It’s fitting that — like the historic, circular block of wood from the Ryman Auditorium that is embedded center stage at the Grand Ole Opry House — the Nashville series finale features more than a few “full circle” moments. On October 12th, 2012, the musical drama premiered on ABC. Since that time, the series, which also streams on Hulu, was canceled and then revived by CMT to air for two seasons. Six years later, the music that was woven like vibrating threads through each week’s storylines has come to an end, but the memory of this farewell episode will linger on for fans. Credit that to a poignant final sequence that brought back so many favorite characters – or at least the actors who played them. Front and center? Connie Britton, who played Nashville‘s late “queen of country” Rayna Jaymes, standing next to Charles “Chip” Esten, the love of Rayna’s life, Deacon Claybourne, singing together on the Opry stage, just as they did on the series’ first episode. As the episode opens, Gideon is missing after Deacon discovers he’s been drinking again. Deacon also finds out that his manager, Bucky, has organized a tour for him because “old guys are coming back in style.” Deacon also calls Will’s ex, Zach, who is now running for Senate — another nod to the show’s beginnings, when political intrigue was part of the plot. After Daphne gets a card from Gideon with a necklace inside, Deacon tries to take it from her, convinced he’s only manipulating her. Daphne wants to invite Gideon to the Nashville’s Next Star finale, but Deacon goes to confront his dad about his drinking. Gideon explains that he only took the occasional sip of alcohol but was destroyed by the look on Daphne’s face when she caught him. He would never hurt the girls, he insists. Deacon walks away — which is, of course, what Rayna did when Deacon’s drinking became too much for her years earlier. At the Nashville’s Next Star final, sleazy Brad, looking and acting like a cross between a pimp and a carnival barker, introduces the first contestant while Daphne prepares to go on last. In spite of Brad’s insistence that she perform a mainstream pop-country song that doesn’t fit her at all, she defies him and sings a song that is all her. Everyone is enthralled… well, everyone but Brad, that is. Alas, Daphne loses the competition and is heartbroken, but backstage there are some major fireworks between Deacon and Ilse, who was Daphne’s coach and advocate throughout the competition. Brad, meanwhile, shows up at Alannah’s to tell her that he has scored her a gig in Memphis. After the show, she’s in her hotel room and Brad invites her to a party in another room. There is, of course, no party — just Brad, who finally gets a smack from Alannah right across his smug, slimy kisser. When they return to Nashville, Brad is shocked as Alannah, Deacon and Zach barge into his office. Zach offers him $15 million for the record label. Well, he doesn’t so much offer it as insist on it as Alannah reveals she has memorialized Brad’s slithery moves on her phone. He’s then ambushed by a parade of pissed-off women, including his ex, Jessie, who demands full custody of their son. Avery shows up at Juliette’s house only to find out she’s leaving to live on a farm outside town. He knows she’s keeping something from him but she doesn’t spill. He talks with Hallie about Juliette moving out to the country and Hallie reveals he’s going to be a daddy again. Juliette’s character arc hasn’t so much come full circle as it has done a 180-degree turn, as she tells Avery she didn’t want to trap him into staying with her. That’s a long way from the tormented country-pop star that could — and would — step on anyone and everyone who got in her way early on in the series. As her boxes are moved from the house and she prepares for a new life out of the spotlight, she sings a beautiful song about being free. Will, Gunnar and Avery, meanwhile, have various talks about their respective relationships and all agree they’ve evolved from being total idiots when it comes to romance. Gunnar encourages Avery to rejoin their band. Maddie is in the studio and Twig watches adoringly but when he says he doesn’t have a permanent place to live, she’s not sure what to think. She talks to Scarlett, who takes note that she doesn’t light up when she talks about him. Maddie thinks maybe she needs to give him more of a chance, but while the two are getting coffee, Maddie thanks him for telling him the truth and gives him an expensive pair of headphones. He thinks they are more of a sad consolation prize. He’s right. At this point, the action jumps a few months into the future and we see quick flashes of Daphne signing a record deal with Highway 65, Maddie moving into her own house, Will and Zach back together as a couple, and Gunnar, who sees a billboard advertising the Lumineers with Alannah as their opening act, jamming together in a band called the Last Highways with Will and Avery. Outside her farmhouse, with her daughter on the swing set, a long-haired and very pregnant Juliette sees Avery drive up. He tells her, “I need you,” and they reunite. Backstage at the Ryman Auditorium, as Deacon prepares to take the stage, Scarlett plants a kiss on a guitar player (played by actress Clare Bowen’s real-life husband, Brandon Young) and we find out that they are engaged. Gideon shows up and tells his son how proud he is of him, but Deacon is still wary. In his dressing room, he flashes back to a scene that took place in their bedroom after he and Rayna finally got married. “Sometimes, once in your life, somebody gets in your bloodstream,” she says.<doc-sep>SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details about the series finale of Nashville. After a lot of will she/won’t she speculation, Nashville‘s original leading lady Connie Britton returned to the country music drama for its series finale, reprising her role as the late superstar Rayna James. In an emotional flashback scene from Rayna and Deacon’s (Chip Esten) wedding night, the two reminded fans why they were Nashville’s golden couple. Deacon had the vision of Rayna just as he was to walk out on stage at the Ryman in the last minutes of the finale where he was joined by his father and almost the entire cast of the series from all six seasons, including Britton. “Rayna got to do the impossible,” Britton said about returning to Nashville. “She got to come back from the dead. I got to do the most wonderful, which was to go back to my Nashville family and celebrate all the hard work and love and care that went into that show. Being on the Ryman stage, reunited with 6 years of cast and crew, is a moment I’ll cherish and never forget. I am grateful.” Related Story Mark Wahlberg Starrer 'Joe Bell' Moves To Roadside Attractions/Vertical Entertainment For July Release Getting Britton for the finale was not easy, Nashville creator Callie Khouri told Deadline in a finale post-mortem Q&A. “We made it happen,” she said. “Obviously Connie was working on another show, 9-1-1, and working on some other stuff too, her son was on spring break, and we just had to figure out how to get it on the day that she could be there. She literally had one day that she could do it. So we just moved everything around in the schedule to make that happen, because it was too important. I was so sure that to finish the show without her would leave on such a wrong note, that it was just impossible.” “And I think she, and everyone in the cast, felt that,” Khouri added. “We all felt like she needed to be there. It would just be some horrible injustice not to get to have that moment with everybody, and she really wanted it, and I think she was really glad she came, Everybody got to hug and kiss on each other, and it was just like old home week. It was really, really beautiful.”<doc-sep>SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details about the series finale of Nashville. Nashville tonight wrapped its six-season run — four on ABC and two on CMT — with an eventful finale that featured the return (in a flashback) of the beloved Rayna James (Connie Britton), a happy ending for virtually every character but baddie Brad and a love letter to the city of Nashville. It was payback time for the final season’s villain, the arrogant label owner Brad (Jeffrey Nordling). With help of Deacon (Charles Esten), Alannah (Rainee Lyleson), the object of Brad’s unwelcome sexual advances in the final season’s #metoo storyline, pulled off a sting operation, getting Brad’s harassment on tape. She, Deacon and Zach (Cameron Scoggins) then used the recording to blackmail Brad into selling his Shiny New Records to Deacon and Zach for a fraction of its value. And Jessie (Kaitlin Doubleday) got full custody of their son Jake. Related Story 56th Academy Of Country Music Awards Announces Return To Nashville, Iconic Venues For 2021 Event CMT Meanwhile, Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) sold her Nashville mansion to move to a farm outside the city with Candace, and Avery (Jonathan Jackson) finally found out that he would be a father again. Maddie (Lennon Stella) broke up with Twig while Daphne (Maisy Stella) did not win the singing competition but stayed true to herself, and her mentor Ilse (Ilse DeLange) offered Deacon to write songs together. In a flash-forward a few months later at the end of the finale, Avery joins (now heavily pregnant) Juliette and Candace on the farm, his band with Gunnar (Sam Palladio) and Will (Chris Carmack) is successful, as is Alannah. Daphne signs with Highway 65, Zach and Will get back together, while Scarlett (Clare Bowen) is engaged (!) to a guy, played by Bowen’s real-life husband, Brandon Young. In the most emotional part of the finale, Deacon has a flashback to his wedding night with Rayna, forgives his father (Ronnie Cox) and invites him on stage where the two are soon joined by the cast and crew of the show, including creator Callie Khouri who thanked the city of Nashville, ending the show with “And may we all have a life that’s good.” In an interview with Deadline, Khouri, who directed the finale, talks about how Britton’s cameo came to be, who couldn’t make it to the big cast reunion in the final scene, what the future holds for all characters, and why Scarlett and Gunnar did not end up together. She also hints that she already has an idea for a Nashville spinoff series. DEADLINE: Let’s start with the final scene featuring the show’s cast and crew .Why did you decide to end the show that way, speaking directly to the fans? KHOURI: (Co-showrunner) Marshall (Herskovitz) and I talked about how we wanted to do it for the most loyal fans who have really hung in there with us, seen all kinds of craziness. We really didn’t want to just go out on an and-it’s-over kind of note without thanking them. It just seemed like a really good way to do it. DEADLINE: Are there any Nashville alumni that you couldn’t get? I didn’t see Oliver Hudson or Aubrey Peeples on stage. KHOURI: Yeah, Oliver was working, and Aubrey, who played Layla, was working, and there were several people that, it just wouldn’t work in their schedule. But they were with us in spirit, and I was really glad that the people who made it did get to come. It was very emotional. DEADLINE: How was it reuniting with some actors who hadn’t been on the show in years? KHOURI: We would be up on stage setting up a shot for Chip and Ronnie’s scenes, and I would look out in the house, and see groups of people sitting there with their arms around each other, and laughing, and it was just one of those moments where you go, “Wow, something really happened in the last six years for all of us,” And to get to all be together at the very end, and finish on that stage was just really satisfying to all of us. It was a perfect ending to the whole experience, it was like getting to relive the entire show in one day..The fact that we were on the stage of the Ryman, which is really important to all of us who worked on the show, it is our church, and the kind of music that we did, every time we shot there, it was just absolutely incredible. DEADLINE: Connie Britton was in the Ryman, and the finale also featured the return of her character Rayna. How did that scene come to be? KHOURI: We made it happen. Obviously Connie was working on another show, 9-1-1, and working on some other stuff too, her son was on spring break, and we just had to figure out how to get it on the day that she could be there. She literally had one day that she could do it. So we just moved everything around in the schedule to make that happen, because it was too important. I was so sure that to finish the show without her would leave on such a wrong note, that it was just impossible. And I think she, and everyone in the cast, felt that. We all felt like she needed to be there. It would just be some horrible injustice not to get to have that moment with everybody, and she really wanted it, and I think she was really glad she came, Everybody got to hug and kiss on each other, and it was just like old home week., It was really, really beautiful. CMT DEADLINE: Let’s talk about Deacon.What is in store with him? Will he finally find happiness after Rayna? KHOURI: Well, we put a scene in there with Ilse DeLange who played Ilse de Witt where she asks him if maybe he’d like to write sometime.<doc-sep>“One thing I love about it, in terms of our show, is that everybody on our show is reaching for the brass ring and trying to make it big. If you ask Deacon, Rayna, Juliette, Gunnar, Scarlett, Will, they all have a different thing: What do they want? What is success? What is the good life?” Esten said. “Each one of us along the way, we think that stuff matters — but what we find is these other things that really matter.”<doc-sep>
CONNIE BRITTON Nashville type TV Show network CMT Spoiler alert: This post contains plot from the series finale of Nashville. With one final song, Nashville has ended its six-season run. And for fans of the show, the final hour held a number of big moments, from that brand new Rayna-Deacon flashback to the last musical performance, which saw a number of returning faces reuniting on stage at the Ryman Auditorium. Speaking to the decision to bring Rayna back — yes, it was a new scene — showrunner Marshall Herskovitz tells EW, “Once we understood that the show was going to end, we said, ‘We’ve got to figure out a way to [bring her back].’ We tried several different story ideas but this one felt like the most organic and real and Connie [Britton] liked it, so it all worked out.” As for the other ideas of how to see Rayna again, Herskovitz says they briefly considered having Deacon see a “vision” of her — not a ghost, but a vision — but they felt that plan wasn’t substantial enough in the end. But of course, the flashback wasn’t the only place that fans got to see Britton. In the show’s final moments, characters new and old joined producers, writers, and more on stage to say thank you to the fans in a moment that completely shattered the fourth wall. “We did a similar thing at the end of Once and Again that just ended up working out very well,” Herskovitz says of another series he created with writing partner Ed Zwick. “It was connecting directly to the audience and saying thank you and we’re grateful that we’ve been able to share these years with you. It just seemed like that was the most respectful way to do it.” Nashviile Credit: Mark Levine/CMT Speaking to the various character endings in the final moments of the show — which flashed forward a few months to find everyone at different places in life — Herskovitz says not everyone got a happy ending. “We went through each character and asked ourselves: What is the right way to end this story? For each character there was a different answer. I wouldn’t say every single story had a truly happy ending but some of them were and some of them were in the sense of them moving on in life. For instance Maddie, I wouldn’t say that’s a happy or unhappy ending. I felt that it was an honest ending, that it was time for her to move on with her life. Same thing with Deacon, people were wondering is he going to end up with Jessie? What’s the story with Ilse? Is he going to be with her? No one knows, but we know he’s going to move on with his life and we know he’s surrounded with love. That’s a happy ending. The happiest ending of course is Avery and Juliette and that was very much earned. They’d gone through such hell apart and together that they earned it and you want to see them together.” Then there’s Scarlett, who ended up engaged to actress Clare Bowen’s real-life husband. “I called Clare and said, ‘How would you feel about this,'” Herskovitz says. “She burst out laughing and she said, ‘I had this idea 20 minutes ago and I thought how could I ever ask Marshall to put my husband on the show?’ So everybody was really happy with that one.” So maybe we can call it a happy ending after all.