Virgin River’s the most adored couple is 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 speaking Us Weekly ahead of season 6, which hits Netflix on Thursday, December 19. “When we started writing it, we looked at the responsibility and the expectations that come with that, so I wanted to make sure there wasn’t a wedding stone left unturned that we didn’t get to portray during 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 suffered breakdownsa fake paternity scandal, a pregnancy loss, and more before they got engaged at the end of season 4. Two seasons later, they’re more in love than ever and more than ready to walk down the aisle.
Smith said us that while writing Season 6, he wanted to ensure that the audience felt “saturated with the wedding experience that they have I was looking forward to it” for so long, but also wanted to allow the show to move forward after so much anticipation.
“To introduce the idea (of the marriage) in Season 4, we felt like (we) might be overdoing the engagement (until Season 6), so it was time to finally pay it off,” Smith explained. “The show is celebrating its five-year anniversary and it also felt like it was time for the characters to enter a new phase in their relationship.”
While Mel and Jack’s wedding will be a huge focus of the new season, it’s far from the only thing going on in Virgin River. Keep scrolling to see what the cast is teasing us about their characters’ upcoming storylines:
Mel
Alexandra Breckenridge exclusively said us that Mel’s relationship with her biological father, Everett (John Alan Nelson), will also be a major part of her journey – and will even weave into her wedding day.
“Where we left off in Season 5, she did he just met his biological father“, she explained. “So she’s really trying to reach out to (Everett) because it’s a surprise, but it’s really meaningful to her. And he knows so much about her mother that she didn’t.
Breckenridge said Mel is excited to connect 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 young Sarah and Everett through flashbacks.)
“It’s been really deep and meaningful for her all season,” Breckenridge said us. “I think (Mel and Everett’s) relationship has had some bumps in the road, but I think in the end their relationship is very strong and it’s getting very strong all around.”
As for her wedding, Breckenridge joked that Mel “thought” things would go smoothly — but Hope (Annette O’Toole) looming presence can cause several problems.
“Mel set out to have a really small, lovely, intimate wedding and the town kind of took over and Hope definitely took over and wanted it to be the event of the year,” she explained. “And I think Mel realized that he was really giving something back to the community by allowing this to happen, even though it wasn’t necessarily what he wanted.”
She added that Mel is “trying to deal with it” but finds it “a bit difficult” at times. “Hope can be slim when planning events,” she said with a laugh. “I think that causes a bit of friction when it comes to the actual wedding day.”
Jack
In addition to celebrating his upcoming wedding to Mel, Martin Henderson said us extremely that Jack will look inward and reexamine his feelings about his time in the military.
“I think part of Jack’s internal journey and arc throughout the season is trying to come to terms and come to terms with what his military past meant to him then, but it means to him now,” he shared. “And we watch him struggle with that.”
Henderson also teased that Jack will form a “relationship” with a horse – but promised it won’t get romantic. “Mel and Jack are going to stay together,” he joked. “For now.”
Jack’s relationship with his father will also continue to develop. “He also has some nice moments where he reconnects with his dad and I think he’s reevaluating what that relationship is and his dad can be more open emotionally with Jack,” Henderson revealed. “I think there’s a softening of the father-son relationship that was really nice.”
Bree
After ending Season 5 by sparking a new romance with Mike (Marco Grazini) and testifies against her abusive ex-boyfriend, Zibby Allen exclusively speaking us that Bree will “work on what she needs to process to heal” in season 6 and “find out what she needs most, both in love and in life and career.“
“She has chosen to stay in Virgin River,” Allen continued. “So I think in the upcoming season you’re going to see her still working on that conversation between the head and the heart, which maybe don’t always say the same things.”
hope
Annette O’Toole teased that Hope’s season is “intense”.
“She has a purpose, she has something very specific that she does, which is to bring people together to have this wedding,” she exclusively told us. “Judging and deciding all these things. And she loves being a director, and that’s what she does. So for her, it’s a very positive thing down the road.”
O’Toole noted that despite Hope’s excitement about Mel and Jack’s wedding planning, there will be “a few hiccups with misunderstandings” along the way — and with Doc (Tim Matheson) and “others”.
Plus, Hope will have some other great bonding moments with other characters. “I love the camaraderie of the sewing circle,” O’Toole said. “I just think that’s a great part of this show; how women are really there for each other.
Doc
Doc ended Season 5 with plans to start a trial that could help his eyesight, and while Season 6 will deal with his health issues, Tim Matheson said that viewers will see a different, very “wonderful and touching” part of his journey in Season 6.
“It’s coming to terms with a smoldering grudge against a person that’s been there for years and finally making peace with someone and letting them go, which is an important thing for people,” he exclusively said us“to give up one’s hatred or irritation or 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 taking care of people, it gets him into some trouble,” Mathison explained. “His commitment to not letting anything get in the way of him and his patients, saving his patients, gets him into little trouble. And this is one of the elements of his storyline. It’s an interesting twist.”
