Nashville: Conspiracy Theory Time! (Okay, Maybe Just a Wild Idea)

Okay, so I just rewatched "Nashville" (like, for the millionth time, obvi) and I'm spiraling down a rabbit hole. Hear me out. We all know Barbara Jean's assassination is like, the climax of the whole chaotic mess, right? And everyone assumes it's Kenny, the super weirdo with the violin case... but what if it's way bigger? I'm thinking, could it be connected to Hal Phillip Walker's whole populist movement that just comes out of nowhere? Like, Walker's this shadowy figure barely even in the movie, but his campaign is constantly buzzing in the background, and it's all about outsider BS. What if he, or someone close to him, saw Barbara Jean as a threat? Maybe she was going to endorse someone else, or maybe her popularity was just a danger to his manufactured anti-establishment image. Remember that scene where Opal is trying to interview Triplette about Walker but is so confused and doesn't even get it? Everything around Walker is so strange and off-kilter, it's like nothing is as it seems. Like, I know, it's a stretch, I'm not saying Robert Altman was definitely dropping breadcrumbs about some secret political hit squad. But the movie is so cynical and full of hidden agendas. It just feels like everyone's using everyone else, and the Walker campaign adds an extra layer of creepiness. The fact that Walker never appears on screen makes it all the more suspicious. Plus, Kenny seems like too obvious of a suspect, right? Maybe he was just a patsy, a nobody easily manipulated into doing someone else's dirty work. It's also something that would happen in real life America, as cynical as that sounds. Anyway, just a thought! Let me know if I'm totally off my rocker, or if anyone else has considered this! Also, the music in this movie still slaps. I'm just saying.