Why Did Virgin River Wait Until Now to Deliver Mel and Jack’s Big Moment?
Netflix gave viewers a pretty early Christmas present by bringing us Season 2 of small-town drama Virgin River right after Thanksgiving. And, as expected considering the suspenseful plot twists, fans are bingeing like they’ve got leftovers. Virgin River continues to deliver new mysteries and emotional drama, but it’s also quick to answer some key questions from the beginning and move the characters in interesting directions. Two of those characters, of course, are Mel and Jack, who finally get the big scene fans have been waiting for. And, if you’re wondering why it took so long, the showrunners have the answer for you.
We don’t have to go too far into Virgin River Season 2 to get a sense of the romantic drama that’s heading our way to that remote town. The end of Episode 2 saw emotionally damaged nurse Mel and emotionally damaged bar owner Jack finally come clean. That’s right folks, as if anyone who witnessed this particular moment could ever forget, Mel and Jack finally got naked and actually grew up together. What? Yes, I’m saying they had sex! Now, Virgin River showrunner Sue Tenney has revealed to TV Line why the big moment took so long, saying:
If you’ve read the books, you know that sex is a big part of the books. But I just didn’t feel that the first season was about that. I wanted to hold off.
Fans had to wait for almost a year between Virgin River Seasons 1 and 2, and also get 12 episodes deep into the storytelling to finally watch Mel and Jack fully realize their romantic potential, so it can be difficult to understand why Sue Tenney felt like it was better to wait. That is, until you remember that each episode of the series generally picks up right after the previous one, with Season 2 beginning just a couple of weeks after the events of the Season 1 finale.
So, it’s not like, in the timeline of the show on screen, Mel and Jack have been floating around each other for years or even months. These two have literally known each other for about six weeks, you guys. Have some patience!
Sue Tenney decided to have her writers focus on making sure that the characters of Mel and Jack, along with all of their (considerable) emotional baggage, were well developed before having them gently bone each other into the night. I mean, I’m assuming it was gentle. But, I could be wrong, as this was what is known as a ‘closed door’ scene, where we got to see our heroes kiss a bit, do some undressing and laying down, and then…Bam! It’s the next morning. About the brevity of the actual sex scene, Alexandra Breckenridge, who plays Mel, had this to say:
Our show, I believe, is PG-14, so there aren’t a lot of body parts that are allowed to be shown. We also have a huge age range that watches, from younger viewers to older viewers, and I don’t think everybody wants to see a full True Blood-level sex scene. And I fully did a True Blood scene back in the day.
Listen, I know some of you dirty birds would have been more than happy to watch way more go down between Mel and Jack than what we got. This way, at least, you can imagine their physical congress happening any way you’d like, right? Hopefully, with or without more big sex from these two, Virgin River will continue to give us all the romance we want and need.
We can all see what Virgin River Season 2 has in store for us on Netflix right now, but if you’d like more viewing options be sure to check out our guide to fall TV and see what’s coming up in the new year!
