Nashville Season 5 Premiere, Release Date, Spoilers: CMT Drama Coming This December; Cast Details and Plot

By Krixia Zhienelle Subingsubing,

It's been a tumultuous year for country music drama, Nashville. ABC cancelled the series in mid-May after four seasons, citing audience and rating share as the primary reason. This broke a lot of hearts and really took a lot of fans by surprise because before it was cancelled, Nashville was ranking third in the 10 p.m. ratings.

But it looks like the song is not over yet for the show as CMT picked up the series in June, thanks largely to a social media campaign that demanded for its return. And now, even more redeeming good news: in a performance at the Grand Ole Opry, Charles Esten (who plays Deacon Claybourne in the series), revealed that the fifth season will be premiering this December.

More stories to explore for the new season

Clearly, the series is picking up new momentum. According to the show's creator, Callie Khouri, the new season will deal with more authentic perspectives and truer representations on the happenings within the music industry.

She said that the series will likely explore how the industry is beginning to collapse. It will also explore the struggle that musicians deal with just to simply put out a record and make a living, despite the increasing presence of music services such as Pandora or Spotify, which she said is "bankrupting the music industry."

Spoilers ahead: Is the series losing a beloved character?

Before the series jumped ship, ABC ended the drama with a cliffhanger as Juliette Barnes' (played by Hayden Panettiere) plane went missing, leaving fans worried about the fate of their favorite singer.

It's likely, therefore, that the new season will circle back to the finale and resolve the issue. However, with Panettiere's return comes sad news still: Aubrey Peeples (Layla Grant) and Will Chase (Luke Wheeler) are exiting the show.

From the get-go, Luke's storyline had been wanting and Chase himself has made Broadway plans, so it's really no surprise that he's going. But Layla, whose life was left in total chaos following the loss of her husband and friends, had been the most complex character in the series, so it will be sad when she leaves.

No worries, however, as the Hollywood Reporter said that the duo will likely be the only exiting regulars next season. (Does this mean Barnes is alive, then?)

Where else to catch the series

Apart from its return on CMT, fans can also catch the series on streaming service site Hulu. But for now, we can certainly look forward for its premiere on December.

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