Picture: Netflix
In February 2024, just as Virgin River began production on its 6th season, it was announced that showrunner Patrick Sean Smith was developing a Virgin River spin-off based on the love story of Everett and Sarah, Mel’s parents.
Initially, it was stated that only Smith was involved in writing the pilot. If the pilot had been approved for a full series, Erin Cardillo, Richard Keith, and other Virgin River writers would have joined the project. On Monday, September 23rd, 2024, Deadline announced that Jessica Rothe and Callum Kerr have been cast to play Sarah and Everett in flashbacks. These flashbacks are set to appear in the second episode of the upcoming sixth season. It’s unclear whether the flashbacks of Mel’s biological parents will appear only in the second episode or throughout the whole series.
No new information has surfaced regarding the pilot being greenlit or even filmed since last February. It’s safe to assume that Netflix will evaluate the viewers’ response after the sixth season airs before making any decisions regarding the spinoff. The logline for the couple’s love story is as follows:
“Seen in flashbacks mostly set in or around 1972, Sarah (Rothe) is a witty, free spirit from the big city with an ardent passion for activism, and trying to avoid the conventional/traditional life of a young woman in the ’70s. Always up for an adventure, she can’t help chasing an instant spark with a handsome musician, Everett (Kerr), that might just be her star-crossed soulmate. Everett is a singer-songwriter with a poet’s soul. One day he’ll pursue his dreams of the stage, but for now, he’s skimming through life in a VW Van, until a chance meeting with a beautiful hitchhiker, Sarah, may just show him there’s more to life than he ever thought possible.”
What we learned about the couple from Virgin River Season 5
In season 5, we learned that after losing their second-born daughter, Chloe, Sarah and her husband grew apart due to their grief. Sarah meets Everett, and they fall in love. They maintain a loving correspondence until Sarah discovers she’s pregnant with Mel. She informs Everett, who wishes to be a part of his daughter’s life. However, Sarah keeps her family together and never contacts Everett again. In episode 10, it’s revealed that the letters were written 37 years ago. Thanks to some flashbacks in season 5, it is suggested that Mel and Joey have a significant age gap of about six years.
Based on what we know about Sarah and Everett from season 5 and recent announcements, it’s likely that Sarah met Everett in the early 70s. She then married Joey’s father. After Chloe’s passing, she rekindled her romance with Everett, and Mel was born from their love affair. The rekindled romance might resolve the questionable starting point of the couple’s storyline we noticed last year: infidelity. Cheating and betrayal are problematic starting points for a true love story. Sarah’s cheating on her husband with Everett could have been an issue for many viewers and readers of the series.
Since Sarah met Everett while hitchhiking, it’s unknown if the couple will arrive in the small town of Virgin River. Therefore, some fans might not have much hope for seeing a younger version of beloved characters like Hope, Doc, Ber, Lilly, Jo Ellen, Nick, and Connie.
Picture: Netflix
The Sarah and Everett spinoff: a smart idea from Smith, a bad one for the viewers?
Robyn Carr has written more than 20 books within the Virgin River universe, but a book that narrates Sarah and Everett’s love story has never been written. The idea of Mel discovering that her biological father is not the man who raised her and that he lives in Virgin River was conceived by Patrick Sean Smith and the new writing team established in season 5. This occurred after Sue Tenney, the creator and original showrunner, and the majority of her team left at the end of the fourth season, officially “to pursue other projects.”
Creating a spinoff with lead characters set in the 1970s, introduced during “his” season, is a smart move for Smith. It allows the showrunner to distance himself from or cut ties with any storyline created by Tenney. He is not bound to follow any characters or stories from the original series or Carr’s books. At the same time, staying within the successful Virgin River universe might allow him to gain the viewers of the original series and achieve new success.
However, do we need a spinoff set in the ’70s with Mel’s parents? Two characters who we meet after six seasons and with whom we still need to feel a connection?
If Netflix were to green light a prequel spinoff, as a few series have done in the last few years (such as Bridgerton with Queen Charlotte and Yellowstone with 1923), it would make much more sense to watch the birth of the town of Virgin River and to be introduced to the younger versions of some beloved iconic characters from the series. For example, instead of Everett and Sarah, we can see how Hope and Doc fall in love, as Doc arrives in Virgin River after leaving his position at the hospital in Seattle.
We hear that the show is already eying an early seventh-season renewal, but it might not have many seasons ahead. Choosing a couple from the original series to leave the small town and start a new life in a different but similarly charming setting with new characters and stories would have been another possible and more reasonable option for a spinoff.
Fans love the on-screen chemistry between Breckenridge and Henderson, and Mel and Jack’s storyline is the main key factor in the show’s success. During season 5, when the couple’s screen time was reduced, the cast and writing team promised that in season 6, there would be more romance and more focus on Mel and Jack, acknowledging that there were some writing missteps in season 5. The chemistry between Mel and Jack sets a very high standard for Rothe and Kerr and their characters to measure up to.
Do you want to see the new Virgin River spin-off series? Let us know in the comments.
Netflix Synopsis: "Searching for a fresh start, a nurse practitioner moves from LA to a remote northern California town and is surprised by what -- and who -- she finds."
