Virgin River’s showrunner teases Mel’s ‘paternal love triangle’ ahead of season 6
Virgin River season six is expected to see Mel torn between her real father and her surrogate dad Doc.
Virgin River’s showrunner has teased a love triangle of another kind when it returns for season six.
The Netflix romantic drama returned for its fifth outing at the end of November with Mel Monroe (played by Alexandra Breckenridge) being reunited with her biological father.
When she first arrived in town, Mel said she was an orphan, having lost her mum when she was 11 and her dad already absent from her life.
She then discovered a number of letters her mum and dad had sent one another with him referring to himself as Champ with the address listed as Virgin River.
With help from Preacher’s (Colin Lawrence) private detective, Mel was able to track down her dad Everett “Champ” Reid (John Allen Nelson) who initially rejected the idea that she was his daughter.
Thankfully, Champ later found Mel to apologise as he was scared to be a dad but they began to bond in the final few moments of the series.
Up until now though, Mel has found a father figure in Doc (Tim Matheson) who has been by her side through thick and thin since moving to the area.
And with Champ now on the scene and wanting to get to know his daughter, this is bound to change the dynamic she has with her neighbour.
In fact, showrunner Patrick Sean Smith has teased there will be a “love triangle” of sorts between Mel, Champ and Doc when the drama makes its comeback.
He told TV Line: “What we’re exploring in season six is a sort of a paternal love triangle.
“Doc has always been a surrogate father to Mel, so we’ll see what happens when her actual biological father comes into her life and how that affects their relationship.”
The latest series also ended on a cliffhanger with Champ telling Mel that he had something important to tell her.
With no indication as to what this could be, this may add another spanner in the works for Mel and her newfound father.
Sadly, it’s going to be quite a while until season six is released on Netflix, with work delayed due to the Hollywood writers and actors’ strikes.
Production is expected to begin sometime in the first half of 2024 and the show to come out later next year or even early 2025.
For now though, fans will have to just mull over all of the drama from the newly released season five.
