Spoiler alert: If you haven’t watched season 5, episode 9 then run away now! If you’re a huge Nashville fan like me then you were absolutely devastated when ABC cancelled the show. BUT then, a savior came along in the form of CMT (a fitting station to have such a show) and the show was brought back to life!
We Nashville fans have been through a lot of death over the past 4 seasons, right? We’ve had:
- Teddy’s 2nd baby’s mama,
- Rayna’s father, Lamar
- Jeff Forham
- Scarlett’s Mom, Beverly
And each season came with some major, hard life altering or near death experience for someone, so it was no surprise when episode 8 of season 5 came along and ended with a Rayna’s bad car accident. This wasn’t her first bad car wreck and being that she is the main character and one of the main advocates for getting Nashville onto a new network, I just knew she was in it for the long haul. But then episode 9 came along and blew up all of our lives!!
And each season came with some major, hard life altering or near death experience for someone, so it was no surprise when episode 8 of season 5 came along and ended with a Rayna’s bad car accident.
I’m not new to having one of my favorite shows surprisingly kill of a major character who I felt was pivotal to the story. Come on, I’m a huge Grey’s Anatomy fan and they have literally killed off McDreamy!!! I survived that. I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan and I’ve survived one of John Snow’s deaths and he is pivotal to the show right? But Rayna?!!! I truly felt like the show was just about her and Juliette.
I’m so angry with the writers of the show for this. BUT, being the amazing writers they are, and having the phenomenal and very talented actors they have, I was absolutely heartbroken and crying my eyes out for the entire episode. Am I the only person who called their Mom afterwards just to tell her I loved her? She laughed at me, by the way!
When a show can get you to be so attached to characters as if they are your own family and then gets rid of a character like that it’s so hard. And in a family who have just been through so much devastation and heartache, I just don’t know how my life or theirs will go on. And I don’t know where the show will go from here now that the love story of Deacon and Rayna are over.
I lived for the day when they finally got married. I’m so proud of Deacon for getting clean, but this sadness is just the thing to send him over the edge again.
And I don’t know where the show will go from here now that the love story of Deacon and Raina are over.
I did find this interview on CMT with the showrunner, Marshall Herskovitz, where he explains why Raina had to die. Sadly it’s because Connie Britton really wanted to move on creatively (I understand this, as I hate when shows continue to run with nowhere to go for the characters). There’s a full explanation in this video interview shared by CMT and it was a well thought out plan that as a fan I have to respect.
Somehow we Nashville fans will survive this sadness, and continue to watch the show because we all have to see what comes of this Gospel album that Juliette is working on and this new, hot Scarlett needs to finally come out of the shell she’s been in for 5 seasons. We also want to see the continued strength and growth of Maddie who is far more mature than her 16 years. There’s clearly more story to tell as season 5 has 22 episodes in it.
Here’s a preview of the mid-season finale airing on Thursday, March 9:
#NashvilleCMT
The Flix Chick 