Virgin River Unpacks Finale Twists, Looks Ahead to Season 6 — What’s Next for Jack, Charmaine and More?
Virgin River‘s fourth season finale threw viewers for so many loops, we suspect it was ghostwritten by Toucan Sam. So here’s our question, and it’s a biggie: What the heck happens next?
Production on the Netflix drama’s fifth season is currently underway, and while new showrunner Patrick Sean Smith is hesitant to reveal too many secrets, he’s willing to give TVLine a taste of the drama still to come for Mel, Jack, Charmaine (ugh!) and several other characters.
From the possibility of Ricky’s return from basic training to the likelihood of Mel giving birth to Jack’s baby, we grilled Smith about nearly every major Season 4 twist.
Read on for the showrunner’s teases about Season 5, then drop your own hopes for Virgin River‘s future a comment below.
When Will Mel and Jack Get Married?
Smith knows that fans are practically salivating at the idea of Mel and Jack swapping wedding vows, but that doesn’t mean we’ll get the ceremony of our dreams right away.
“Mel and Jack are such an epic couple that you really want to savor things as much as you can,” he says. “We don’t want things to ever feel like they’re stalled, but we also want to enjoy [their engagement] while we can. So we’re moving at that pace with all of the things they have ahead of them, anticipating [a wedding] down the road.”
Will Mel Give Birth in Season 5?
Now that we know Mel is pregnant with Jack’s baby, we’re even more excited to watch Virgin River‘s it couple welcome the next generation. But given how slowly time moves on this show — hello, Charmaine has been pregnant since Season 1 — it’s unclear when we’ll actually see that happen.
“One of the things I noticed was how slowly things move on the show,” Smith says. “We want things to keep flowing, and it’s hard to find time jumps within that, but I am trying to expand the timeline as organically as possible without it feeling like a departure.” (For the record, Smith confirms that Season 5 picks up right where Season 4 left off, sans time jump.)
Can Preacher Finally Live His Life?
Following his encounter with Vince in the finale, it’s entirely possible that Preacher could finally enjoy his life without having to constantly look over his shoulder. Of course, there are a few other things Preacher still has to figure out before he can move on.
“I love his character so much, because he’s so unique to television,” Smith says of Preacher. “You don’t see a lot of men with such a sense of honor and purpose and truth. That definitely finds his way into his relationships. How Paige and Christopher fit into in his life will be addressed in Season 5. Then he also has Julia, who’s kind of waiting in the wings. He has a lot of ladies that are waiting for him to see which way he’s going to go. We’re also going deeper into his non-romantic life. We don’t know a lot about him. We’d love to see him interact with other characters he hasn’t yet.”
Is Cameron Sticking Around?
Cameron was ready to put Virgin River in his rearview mirror after his awkward exchange with Mel, but can she convince him to stay at the clinic?
After spotting actor Mark Ghanime in the Zoom table read for the Season 5 premiere, we assumed that it meant he’ll stick around for the duration.
“Well, you know he’s in the first episode, I’ll say that much,” Smith says. “You will have to see in Season 5.”
Have We Seen the Last of Ricky?
The good news: Despite shipping off to basic training at the end of Season 4, Ricky hasn’t seen the last of Virgin River.
The bad news: It’s anyone’s guess when we’ll actually see Grayson Gurnsey’s character again.
As Smith reminds TVLine, “the timeline was set that he would be in basic training until December, so as much as we move at the pace that we’re moving… I won’t say it’ll be in Season 10, but he’s a fan favorite and everybody loves him, so we’ll probably see Ricky at some point down the road.”
Will Denny and Lizzie’s Love Story End in Tragedy?
When pressed by Lizzie to explain why he wasn’t interested in pursuing a relationship, Denny eventually revealed that he has Huntington’s disease, a rare disorder that leads to the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain.
“If you know [my work in ABC Family’s Chasing Life], you know how I’m gong to approach that relationship,” Smith says of Denny and Lizzie. “I don’t want to focus on the dark and the sadness. People in the Huntington’s community would want to see the same. That was one that was tricky for me, but it goes back to what I earned on Chasing Life. Take a story that has the potential to go into a dark place and find a way around it.”
How Will Jack React to Charmaine’s Lie?
“When I got to that ending, I was gasping,” Smith says. “Where do we go? What do we do? What does this mean? We’ll look at Jack’s investment in what the twins meant to him, as well as how Charmaine challenged him for so long in that relationship.”
