'Nashville' Debuts First Season 5 Footage in New Trailer: What Happened to Juliette?

By
CMT

The wait is almost over, Nashville fans!

CMT officially debuted the first two-minute trailer from the country music drama’s upcoming fifth season on Thursday, featuring new footage of Rayna James (Connie Britton) and company as they return for another year of fireworks and dramatics in the world of Nashville. To jog everyone’s memories, the trailer also includes a recap of the events leading up to the premiere.

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In the new footage, Deacon (Charles Esten) is seen telling Rayna that “this last year has been one of the worst damn years of my life,” while Maddie (Lennon Stella) meets Clay (Joseph David-Jones), a musician she immediately takes a liking to.

Over at Highway 65, Rayna details an ambitious plan to keep people talking about the struggling record label: release a new single from Scarlett (Clare Bowen) and Gunnar (Sam Palladio); little does she know, things aren’t exactly kosher between the singer-songwriter duo.

But Nashville saved the best for last. In the season four finale, Juliette Barnes’ (Hayden Panettiere) plane was reported missing just outside of the Tennessee city, and at the end of the trailer, we see the first glimpse of a terrified Juliette in the plane as it’s going down.

RELATED: Charles Esten Says 'Nashville' Will Be Less Soapy and More Music-Focused

The new season kicks off with Rayna and Deacon facing a new normal with Maddie now back home and Highway 65 struggling financially. The unexpected news about Juliette’s missing plane creates a wave of emotions throughout Nashville and sets Rayna off on a journey of discovery.

In October, Esten spoke to ET about Nashville’s anticipated return, revealing that the show will put more emphasis on the characters’ journeys and less on the soap factor.

RELATED: 'Nashville' Casts Transgender Actress for Season 5

“We’re getting to spend a little more time with the songs. Some of the plots won’t be quite as accelerated, or there won’t be quite as many incidents, as [executive producer] Marshall [Herskovitz] has said it,” he said at the time. “What that means is we’re getting more time within the scenes.”


Nashville
officially returns with a two-hour premiere on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CMT, after previewing the first hour on Thursday, Dec. 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

To watch Esten’s exclusive ET interview, watch below.

RELATED: Connie Britton Credits 'Nashville' Fans for Bringing Show Back