Virgin River – Showrunner reveals Mel’s dad, Mel and Jack’s future in season 6
On the occasion of the release of the Christmas specials, had the opportunity to exclusively interview Patrick Sean Smith – showrunner of Virgin River. He revealed new details surrounding season 6 of this hit romantic series on Netflix.
Virgin River is a hit with Christmas specials
After 5 seasons, Virgin River has become the top romantic series on Netflix, starring Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson. This year, the series innovates by releasing two Christmas specials – a part that fans loved so much that they felt “disappointed and disappointed” that there weren’t more similar episodes. Released on November 30, these episodes are the second part of season 5, following Mel and Jack on their journey to find Mel’s biological father. At the same time, Jack and Brie try to reconcile their families so as not to ruin the holiday season.
These episodes not only answer many of the questions from the beginning of season 5 – like the mystery of Mel’s father, Lizzie’s pregnancy, and the identity of Charmaine’s twins’ father – but also set the stage for what’s to come in season 6.
Mel and the ‘love triangle’ with her two fathers
After a long search, Mel finally meets her biological father. Although he initially refuses to meet him, he shows up at Mel’s cabin at the end of season 5 and expresses his desire to build a father-son relationship. Patrick Sean Smith revealed that this story will continue to be a major focus in season 6 and could cause a lot of conflict, especially with Doc.
“Both men love and care for Mel, but they’re competing with each other. That promises to be a lot of interesting drama,” Patrick shared. “Doc has always been a surrogate father to Mel, and that’s what we want to explore – a ‘love triangle’ between the fathers.”
Will Mel and Jack become parents?
Mel’s grief over the loss of her child in season 5 was one of the most emotional episodes. Some fans even criticized the writers for not giving Mel a happy ending. However, Patrick explained: “In this story, Mel’s grief was what ended her marriage to Mark. When Mel and Jack faced and overcame that challenge together, it was meaningful. It reflects the reality of millions of couples out there.”
Patrick confirmed that in season 6 and beyond, Mel and Jack will continue their journey to parenthood. They will also consider many options, including adoption: “Yes, adoption is definitely part of the plan.” When asked if their wedding will happen in season 6, Patrick simply laughed: “Who knows?”
The conflict between Jack and Calvin becomes more personal
Another surprising revelation in season 5 is the identity of the father of Charmaine’s twins. All of the previous predictions were wrong, as their father turned out to be Calvin – the drug dealer who was thought to have died in the train explosion at the end of season 4.
Patrick explains: “This was an opportunity to resurrect Calvin’s character and make the conflict between him and Jack more personal. Calvin wants to be involved in his kids’ lives, but at the same time still be the drug dealer that everyone knows.” This promises to create some tense confrontations between Jack and Calvin in season 6.
When will Virgin River season 6 be released on Netflix?
It’s still way too early to predict a release date for Virgin River season 6 on Netflix. But Patrick Sean Smith did give us some details about the production schedule. “I feel like we’re expected to shoot season 6 as soon as possible,” he revealed. “We’ve been back writing since the writers’ strike ended in late September. We had about half the season written when the strike started, so I think we’ll be done with the scripts for season 6 by the end of the year. Netflix has ordered 10 episodes for season 6, which we knew from the beginning.” Did you notice that a very personal detail about Hope and Doc was sneaked into the Christmas episodes?
