"Nashville" is gearing up to premiere its fourth season this month, and ABC has recently released some new photos to give fans a taste of what can be expected in the show's premiere episode.
Most of the photos released on TVLine feature Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) who went back to making music after she had a baby in season 3. In the photos, a tense-looking Juliette is seen clutching a bottle of wine at a party, and Rayna (Connie Britton) is trying to talk to her.
Showrunner Dee Johnson gave TVLine a clue as to why Juliette appears to be very upset. Juliette is still technically under contract with her old record label Highway 45 although she signed with Luke Wheeler (Will Chase) and Jeff (Oliver Hudson) in the season 3 finale. According to Johnson, "contracts were made to be broken," and fans will get to see how Juliette deals with this dilemma when the new season begins.
And she surely is on her way to making a comeback as some photos show her sharing the stage with Steven Tyler. It has been earlier reported that the Aerosmith frontman filmed a cameo for the season 4 premiere and that he sung a duet with Juliette.
Juliette had been so determined to get her life back after having her baby that Avery took their baby away and left Juliette for good. Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter that having the child away from Juliette will feel like a temporary solution to her problems, but in reality, the baby was never the problem.
"It's attacking the symptom and not the real cause of the problem," said Johnson. "I don't think things will go as well for her as she thinks they will with that decision having been made."
The premiere, which will see a one-month time jump from the events in last season's finale, will also answer the question whether Deacon (Charles Esten) or his sister Beverly was the one who flatlined during the finale.
Season 4 of "Nashville" premieres on Sept. 23 at 10/9c on ABC.
