Plus One Interview with Nashville Creator and Episode Director Callie Khouri

Spoilers for Nashville Episode 5×09 and Future Episodes!

Here’s the collection of showrunner interviews I promised in the Connie Britton post. Usually the Nashville showrunners refuse to give away any information about future storylines, but they are being amazingly forthcoming today. There are all kinds of interesting tidbits to be found in these interviews. I’ll comment more on those when I review the first half of the season and speculate about the next half.

EW- Nashville producer explains that Rayna shock (and what’s next)

I know you don’t like to discuss future storylines, but do you want to tease to the flashbacks of Rayna that will happen this season?
I can say there will be a few flashbacks. That goes to the heart of the fact that when somebody dies they’re still so present in your life. Our inner lives are as rich and full as our outer lives, and in our inner lives the person is still there.

How does the show move forward without its star?
Shows always move forward. Grey’s Anatomy moved forward. Thirtysomething moved forward after Gary died. This is such a rich cast and such a rich group of characters there’s so many great stories to tell. We’re already deep into the writing and producing of the second half the season and there are so many great stories. And by the way, some are about the loss of Rayna and the price people pay. But the show of Nashville is a world, it’s not about one person. As great as Connie is and Rayna was, it was never just one person. What people will find as they process their feelings — and maybe fans will be angry at us or at her for this happening — but they’ll find the fabric of the show more than holds. It’s still this vibrant passionate creative world of people who live their lives in a way that has a fire beneath it. That’s always been the heart of Nashville. It’s always amazed me since I came on board that you can do a show about creativity, about what it means to be an artist. It’s about the creative process and turn their feelings into art, and then the show shares that art with the audience — which is also communal. It’s actually not a problem at all to continue. We’ll miss her, the characters miss her, and she’s missed in the stories, but the show is completely intact.

Anything else you’d like our readers to know?
I think the best episode we’ve done this year is the one that follows her funeral. I would put that episode against any I’ve done in my entire career. It’s an astonishing symphonic beautiful tribute to this woman and human connection and grief. That’s one I hope nobody misses. It really goes to the heart of what it means for people to be truly connected to each other.

More interviews under the cut, including discussion of the upcoming time jump and custody battle, and their mandate for a new direction for the show in season 5.

Continue reading “Nashville Showrunner Speaks: Interviews with EP Marshall Herskovitz” →