Nashville Boss Sounds Off on Those New Love Triangles

Nashville has finally returned for its final stretch of episodes, and predictably, they're shaping up to be filled with some crazy drama.

Daphne (Maisy Stella) has officially signed on to compete on the television talent show Nashville's Next, which will surely end in tears considering Deacon (Charles Esten) and Jessie (Kaitlin Doubleday) are about to enter into a custody battle with Brad (Jeffrey Nordling). Scarlett (Clare Bowen) is slowly but surely helping Sean (Jake Etheridge) deal with his PTSD, but recent trailers suggest that there will be major (potentially deadly) bumps in that road.

Avery (Jonathan Jackson) and Gunnar (Sam Palladio) have found themselves in another love triangle -- seriously, is anyone else getting Season 1 vibes? -- this time with their bandmate Allanah (Rainee Blake). Sure, Gunnar and Allanah have been sleeping together, but the connection she's been building with Avery lately seems way more personal and meaningful than her sort of surface-only situation with Gunnar. Given what we've seen so far, that triangle is a powder-keg waiting to explode.

Meanwhile, Maddie (Lennon Stella) may find herself in a similar situation with Jonah (Nic Luken) and Twig (Dylan Arnold). While her feelings for Twig seem mostly platonic for now, his for her definitely aren't, and Jonah's taking calls from girls that he definitely shouldn't be.

Here to break down these stressful love triangles for us is showrunner Marshall Herskovtiz.

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Avery and Allanah have been growing closer lately, but is that relationship romantic or purely platonic?
Mashall Herskovitz: I will leave it to the viewer to read in whatever they want to read in about that. Avery's in a very difficult situation, having been essentially abandoned by Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) and not knowing if she's ever coming back. Life happens.

Why do you think Avery and Allanah have been able to relate on a deeper level than she has with Gunnar?
Herskovitz: People relate to different people at different levels. I think there was an immediate attraction with Gunnar, but not necessarily a soul connection, and I think we've already seen that there is some personal, human, emotional connection between Allanah and Avery that can't be denied. Now, whether that is something that's romantic or sexual, who knows? We'll see, but they clearly relate at a deeper level than Allanah relates to Gunnar.

Does Avery have a good point about his relationship with Juliette? Will it always be just waiting for the next disaster?
Herskovitz: We have seen that Avery has become increasingly fed up with Juliette, even since last season. Even though he loves her deeply, it's just so hard to be in this position where you're constantly dealing with someone else's craziness. He's trying to find his own footing in the world. More than that, I shouldn't say.

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Will Juliette start to realize soon the kind of danger that she's put herself in with this cult?
Herskovitz: I'd like for people to wait and see. It's coming very soon, and it's a very exciting episode. When we rediscover Juliette and what she's been going through, I think people will really enjoy the ride that she takes them on.

Maddie seems like she might be headed for a love triangle too. Is that going to hurt her already shaky relationship with Jonah?
Herskovitz: I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that falling in love with this guy may not have been the wisest thing for her. From the very first episode we introduced him, we saw that he was not a reliable person. So there's no surprise in that, he kind of is what he is.

Can we expect her to start returning Twig's obvious feelings?
Herskovitz: This happens in life. When you're busy, involved in a relationship that's unhappy, all of the sudden there's this other person there that you haven't noticed, who kind of is someone you can connect to. It's quite natural, in some ways. We'll just have to see how that plays out.

Nashville airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CMT.