‘Nashville’ Season 5, Episode 2 Spoilers: "Back in Baby's Arms" Picks Up With Juliette’s Life After Plane Crash, Rayna Deals with Stalker

‘Nashville’ season 5’s episode 2, titled “Back in Baby’s Arms,” is set to pick up with Juliette’s life after the plane crash. It is also revealed that Rayna will have to deal with a stalker.

In the promo for “Back in Baby Arms,” Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) is seen returning home in a wheelchair following her devastating plane crash that left her severely injured. She is told by the doctor, who is poking her leg with a metal rod, “It could be months before you feel anything.” Juliette retorts, “Or never.”

In the next scene, Rayna (Connie Britton) and Deacon (Charles Esten) continue to struggle with working on a new album together. She tells him lovingly, “I want us to write our story.” However, it seems that the two will be having a hard time turning their dreams into fruition since they get into some arguments. She declares, “I have lost touch with the things that I love. I don’t wanna be an artist anymore.”

Meanwhile, Juliette and Avery (Jonathan Jackson), get into a screaming match after she yells at him for attempting to care for her while she continues recuperating. She yells, “Stop helping! We both know you don’t wanna do it!” He retorts, “You just push people away because God forbid you might ever need anyone!”

In the final moments of the promo, Rayna receives a mysterious letter in the mail with an envelope filled with rose petals. An excerpt of the letter reads, “Dear Rayna, after so many years of waiting, I am here. I have finally gained the strength to reach out to you. You can not begin to imagine my happiness! I HAVE MADE IT! Their [sic] are no words to express it! I love you and I have loved you ever since the day that I was born. Their [sic] is no one else and their [sic] never has been anyone else. Believe me I tried to love another because I know I am completely unworthy of you, but it is impossible.”

Rayna becomes terrified when she realizes that she has a stalker running lose. By the end of the promo, a rowdy man is seen escorted away from her as she looks in fright.

According to TV Guide, co-showrunner Marshall Herskovitz teased the new format for the series revival during a previous interview. He said, "The first thing we said was, 'We're slowing this thing down… We'll have two or three main stories per episode. We will have longer scenes; we'll go deeper into what each story is about.”

He continued, "What we were basically saying is that we would rather bet on emotion than on the, I guess you'd say adrenaline factor. That sense of acceleration of things happening all the time. ... It may have worked very well, but after four years, it was time to kind of go deeper in some ways. So, that was what we declared as our mandate."

According to The Tennessean, Herskovitz also revealed that the series’ characters and their relationships will be the new focus of the show on top of the slower tempo.

‘Nashville’ season 5’s episode 2, titled "Back in Baby's Arms," is set to premiere on CMT on January 5, 2017.