Nashville: Uh-oh, Is Juliette Seriously Joining a Cult?

Nashville kicked off it's Season 6 premiere by kicking off the new year, but not everyone's 2018 looks like it's going to go smoothly.

In the wake of their big break up, Scarlett (Clare Bowen) and Gunnar (Sam Palladio) are struggling with cutting off all contact as well as where their respective careers go from here. Meanwhile, Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) ended her 2017 by screaming at concert hecklers and causing yet another public scandal for herself. A "chance meeting" with a self-help guru might help her leave all the drama behind, but is Juliette really heading in the direction of self-discovery or is she just on another collision course with heartbreak?

"I'll say this," executive producer Marhsall Herskovitz told TV Guide, "The thing I love about Juliette -- which means what I love about the way Hayden plays her -- is that every part of her is screwed up and damaged. There's another part that you just don't mess with. Because she will come back... She's the kind of person that would get up off the mat at a nine-count and keep fighting because that's just who she is. So, I think that she's always on the razor's edge between disaster and triumph. Beyond that, I can't say."

Juliette's decision-making hasn't exactly been stellar in the past, but let's all just cross our fingers this cult-like group leads her towards the triumph ending of the spectrum. It's probably wishful thinking though.

Nashville Boss Talks Juliette's Demons and Deacon's Love Life in Season 6

The one thing that was hard not to notice in the premiere was the James women's not-so-subtle hints that Deacon (Charles Esten) needs to start getting back out there romantically. Maddie's (Lennon Stella) support of Deacon's love life seems to come from a very mature, loving place, but according to Herskovitz, we probably shouldn't expect Daphne (Maisy Stella) to have that same reaction.

"Both the kids are supportive of their father, but I think that Daphne feels the loss much more acutely," Herskovitz says. "She feels alone because she feels like Maddie is leaving too. So, of course, Daphne is gonna have a response to anybody that Deacon wants to connect with. So I think that to me, it's a very understandable and at the same time heart-breaking emotional story of just watching this girl deal with the fact that the life that she loved was just taken away from her by the death of her mother. I mean, Deacon isn't even her real father. She feels very alone."

Not only that, but Deacon's last attempt at romance was with the mother of one of Daphne's classmates, complicating matters even further. Considering the turbulent year she had in Season 5, it's totally understandable that Daphne would be the one most resistant to Deacon dipping his toes back into the dating waters this season.

"Her response to that is gonna be very surprising, I think," Herskovitz says. "And I think it's gonna be a wonderful storyline that people will connect to."

Nashville airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CMT.