Murder hornets. Snakes. Blood-flooded basements. Music City is about to become a disaster zone inundated with biblical plagues when "9-1-1: Nashville" returns for Season 2.
Ahead of the high-octane ABC drama's Oct. 15 premiere, the cast spoke with The Tennessean, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, on Aug. 2 about the lingering consequences of last season's family feud and the increasingly outlandish emergencies confronting Station 113.
"There's a whole other level of suspense and intrigue and a little sleuthing," saysJessica Capshaw, who plays Blythe Hart. "We gotta finish up some stuff we started, where we left off at the end of Season 1. So we've got that. We got some cleanup."
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Season 2 features a rogue arrival
The first season spotlighted familiar Nashville landmarks: a tornado tore through a Kane Brown concert at Ascend Amphitheater, an Airstream dangled from the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge, a girl holding a kite was launched into the air at Centennial Park and a deadly waterslide stunt unfolded at Nashville Shores and a fire engulfed Nelson's Green Brier Distillery.
It ended with a brawl between Hart (Capshaw) and Dixie Bennings (LeAnn Rimes), whose tangled history with fire captain Don Hart (Chris O'Donnell) has repeatedly threatened his marriage.
The second season picks up three weeks later, with all three facing the fallout. When asked about Dixie's condition, Rimes, 44, offers a mischievous tease.
"She's okay. I mean, hello," she says, gesturing to herself at promo day and laughing. "We'll see how Dixie is. We'll see how Blythe is, is actually the real question. I don't think you should be asking how Dixie is. You should see the other girl."
"Dixie does not submit, for sure," Rimes adds.
Ryan Phillippe ushers in a darker dimension to the drama as Rogue Kelly. The New York detective investigates a string of mysterious crimes terrorizing Music City.
"He's a new guy in town and comes with a whole new attitude and edge and stirs some stuff up," Phillippe, 52, says.
For O'Donnell, the detective introduces an element the series previously lacked. "Obviously, he's playing the detective, and we needed that in the show," the actor, 56, says. "We didn't have that. So it'll be a little more kind of like dark mystery coming to the show."
Phillippe has received a considerably warmer welcome offscreen. Asked whether the cast had subjected him to any initiation rituals, Rimes insists they'd exercised restraint.
"Not yet. We've been very kind," she says.
"Almost too kind," Phillippe counters. "It's disconcerting."
The cast remains tight-lipped about the season's escalating emergencies, though Michael Provost and Hunter McVey can't resist a few revelations.
"We would love to tell you about all the murder hornets and the snakes, but they told us we can't," jokes Provost, who plays Ryan Hart.
"My lips are sealed," McVey, who plays Blue Bennings, adds before describing "slithery snakes and murder hornets with a stinger size you wouldn't believe."
Finding a home in Music City
Unlike its Texas-set predecessor, "9-1-1: Lone Star," which was largely filmed in California, "9-1-1: Nashville" has made Tennessee its production headquarters. According to the Tennessee Entertainment Commission, the production was projected to create more than 600 jobs and generate approximately $50 million in local economic activity.
Much of the cast has relocated, if even temporarily, to Music City during production. And they each have their favorite neighborhood haunts.
Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who was already based in the area and plays dispatcher Cammie Raleigh, singled out the National Museum of African American Music as a favorite retreat.
"You can just disappear in there," she says. "You can listen to the history of music and who influenced who, and it just is a deep dive."
Provost praises The Cookery, a nonprofit restaurant and training program serving people experiencing homelessness. And McVey's favorite haunt is the Wild Beaver Saloon, where his character's first scenes were filmed in 2025.
"I had been there a couple times after I graduated college, riding the bull and singing karaoke," he says. "So a little déjà vu mix between my life and Blue's life."
Season 2 of "9-1-1: Nashville" premieres Thursday, Oct. 15 (9 p.m. ET/PT) on ABC, with episodes streaming the following day on Hulu.
Bryan West is a music reporter at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: '9-1-1: Nashville' cast Jessica Capshaw, Ryan Phillippe tease Season 2
