Virgin River’s most adored couple are finally about to say “I do” — and their wedding will be the can’t-miss event of season 6.
“It’s been six seasons in the making,” showrunner Patrick Sean Smith exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of season 6, which hits Netflix on Thursday, December 19. “When we started writing it, we looked at the responsibility and expectations that come with that, so I wanted to make sure that there was no wedding stone unturned that we didn’t get to portray in the season.”
After coming to the town of Virgin River in season 1, Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) immediately connected. Over the course of the next five seasons, the pair weathered breakups, a faux paternity scandal, a pregnancy loss and more before getting engaged at the end of season 4. Two seasons later, they are more in love than ever, and more than ready to walk down the aisle.
Smith told Us that while writing season 6, he wanted to ensure that audiences felt “satiated from the wedding experience they have been looking forward to” for so long, but also wanted to allow the show to continue moving forward after so much anticipation.
“To introduce the notion [of marriage] in season 4, it felt like [we] might be overextending the engagement [by season 6], so it was time to finally pay it off,” Smith explained. “The show’s celebrating its five year anniversary, and for the characters, too, it felt like it was time for them to enter a new phase in their relationship.”
While Mel and Jack’s wedding will be a huge focal point of the new season, it’s far from the only thing happening in Virgin River. Keep scrolling to see what the cast teased to Us about their characters’ upcoming story lines:
Mel
Alexandra Breckenridge exclusively told Us that Mel’s connection with her biological father, Everett (John Allen Nelson), will also be a major part of her journey — and even weave into her wedding day.
“Where we left off in season 5, she had just met her biological father,” she explained. “So she’s really trying to connect with [Everett] because it’s a surprise, but it’s really meaningful for her. And he knows so much about her mother that she didn’t know.”
Breckenridge said that Mel is excited to bond with a “living parent” as well as learn more about her late mother, Sarah, who died when she was 11. (Episode 2 of season 6 will tell the story of a young Sarah and Everett through flashbacks.)
“It’s really deep and meaningful for her throughout the season,” Breckenridge told Us. “I think that [Mel and Everett’s] relationship, there’s some bumps in the road, but I think ultimately their connection is very strong and it becomes very strong throughout.”
As for her wedding, Breckenridge joked that Mel “thinks” things are going to go smoothly — but Hope’s (Annette O’Toole) looming presence might cause a few issues.
“Mel set out to have a really small, lovely, intimate wedding, and the town sort of took over and Hope definitely took over and wanted it to be the event of the year,” she explained. “And I think Mel understood that she was really giving something to the community by letting that happen, even though that wasn’t necessarily what she wanted.”
She added that Mel is “trying to roll with it” but it proves “a little difficult” to do at times. “Hope can be a little bit much when she’s planning events,” she said with a laugh. “I think it causes a little bit of friction when it comes to the actual wedding day.”
Jack
In addition to celebrating his upcoming nuptials to Mel, Martin Henderson told Us exclusively that Jack will be looking inward and re-examining his feelings about his time in the military.
“I think part of Jack’s inner journey and arc throughout the season is trying to make peace with and come to terms with what his military background meant to him then, but means to him now,” he shared. “And we watch him struggling with that.”
Henderson also teased that Jack will form “a relationship” with a horse — but promised that it won’t turn romantic. “Mel and Jack will stay together,” he quipped. “For now.”
Jack’s relationship with his father will also continue to evolve. “He’s also got some nice moments where he’s reconnecting with his dad, and I think he’s reevaluating what that relationship is, and his dad is able to be more forthcoming emotionally with Jack,” Henderson revealed. “I think there’s a softening there around that father-son relationship that was really nice.”
Brie
After ending season 5 by sparking a new romance with Mike (Marco Grazzini) and testifying against her abusive ex-boyfriend, Zibby Allen exclusively told Us that Brie will be “working through the thing she needs to work through to heal” in season 6, and “figure out what she needs the most, both in love and life and career.”
“She’s chosen to stay in Virgin River,” Allen continued. “So I think this upcoming season you’re going to see her sort of still working through that conversation between the head and the heart, which maybe aren’t always saying the same things.”
Hope
Annette O’Toole teased that Hope’s season is an “intense” one.
“She has a goal, she has something very specific she’s doing, which is getting people together to do this wedding,” she exclusively told Us. “Officiating and deciding all these things. And she loves to be the director and that’s what she gets to do. So for her it’s a very positive thing along the way.”
O’Toole noted that despite Hope’s excitement about planning Mel and Jack’s wedding, there will be a “few hiccups with misunderstandings” along the way — both with Doc (Tim Matheson) and “others.”
Hope will also get to have some other great bonding moments with other characters. “I love the comradery with the sewing circle,” O’Toole said. “I just think that’s such a great part of this show is; how the women really are there for one another.”
Doc
Doc ended season 5 with plans to start a trial that could help his eyesight, and while season 6 will address his health issues, Tim Matheson said that viewers will see a different, very “wonderful and touching” part of his journey in season 6.
“He comes to terms with a simmering dislike of a person that’s gone on for years and finally makes peace with someone, and lets go, which is an important thing for people to do,” he exclusively told Us, “to let go of their hatred or their annoyance or their dislike of someone.”
It won’t all be smooth sailing, and Doc’s career could be in the line of fire.
“Doc, because of his commitment to caring for people, it gets him into some trouble,” Matheson explained. “His commitment to letting nothing get in the way between him and his patients, saving his patients, gets him into a bit of trouble. And that’s one of the elements of his story line. It’s an interesting turn.”
