Virgin River Team Breaks Down Biggest Finale Twists, Reveals What (and Who) to Expect in Season 7
Warning: This article spoils major plot points from Virgin River Season 6, Episode 10, now streaming on Netflix.
It’s a good thing Virgin River is already renewed for Season 7, because the Netflix drama has managed to successfully serve up another round of jaw-dropping cliffhangers — and we’re hungry for answers.
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Fortunately, TVLine was able to run our burning questions by some of Virgin River‘s finest — showrunner Patrick Sean Smith, as well as stars Alexandra Breckenridge (Mel), Martin Henderson (Jack) and Benjamin Hollingsworth (Brady) — and you might be surprised by what they have to say about the futures of your favorite characters.
Those burning questions include: Are Mel and Jack really going through with adopting Marley’s baby? Could the investigation into Doc’s conduct mean the end of his clinic? Did Mike seriously propose to Brie, knowing that she slept with Brady? Will Lark get away with her crime of passion? How will Muriel’s cancer storyline play out? Have we seen the last of Cameron? And, most importantly, what the heck did Jack see in Charmaine’s nursery?!
Grade Virgin River Season 6 in our poll below, then read on to get the team’s thoughts on our questions. When you’re finished, drop a comment with your own theories. How do you predict these storylines to play out in Season 7?
Are Mel and Jack Getting a Baby?
Let’s start with the only objectively good finale twist: Mel and Jack are finally going to become parents! Marley informs Mel that the couple adopting her baby decided to back out, and she wants Mel and Jack to take their place.
“I’m really excited to play with Mel becoming a mother, what it all means for her and how all of that emotion is going to come out when she actually finally becomes the mother that she’s wanted to be basically her whole life,” Breckenridge says.
Is the Clinic in Crisis?
With Doc’s license now suspended (pending investigation) and Grace Valley looking to expand its own medical business into Virgin River, the clinic is officially in danger. Let the battle begin!
“I don’t know what that will end up meaning for the birthing center,” Breckenridge admits. “I don’t know the legalities of all that. She’s a nurse practitioner and a midwife, so she could run that as a midwifery without needing a doctor, but the clinic is such an integral part of the town. I don’t think the town wants some big hospital coming in and taking it over. She’s stubborn and she’s scrappy, so I’m sure Mel will fight tooth and nail to protect the clinic.”
Mike Knows?!
This next one is awkward for a number of reasons: Brie manages to keep her tryst with Brady under wraps for most of the season, but she’s forced to confess when Mike proposes in the finale. She can’t predict how he’ll react, but she certainly isn’t expecting him to reply, “I know.” That’s right — he knows Brie cheated on him, and he still wants to marry her. This guy!
And we aren’t the only ones surprised by this turn of events. “I don’t know where that line came from,” Hollingsworth admits. “I don’t remember it being in the original draft. I wasn’t on set when they filmed it, so I don’t know if it was a last-minute add, but I thought it ended on her. … I’m actually shocked that he said that. Why wasn’t there any confrontation with Brady?”
Hollingsworth doesn’t know how this will all play out, but he appreciates how the show’s writers consistently “put these characters in the most inescapable situations, yet they find a way out of it.”
Meanwhile, the only thing Smith will tell us about Virgin River‘s latest proposal gone wrong is: “We’ll unpack all of that in Season 7.”
Lark on the Lam!
The good news? After overhearing that Brady is still in love with Brie, Lark finally leaves town at the end of Season 6. The bad news? She takes all of Brady’s money with her!
Hollingsworth is confident that Brady “would never give up on all that money,” so getting it back will definitely be a priority in Season 7. And here’s a fun potential twist we didn’t even consider: “I could see a world in which Brady needs to actually employ Mike’s help to get the money back, which would be a very interesting dynamic.”
What’s Next for Muriel?
Muriel’s breast cancer diagnosis is easily the most heartbreaking moment of Virgin River’s sixth season, so we’re happy to report that the future is looking bright for this fan-favorite character.
Unlike the show’s last cancer storyline, which ended with Lily’s death, Smith “felt like there was an opportunity to tell the storyline with a more positive outlook, which is really what Muriel is. She’s a big, bright light. We’ve now seen her persevere through the diagnosing of it, and in Season 7, we’ll get into the treatment part of it. Putting a positive spin on life-threatening illnesses feels like a story that is worth putting out in the world.”
Is Cameron Gone for Good?
The last time we see Cameron in the finale, he informs Muriel that he’s heading back to San Diego, where things are going well with Michelle. If this feels like a moment of closure for a departing character, that’s probably because it is.
“I love Mark [Ghanime], who plays Cameron, and I love the character of Cameron,” Smith says. “He will always be a part of the world, and I would love to see his character back, but he won’t be a series regular in Season 7, unfortunately.”
What Did Jack See?
We’ve now arrived at the final finale twist. This isn’t the first time a season of Virgin River has ended on a Jack-centric cliffhanger, but at least he wasn’t bleeding out on the floor of his own bar this time. Instead, the Season 6 finale closes with Jack doing a welfare check at Charmaine’s house, only to stumble upon something unsettling in the twins’ nursery.
The catch? “Martin did not actually know what he was seeing,” Smith says with a laugh. “It’s a testament to his acting talent that he was able, in a single look, to create several possible outcomes of what he was seeing. At one point, I was like, ‘Guys, what if we come back in this moment and it’s just like a Peloton? Maybe Jack didn’t know she had a Peloton!’ But yeah, Charmaine has found herself in the middle of a mess again, which is where her character tends to reside.”
Filming the big moment without that crucial piece of information made the whole experience “quite funny” for Martin, he recalls. “I said, ‘What am I looking at?’ And the director was like, ‘I don’t know, they haven’t written that part yet.’ So we went with a version of concern that hopefully elicits some intrigue in the audience as to what it is. It’s obviously not good, but how bad is it? Their imaginations can do the rest, and their questions will be answered in Season 7. I do have the privilege now of knowing what it all is, so I will delight in reading everybody’s theories.”
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