Nashvillemay have lost a very bright star, but as they say: the show must go on.
What happened next with Connie?Marshall Herskovitz: It was really simple.
And I think Connie should speak to this [note: she does inEWs interview posted Thursday night].
And she was relieved.
She just wanted to go.
It wasnt about money.
It was a creative need on her part to face new challenges.
Which I completely understand and respect.
She couldnt just be on tour.
But from an artistic standpoint that was filled with promise.
As you say, there were many ways to go down this road.
If at the end of the stalker episode shes in an accident and just dies Oh sorry!
Raynas dead thats just cruel to an audience; thats not caring about their feelings.
And halfway through it, the audience thinks shes going to pull through.
There is the possibility Juliette is in trouble.
But to me, thats more a manifestation of her concern about herself.
Because she knows shes going.
I love the line you gave Raynas ghost-mom, Maybe this song is finished.Thank you.
Not my line, but I love that scene.
And I love that Carla Gugino came and did it.
She lent a kind of gravitas to it.
It just all came together in a lovely way that made you feel intimate with these characters.
Everyone was so emotional.
Charles Esten should win an Emmy for that shot that was a man who gave himself over to everything.
There was no artifice or nothing held back.
It gets me every time.
We have so many in the cast who are.
That goes to the heart of the fact that when somebody dies theyre still so present in your life.
And by the way, some are about the loss of Rayna and the price people pay.
But the show ofNashvilleis a world, its not about one person.
As great as Connie is and Rayna was, it was never just one person.
Thats always been the heart ofNashville.
Its actually not a problem at all to continue.
You pitched a vision of the season to ABC before you knew she wanted to leave.
First of all, let me just say, its so hard to make up stories.
Ed Zwick calls it breaking rock.
Its been hard enough to figure out these stories without what we would have done.
Im sure she would have taken artistic chances and the story would have come from that.
I would put that episode against any Ive done in my entire career.
Its an astonishing symphonic beautiful tribute to this woman and human connection and grief.
Thats one I hope nobody misses.
It really goes to the heart of what it means for people to be truly connected to each other.
PREVIOUS:Connie Britton talks her Nashville exitandCharles Esten talks saying goodbye to Rayna.
Watch Britton bid farewell below.
Nashvilleairs Thursdays on CMT.
