‘Nashville’ season 5’s episode 9, titled “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” is set to feature the aftermath of Rayna’s near-death encounters in the previous episode. Rayna will attempt to write one more song with Deacon for their concept album. Meanwhile, actress Connie Britton talked more about her character Rayna’s car crash in a recent interview.
The synopsis for “If Tomorrow Never Comes” posted on TV Guide reads, “After her life-changing experience, Rayna (Connie Britton) scrambles to write one more song for the concept album with Deacon (Charles Esten). Meanwhile, Juliette's (Hayden Panettiere) leg starts to hurt inexplicably; and Gunnar (Sam Palladio) fights for Scarlett. (Clare Bowen)”
It seems that viewers will finally see the aftermath of Rayna’s automobile accident from episode 8, titled “Stand Beside Me." The February 16 cliffhanger fueled speculation that the musical drama television series may have finally killed off its major character after she had a close confrontation with her stalker and ended up in another accident.
According to the recap on The Hollywood Reporter, Rayna was forced to deal with her dangerously obsessive fan Carl Hockney (Linds Edwards) despite getting a restraining order against him. Carl managed to burst into her office with a knife in hand while she had her headphones on. Rayna ended up having a sincere conversation with him and told him about her past in an abusive household.
After being rescued, she reassured herself as well as Deacon that she was alright after everything that happened. However, the police car she was riding in was hit by a truck along the way.
Showrunner Marshall Herskovitz talked about the cliffhanger during an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Herskovitz explained that the scene was inspired by real life incidents and that the characters’ own personal trauma on the show led to the stalker storyline.
He said, “Rayna’s father was basically a psychopath, Deacon’s father was an alcoholic who beat him, Juliette’s mother was a drug addict who was horrible — just on and on… So for me, it presented an opportunity. This man who himself was traumatized was drawn to Rayna unconsciously because he understood she was a kindred spirit… It ends up being this amazing opportunity to have these two people in the most bizarre of circumstances actually connect.”
Britton added that the car crash scene was a tough one for her character saying, “It feels like we’ve just been through this saga… If we did it right, the audience is right there with Rayna. It sort of plays into people’s darkest fears of feeling like you’ve gotten through something and then something completely unexpected blindsides you. It’s cringeworthy and scary.”
‘Nashville’ season 5’s episode 9, titled “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” is scheduled to air on CMT on February 23, 2017. It will be followed by episode 10, titled "I'll Fly Away," scheduled to be released on March 2.
