) and Gunnar Scott (Sam Palladio).
Fans can expect more twists to the drama series especially involving the principal characters. The previous season of "Nashville" ended with a cliffhanger involving Juliette. The ambitious country star has just reunited with her love, Avery, but her plane then went missing when she was getting back to Nashville. Now it remains to be seen what happens to Juliette and her plane in "Nashville" Season 5.
The cliffhanger finale of "Nashville" Season 4 was intended by showrunners to help the show get picked up by another network. It can be recalled that ABC cancelled the show in May before the Season 4 even ended. The next month, CMT picked the series up and gave it another go for "Nashville" Season 5, which was great news for fans. Had series creator Callie Khouri and showrunner Dee Johnson not feel that a cancellation is looming they would've ended season 4 in a different way, Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate TV chairman, said to The Hollywood Reporter at that time.
Despite the cliffhanger finale episode, it was already revealed that Juliette's plane crashed but she is definitely alive in "Nashville" Season 5. Panettiere had signed a contract to do 22 episodes when the series was moved over to CMT. Her character will be in a bad shape and she won't have a speedy recovery, TVGuide reported. Her accident may even affect her life and career, but there will be a new character - a transgender woman - who is said to have an important role in Juliette's recovery. "Nashville" Season 5 premieres on Jan. 5, 2017 9 p.m. ET on CMT.
