‘Virgin River’ Showrunner Says Season 6 Will Be ‘Complicated’ for Mel
Virgin river showrunner Patrick Sean Smith says trouble could arise for Mel once her biological father reveals his big secret.
“He’s hinting at something that will complicate their relationship, so we’ll say it’s negative,” Smith said. Entertainment weekly in an interview on Friday, December 1 about the big cliffhanger of season 5.
When part 1 of Virgin River fifth season appeared on Netflix in September, Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) was left reeling after learning about her biological father through love letters he once sent her mother. During the second half of the season, which premiered on November 30, Mel soon discovers that her father’s name is Everett Reid and that he still lives in Virgin River.
After initially pretending that he was not the man she was looking for, Everett makes his identity clear by bringing her a music box containing her mother’s voice. He then reveals that he has something important to share with his daughter before the screen goes black, leaving fans with a major cliffhanger.
Breckenridge, for her part, related it EW that she has not read any scripts for Season 6, but believes Everett will inevitably complicate matters for her character.
“It’ll be a little strange,” she said. “Everett says, ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’ I don’t know if that has anything to do with the people she’s with in town, Doc, or anyone else.”
Ahead of Everett’s official introduction, fan theories swirled about who Mel’s father might be, with many hoping that her colleague Doc (Tim Matheson) is said to be behind the big reveal.
“Everyone thought it was Doc,” Brekendridge joked. “I thought, ‘That’s too obvious.’ Bert (Trevor Lerner) which we thought would be fun. Nick (Keith MacKechnie) was also a funny idea.”
Smith admitted that they had considered “all possibilities” of her father’s identity, with Doc being one of them. “But Doc is already a surrogate father to her,” he explained. “So by making it about biology, I felt like it defeated the purpose of what’s so special about their relationship.”
Despite not being related by blood, Doc has become a parental figure to Mel since she arrived in Virgin River after her husband’s death in Season 1. Although the characters initially disagreed, their relationship has grown into a focal point of the series.
“When you meet Mel, you get the sense that she is really overwhelmed by the loss of her husband, her parents, especially her mother and her child,” Breckenridge said. “Over the seasons, she has softened Doc in many ways, and the family bond they have had is so sweet and beautiful.”
The pair have become so close, Smith said, that Everett’s presence can cause serious tension. “Having a father figure come back into Mel’s life will be a new challenge for Doc and their relationship,” he teased.
As for why Mel hooked up with Everett so quickly in season 5 — the show is known for developing certain dramatic storylines over multiple seasons — Breckenridge explained that it was important to avoid getting too bogged down in drama during the holiday themed episodes of part 2.
“We were in the realm of the Christmas spirit,” Breckenridge said. “We wanted to maintain a coziness and a lightness to the characters and what they were dealing with. Of course it’s a bit strange that she’s suddenly like this [jumping into this]but we had to move the story forward.
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Smith also noted that because Mel had read Everett’s letters to her mother, it appears that she would have no reservations about visiting him anytime soon.
“She was encouraged by the letters she read and expressed that Everett truly wanted to be part of her life and respected her mother’s wishes,” he said. “She came into it and felt the connection with her mother. It was a win-win situation for her to bring this man into her life.”
Netflix has not yet announced a return date for Virgin river.