Nashville’s LeAnn Rimes on Why Dixie Revealed Diss Track About Blythe, Snakes & Rogue (Exclusive)

Dixie (LeAnn Rimes) is upset about having to go to Milwaukee before the snakes make her flight hell; with Blythe (Jessica Capshaw) owning her contract, she’s the one who decides where she tours. But Dixie gets her revenge in the final moments of the latest 9-1-1: Nashville. TV Insider spoke with Rimes about this very different episode for Dixie, that big move at the end, and much more. Warning: Spoilers for 9-1-1: Nashville Season 2 Episode 4 ahead!

It doesn’t take long for the Pharaoh to set loose his next plague, with a timed device releasing snakes on the flight soon after take-off. Passengers, including the young boy traveling alone in the seat next to Dixie, Danny, are bitten, and calls to 9-1-1 are made. Cammie (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) just so happens to take Dixie’s call and talks her through safely getting to the front of the plane to get the epi pen in the med kit and returning to the back, where she’s barricaded herself and Danny, by using a fire extinguisher to keep the snakes away (the cold puts them into brumation). But when the nose gear won’t go down (the snakes), it’s a rough landing, one made with Dixie singing “Amazing Grace” and passengers praying and passing along messages for loved ones to dispatchers. The 113 is waiting on the runway, with anti-venom, to treat everyone.

Rogue (Ryan Phillippe) doesn’t wait for the plane to be cleared before he goes into the cargo hold, where he finds the device, a Bible page, and a snake ready to attack. He simply shoots it.

This episode also reveals Rogue’s tragic backstory that reminds us of Criminal Minds: The Staten Island Strangler killed his wife. His obsession with the case caused their split, and the Strangler called Rogue from her phone to make him listen to her die. He refused to let that fact be in the podcast, meaning it’s news to Don (Chris O’Donnell) and Ryan (Michael Provost) when he apologizes to the latter for snapping at him and invites him to interview the USA agent, Sam Duncan, who signed off on the crate of snakes (and was bit himself).

Meanwhile, Camryn Manheim makes her debut, and at first, it seems like the dispatchers are going to like Dr. Marcia Zellner. But when the crisis is over, it’s like a flip has been switched. She tells them not to be as invested as they are, that that can cloud their judgement and cause numerous physical ailments like indigestion, cardiac issues, and strokes. She’s there to evaluate their mental fitness and determine if they have what it takes to handle this. If she determines they can’t, well, that’s it.

Disney/Jake Giles Netter

Finally, the episode ends with Dixie getting to live out her dream and sing on the Ryman stage, thanks to the father of the boy she saved also being a singer and wanting to pay her back. She then sings “Hey, Lady B,” despite the threats of a lawsuit — and after revealing it’s about Blythe! “Well played, Dixie,” Blythe says, watching.

Below, LeAnn Rimes discusses Dixie’s flight of snakes, spilling the beans about Blythe and the diss track, moving on from Don, and much more.

How was filming this episode? It’s very different than the usual for Dixie.

LeAnn Rimes: Yeah, it was very demanding physically, emotionally, mentally. I hate snakes, and it’s funny because I see everybody on social media, everybody has a fear of snakes, it seems. People are like, “I don’t know if I could watch this episode.” But yeah, I remember getting the script and thinking, “Oh my God, this is my…” I used to have recurring snake dreams as a kid, and I’m like, “This is my worst nightmare.” So I think it was literally a therapeutic purging of sorts of really filming this episode and facing my biggest fears, but I had so much fun doing it.

Also, Dixie Bennings, action hero, love to see it.

Yes. Yeah, for sure.

Did she know she had that in her?

Oh, I think so. I think Dixie’s a fighter. I think Dixie has been through pretty much everything you could go through in life, and from my point of view, I think she’s a survivor. So I think especially when it comes to saving a child, and I know she also is very annoyed by children that aren’t hers, not her son, but I think she sees her son in him and you really get to see even more so her maternal instinct that’s there and she would do anything to save this kid. So it’s nice to see this other side of her that we’ve seen, but it just solidifies the depths in which she will go to protect this little boy.

Dixie reveals that the diss track is about Blythe at the end. Why did she do that?

Oh, because it’s Dixie. [Laughs] Because why wouldn’t she? Look, in all of her survival instincts, I think she’s brilliant at seeing an opportunity when it arises and making gold out of it. I think also, as you can see, Blythe, at the end, sees that in her and appreciates it actually, even though it’s at her expense. So I think there’s a mutual respect in that or a respect for her, at least from Blythe in that way because Blythe I think is great at doing the same thing of finding opportunities and turning them into gold. And so I think in all of Dixie’s survival instincts and being just empowered in that moment, hell, she’s on the Ryman stage where she sung back up I’m sure five gazillion million times, but all of a sudden she’s now on stage as Dixie Bennings is the artist and I mean what better place to let it rip than the Ryman stage?

Also, Danny had raved about that song, so that kind of fit with that, but if he hadn’t, or if he’d mentioned something else, do you think Dixie still would’ve done that or sung a different song?

Well, I don’t know if he would’ve known anything else by her.

True.

I don’t think we were done with that yet. I mean, I think that we really had to bring it back. And the fact that this 12-year-old kid knows this song, I think just shows you how much that whole drama at the end of last season, how much it infiltrated the zeitgeist and became this big hit for her. Then of course that just breaks open a new door for her being able to really perform it for the first time because I think there’s just an “I don’t give a s**t” kind of mentality about her. I’ll take the heat and the hit after the fact, but I’ll ask for forgiveness, not permission kind of feeling.

Disney/Jake Giles Netter

Yeah, exactly. You brought up Blythe’s reaction, that “well played.” So what can you say about what this means for her and Dixie’s upcoming interactions? Is it going to basically take them back any steps they’ve made progress-wise with therapy?

Yeah. Or did they make any steps progress-wise? I don’t think so. Clearly not.

Well, they’re not fighting physically anymore.

Well, not yet, but who knows? All it takes is one little spark to set Dixie off. But I do think, and I can’t say a lot, but we do have some interesting twists and turns in our relationship throughout this season. So I think that “well played” kind of buttoned it off a little bit and maybe opened a new door, but we shall see.

Seeing Dixie on stage was of course great, but your “Amazing Grace” was, well, amazing.

Thank you.

Talk about singing that and were you part of the discussions about what song that would be?

Yeah, they originally had that written as the prayer throughout it. I wasn’t even supposed to sing “Amazing Grace.” And then Rashad [Raisani, showrunner] called me and asked if I would be up for that and I said, “Oh, that’s perfect. That would be amazing to add it to that part of the scene.” Because I honestly fly all the time and I have had many a thought about, “I’m not in control up here. If something ever happened, how would I soothe myself going down?” And that would be the song that I would sing. And so when he mentioned it, I was like, “Oh yeah, that’s absolutely perfect.” I think we did it three times and every time they had to rein me back because I was bawling, bawling. And Chad, our director, was like, “You need to be a little bit stronger for him.” And I’m like, “OK, I will.” So I think that was probably the third take where I kind of got it right of this balance between being strong for him and just bawling my eyes out. But yeah, I mean, it’s definitely a thought that I’ve had many a time, and I think it was such a perfect thing for Dixie to do that. Every time I watch it, I’ve watched it a couple of times now, it just brings me to tears every time.

I loved getting some Dixie and Cammie interaction, even though it was just over the phone, but it just makes me want to actually see the two of them together.

I know! Kim has brought that up to our writers and so have I, because I love her to death. She’s such a good human and she’s such a great actress and just so down to earth and real. And I think she’s secretly, obviously, with her being in the music business in the past, and even though she’s Blythe’s sister-in-law, I think she secretly has this really deep love for Dixie appreciation just for her as a singer and an artist, and she’s a fan. We both have asked to hopefully have some scenes together in the future because I think it would be fun.

I also think it was a nice touch that they didn’t recognize each other’s voices right away because these two women aren’t in each other’s lives every day. I also feel like Dixie could have fun trying to befriend Cammie to get under Blythe’s skin, even if Cammie won’t go for it.

Oh, 1000%. 1000%. And you know she would, too.

The moment that Rogue shot the snake made me realize that he and Dixie sharing the screen in any capacity could be fun.

[Laughs] Yes.

Is there anything coming up there?

Yeah, maybe. I don’t know completely. We still have a lot of season to shoot, but I mean, I think if you put Dixie on screen with Rogue, there’s absolutely, 1000% going to be some flirtation there because that’s just Dixie, right? So I’m sure that will happen somewhere down the line.

Especially because the fact that Don doesn’t like him, I could see her really —

Oh, yes. To get under Don’s skin, she could definitely use that to her advantage.

Speaking of Don, after everything that’s happened, is Dixie ready to actually move on from him or can she still just not let him go?

I would like to see Dixie move on from him. I think there’ll always be something there because they have a child together, and not just that, but real history is each other’s first love. So I think there’s something always very special about that. And because they are in each other’s lives, I think there’s always just a little something that’s still just right there between the two of them. But I think it’s time for Dixie to move on. I think she deserves something of her own, and I don’t think she’s had that since him. In the way I think about her, Blue was her whole world, and so she never really brought too many people around him. So I think now that he’s grown and out of the house finally, and I think it’s time for her to have something of her own.

Yeah. But I think the problem is also there’s always that hurt that’s there for her and she’s going to constantly be reminded of that because she’s going to have to see Don now because of Blue.

Oh, yeah. There’ll always be a little tension there, for sure. I mean, we can’t have the show without there being some kind of tension there. So yeah, that will definitely be, I think, a storyline that just kind of waxes and wanes in some way.

How is Dixie and Blue’s relationship this season?

You know what’s really funny is I have yet to have a real scene with him this season, and we’re 11 episodes in. He’s been at my show and as I get off the plane, that kind of thing, but we’ve really yet to dig into that relationship because I think we’ve kind of evolved Dixie past being just Blue’s mom, but I know that that’s coming at some point soon. I told Rashad, “I miss my son. I want a scene with my son.” So yeah, I know that that’s coming. We’re just trying to figure out where their storyline is. I mean, we don’t even know where Dixie lives anymore at this moment. She’s been just on the road and traveling in airplanes. So yeah, I think there’s a part of Dixie’s life that we haven’t really dug into yet this season that we will at the end of the season.

Dixie was very much part of the snakes part of the plagues. Are we going to see her involved any more in that part of the show with the plagues?

I don’t know. That’s a real I don’t know. I have yet to see anything of that nature just yet. So we’ll see as the season wraps up, if that will be a part of it.

Yeah. I mean, considering what she just went through, I wouldn’t blame her for trying to stay as far away from it as possible.

Yes, for sure.

Is there anything coming up for Dixie’s love life?

Maybe. We shall see. I know that Rashad and I have talked about bringing a love interest in for her this season. That was one of the first things we talked about when we started talking about her evolution as they started writing the beginning of the season. So there might be something in the pipeline. That’s all I can say for now.

What about anyone else in Dixie’s life, someone that she can talk to? Because I feel like that’s what she kind of needs, too.

Yeah, I think she’s pretty lonely. I think it’s been her and Blue forever. So who knows? Who knows what new alliances may form or what new friendships may come into play, but I could see where we would need that for her. I think she needs some relationship outside of what her current situation is, for sure.

Someone who is not related at all to anyone on the show.

Exactly.

What else is coming up for Dixie?

The great thing about Season 2 that I’m really loving is that there’s a lot of music throughout the season, which we’re leaning into even more so as being in Nashville, that Nashville music side of things. So you’ll get to hear some more music from her as we head into the rest of the season.

9-1-1: Nashville, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC