helpmenow

I don't even want to think of Rayna being killed off. But as others have said don't know how you get around Deacan and the girls...

But I'm not gonna think negatively until we get some official word

soapbubbles511

None of them actually confirm that it would just be the first half and then she'd be gone do they? So could we just get episodes without Rayna scattered through the season? So she could be out of town for concerts? Visiting Tandy? Busy working but offscreen?

They won't get her to sign on long term for 22 episode seasons. But one of her biggest problems has been the writing. If that's fixed they might be able to talk her into a full season this year only. And then maybe shorter future seasons.

But if she's going to leave completely and they want to do more seasons anyway, yeah killing her seems to be the only option. But who wants to see Deacon and the girls story if that were to happen?

slbcwrites

Both EW and TV Line make it seem like she would be gone for good or leaving during the season, but neither one specifically says she would just be in episodes 501-510. It could be scattered about I suppose, unless Connie just wants to do them all in succession and then be free. I really wish they had supplied more details for the reason behind this news.

I was just thinking about how most of the older supporting cast is gone or basically gone - Teddy, Tandi, Lamar, Peggy, Luke, Jeff... Without Rayna the show would be Deacon and a bunch of 28-30-year-olds, basically (and Bucky and Glenn, of course). I am not sure if the show could pull in an actress with the same standing as Connie to try and fill the hole Rayna would leave, but they would have to try, IMO. A lot of people solely watch for Rayna and Deacon. Many would still stop watching if Rayna leaves, but they would have to try and replace her in order to keep some of those viewers. Another reason I don't see Layla coming back - they have enough young cast members. She is not needed. What they need are some older supporting characters, and now, perhaps a replacement for Rayna. It's a tall order.

Telepath

Yeah, the depression meter would go through the roof. Unfortunately it wouldn't be anything the writers had a choice about.

If they'd have to scrap Rayna I would prefer a season six - assuming they are successful and get one - that would basically be Nashville TNG. Focus on the young cast, maybe add a couple more and take it from there.

soapbubbles511

So not interested in a show just focused on the younger cast/more young cast. I'd drop it without another thought.

Lethally Floral

I don't know if what is happening in TN has influenced her or not but yes, it IS nice to be her. She's an in demand actress which gives her some negotiating power to create the kind of life she'd like to have.

I've never gotten the sense that she was truly happy with the show the way she was with Friday Night Lights. She thought it was going to be one thing and it turned out to be something else. While she has always said nice things about Nashville, it doesn't seem like she wants her full year taken up by one show. An opportunity to negotiate opened up and she took it.

It's a business. It's not unfair or disloyal of her to seek out other opportunities whatever her reasons may be. In fact, if she is as done with Nashville as I always thought she was, it's nice that she's coming back for ten episodes.

As for how they will look. It's true that they could be spread out over the course of the season but I would think that they will try to stack them together. Spreading them out would make for difficult storytelling. Her story would have to be almost divorced from the main stories for the rest of the cast in order to not seem jarring to drop in and out of it.

But I could see them choosing to put the majority of her episodes in the beginning and ask her to come back at the end so they could just send her on a world tour during the second half of the season.

Whether or not they need to bring in a big name actress will depend on the focus of this season. If it's on music, I don't think it's necessary. And I don't see a sixth season since I believe the real goal is to reach 100 episodes.

If they do kill off Rayna, maybe they could bring back Teddy. Teddy and Deacon raising the girls together with their history could be fascinating.

soapbubbles511

I'm sure they want S6 and beyond if this season does reasonably well. That's all they've been saying, that this show could go on for years. And I doubt CMT only wants one season of the show. The 100 episode mark isn't really their concern (more Lionsgate's but they're also trying to make this go as far as possible). CMT is trying to make a play into scripted content and are looking for shows to build around. Nashville was their big move to do that. Pretty sure they didn't go into it with the thought of 22 and out.

Connie hasn't exactly been subtle about the fact that she thinks the writing has been awful and hates that the show has turned super soapy. Hopefully that aspect will be fixed with the new writers. And she's said repeatedly that she prefers a cable style 13-ish episode season. So we'll see if they can get her to agree to more if they promise never again.

MaryContrary

I'm not surprised at all about CB's possible departure as it's been clear for a while she wanted out, and who can blame her? Nashville was inconsistent at best after S1 and dire in S4. She's well known, respected, and her career isn't dependent on Nashville. She's not part of the musical side of the show. I assumed that she was back on board due to a contractual requirement, although if CMT are paying significantly less than previously that may not be so.

However, still bummed that CMT sold the pick up by putting it out there that all main cast were still on contract and were on board, which now appears not completely accurate.

Either way, the producers must be planning for major cast changes at some point beyond this season as neither CB or HP will hang around forever and I agree that CMT appear to see Nashville as a long term prospect.

But I wouldn't be interested in a CB-free Nashville and I don't see a place for Deacon and the girls without Rayna. I watch mainly for D/R and I don't think I'm unusual.

Another part of me feels it would be great to see CB moving on, but I do have high hopes for the new showrunners. However CB may feel she's done all she can do with this character after four mediocre seasons. I can't say I blame her.

Stay to the Lights

Maybe they can negotiate a few more episodes with her and then maybe she doesn't have to appear in every episode Maybe there is a way around it.

I guess I'm lucky because I don't watch for one person. I watch for everyone, the show as a whole, but SG being a big part of that.

Telepath

Yeah, and I'm mostly in it for the concept and the music. As far as the concept goes the one thing I can think of that they'd lose would be "the conflict between the old and new generation" which they really dropped as a factor way back in season one, and the music side would be better off without her.

It's not like I want her gone, I'd prefer for her to stay, but that's my unfiltered truth.

soup333

The way I see it, either Lionsgate/CMT knew this from the beginning and still wanted to take it on or it's a recent development. I have a hard time believing that it's a recent thing, since they are set to start filming in less than two weeks and they would have to know about the cast in order to write the season. But maybe the premiere date was pushed back so they could rewrite?

I wonder if they gave us the premiere date as good news to temper the bad news of her departure.

What is their target demographic, age-wise? How could they make this palatable to keep D/R fans after/if she's gone for good?

Getting rid of AP doesn't impact anyone negatively but Rayna has significant ties, through family or business, to 6 of the remaining 11 cast members. I didn't even include Juliette in that count. So what happens? Deacon takes on HW65 to continue her legacy? There are, for all intents and purposes of the show, no other labels that we've seen the inner workings of. With Luke gone, that's the end of Wheeling and Dealing (or whatever it was). Juliette and Will have to land somewhere.

CityGal

Thanks!

soapbubbles511

And I think the show has been suffering terribly since S1 from the lack of Rayna/Juliette and that old vs new generation conflict that was part of the original concept. They've spent so long isolating Juliette but other than Avery her only other strong connections to the main cast have been Rayna and Deacon (and neglecting both of those for so long has been a huge detriment to the show). I think Scarlett's most interesting relationship by far is with Deacon. So eliminating the older generation to focus on the younger one eliminates most of the relationships I'm most interested in watching.

They're already suffering from a lack of older characters. And the whole thing just sort of falls apart for me without Rayna. Where that leaves Deacon. And the girls. And H65. Too many things connected to her. Too many significant relationships.

There's no way this is a new development (we could have told them before they picked it up that if there was anyone they'd have to convince of 22 episodes it was Connie). They were "close" to deals with Connie and Hayden with the rest of the cast expected to follow how long ago? And then nothing. And we had originally heard filming was supposed to start at the beginning of this month. Wouldn't be surprised if this is what pushed that back. And then they signed the 10 episode deal is so they can at least start and hope to get something finalized by the time they have to start writing the second half

soup333

If this is the case, and it seems a reasonable assumption, then she's probably a goner. These negotiations would have been going on for months by now. Hopefully she can at least finish the season. I'd be grateful for one last beautiful season to erase the very painful memories of the horrific S4.

soapbubbles511

I guess it depends on what they're still attempting to negotiate. She could have been holding out to see some of the scripts to see if the writing has actually taken a turn for the better. Or after filming starts to see if it's actually running smoothly. They could very well be trying to get her for a multi-year contract. And I don't see her agreeing to multiple 22 episode seasons. Maybe for less episodes but that involves them deciding now that potential future seasons would either be shorter or without her for part of it.

They also had to negotiate the contracts for everyone else so it's not as if this was the only thing they were working on for months on end. I do hope they can work something out for at least this season so they don't have to figure out how to make it work without her for a large chunk of the season.