Warning: This story contains spoilers for season 4 of Virgin River
More small town drama ahead! The Netflix series Virgin River is returning for a fifth season.
“[With] everything that’s been going on in the world, people more and more [are] looking for, not just that comfort, but also that feeling of hope and that feeling of community,” Jinny Howe, Netflix’s VP of Original Series, told USA Today in September 2021 when announcing the show’s renewal for a fourth and fifth season.
Based on novels of the same name by Robyn Carr, Virgin River follows midwife and nurse practitioner Melinda “Mel” Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge), who relocates to a small Northern California town in hopes of leaving her painful past behind. At the end of season 4, which was released on July 20, 2022, Mel gets engaged to local bar owner and former Marine Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson).
“It was really sweet,” Breckenridge told TVLine of the proposal scene. “Martin played it in such a kind, loving way. He got all misty eyed, so I got misty eyed. I don’t know that he was expecting that. Sometimes you go into a scene seeing where it takes you. Over 41 episodes into filming, this back-and-forth for the two of us playing these characters, it was a really nice moment that they got to.”
The newly engaged characters are also expecting a baby together, a story line that is sure to play out in season 5. The Virgin River star was happy that her character’s late husband Mark (Daniel Gillies) didn’t end up being the father of the unborn child. “I was gunning for that story line,” she told TVLine. “I was adamant that it shouldn’t be Mark’s baby.”
Despite the piece of good news, Henderson’s character had his share of tough moments this past season. Season 4 saw Jack struggling with his PTSD and finding out that his ex-girlfriend Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) lied about him being the father of her twins.
“Ever since [Jack] found out [Charmaine] was pregnant with his twins … he had to walk a really fine line between having obviously really strong feelings about how heinous her behavior is,” the Ring actor told Glamour in July 2022. “Now, of course, he finds out they’re not even his, so all that s—t he went through and that Mel went through … yeah, he has an opinion about that.”
Needless to say, there is plenty of drama ahead. Keep scrolling for everything we know so far about season 5: