If you’re a fan of the Netflix show Virgin River, then this was a good month for you. The latest season of the hit show debuted on Sept. 7, and people have been burning through the latest Mel and Jack drama.
Virgin River tells the story of Alexandra Breckenridge as a nurse practitioner named Mel, and Jack, played by Martin Henderson. Other residents of the titular town include Mayor Hope (Annette O’Toole), the town doctor (Tim Matheson) and chef preacher (Colin Lawrence).
Season 5 saw Mel struggling with her pregnancy, Jack struggling with his own demons and Charmaine, Doc, Mayor Hope struggling with their impairments. The latest batch of episodes answered a lot of questions, and the end of the season brought even more surprises, setting up season six of the show – so let’s recap what went down.
Virgin River season 5 ending explained
While there have been five seasons of the show for us, it’s only been months inside of the show. That means that season 5 only emcompasses a mere few weeks, but so much happens!
Let’s start with Mel’s pregnancy. Unfortunately, she had a miscarriage while helping neighbors as a massive fire eats through the town. Breckenridge previously said that the miscarriage story was “important to tell.”
“Not everyone gets their miracle baby. And so, talking to a friend of mine who had dealt with fertility issues, it seemed as though we were going to be talking about it in an honest way that would be appreciated by women who have experienced that. It was very hard for me, though. There was a lot of crying. It’s a really sad storyline, but in the end, I think Mel comes out of it on the other side in a better way.”
Despite Mel’s eagerness to have children, she informs Jack that she can’t go through another pregnancy. The two find a way to work through it, and are going to have to find another way to have a family together. Speaking of family, we also found out that Jack’s ex Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) was lying about Jack being the father of her twins. This means that Jack went from potentially being a father of three to father of none. Brutal.
The real father of the child? Drug kingpin Calvin (David Cubitt). We thought he was dead, but in another shock twist, he’s alive and wants to help raise his kids. We thought he perished in Season 4 in that boat accident, but that wasn’t the case. After Calvin “died,” we met Melissa Montgomery, the true drug kingpin and sister to Jack’s business partner Nick, who, by the way, doesn’t know his sister deals drugs.
Let’s talk wildfire. As the fires threaten everyone, it also brings the town closer together, with Mayor Hope and her new chief of staff Lizzie taking charge. Sarah Dugdale plays Lizzie, and she said she loved her character’s arc from misguided teen to adult hero.
“Going from that bratty teen girl who thinks she’s the center of attention, and then getting thawed out by being in Virgin River and realizing that people care about her and she’s valued here, to having an important job in government and being mentored by someone like Hope, who I think is a badass woman who speaks her mind,” Dugdale said.
Other Lizzie news is that she thinks she’s pregnant, but time will tell if that turns out to be the case. After the fire, Mel and Jack stood in the ashes of Lilly’s farm and decided to stay in Virgin River for good. What about those love letters Mel’s sister Joey (Jenny Cooper) found? They could possibly be from Mel’s unknown father. We’ll find out more about that when the Christmas episodes premieres in November.
Doc was struggling with eyesight issue through the season, but he didn’t come clean until the wildfire when he lost his vision while treating wildfire victims. He confesses this to Dr. Cameron Hayek (Mark Ghanimé) and fortunately starts a clinical trial to help his vision issues.
Hope recovered from her traumatic brain injury and was reinstated as mayor during the fire. She also got a little closer with Doc.
Now onto Preacher and Kaia (Kandyse McClure). The two had a fling or two, but decide to make a real go of it, despite the fact that Kaia is in the midst of a divorce. Oh, and then there’s the whole body situation, because Kaia took a job nearby and there’s always the chance she could find the hidden body. Honestly, she probably will. Drama!
More couple talk: Muriel (Teryl Rothery) and Cameron are actually dating, and shared a public kiss at the Labor Day carnival.
Right off the bat we learned that Preacher and Paige (Lexa Doig) didn’t kill Vince, and thanks to Mike’s intrepid police work, Vince ends up in custody. But he also told police that Paige killed Vince’s brother Wes (also played by Steve Bacic) and Preacher hid the body. So that’s definitely going to pop off next season.
Let’s talk Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth), who was recruited by Calvin to help with his illegal cannabis operation inside the lumberyard. Brady spent a lot of Season 5 trying to take down Melissa, but no one believed he wasn’t involved with drugs anymore.
In the last episode, Melissa abducts Brady and Mike gets shot, leaving him unable to backup Brady’s story. He eventually does, but the damage is done. Brady’s girlfriend Brie (Zibby Allen) breaks it off with him and starts up a new thing with Mike.
Brie is all about justice, so when she gets a feeling that Brady’s involved in the drug game, she bails. This is made more complicated by the fact that Mike and Brady are working together secretly.
Finally, we met Ava (Libby Osler), who is one of Lilly’s daughters. She moved to Virgin River to care for sister Chloe, and to help liquidate the farm. She suffers from endometriosis and decided to freeze her eggs and get a hysterectomy.
There are obviously so many more things to be answered and wrapped up, but some of that will be answered on Nov. 30 when the two Christmas episodes premiere.
