Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
There’s been a lot of Virgin River updates over the past few weeks, so let’s catch up on the latest we know about, including the new spin-off in development, more on Netflix Stories: Virgin River, season 6 production news, and some returning characters for the new season.
Virgin River’s leading lady, Alexandra Breckenridge, enjoys keeping her fans updated about her life. She often shares her recipes and keeps her followers updated on Virgin River.
Recently, she did an Instagram live session with her friend Zibby Allen, where they packed for Vancouver and chatted with fans. A few days later, she posted that the two good friends flew together from Georgia to Vancouver to get ready to film season 6.
She even shared her hair appointments, where she returned to Mel’s hair color and added some extensions to lengthen her short haircut slightly. While showrunner Patrick Sean Smith wanted Breckenridge to return to her old classic Mel looks with strawberry blonde and long hair, she preferred to keep her short haircut.
As we now know, filming on Virgin River season 6 is underway, with the Instagram account for Virgin River posting a picture of Breckenridge and Martin Henderson with a clapper board alongside the caption:
“It’s official! Virgin River season 6 is back in production!”
Picture: virginriverseries / Instagram
Filming for the sixth season will occur throughout British Columbia until May 30th.
The series will begin in the springtime, with Mel and Jack working towards starting a family while also renovating Lilly’s farm to achieve their dream home. Additionally, we will learn more about Mel’s biological father, Everett Reid (John Allan Nelson), and the long-held secret he has been carrying.
A few developments in the story will lead to new directions in season 6.
It appears that the writers’ ongoing project of redeeming Brady will continue, as he will be volunteering at the Virgin River fire station under the leadership of Fire Chief Kaia. However, Kaia is also dealing with issues from Preacher’s past sins. In season 2, the chef had hidden Wes’s body and car deep in the woods to protect Paige and Christopher.
Unfortunately, his body was discovered and identified at the end of last
season.
New Babies and Weddings To Feature in Season 6 of Virgin River
Additionally, Smith mentioned that there may be some new babies and weddings happening in the town, along with the return of some beloved characters from the past. After six seasons and the devastating events of the last one, fans eagerly anticipate Mel and Jack’s wedding. Actress Alexandra Breckenridge has hinted that the wedding will likely take place in the new property. Hopefully, the wedding will occur in the middle of the season instead of towards the end, giving viewers a chance to see the newlyweds’ lives unfold.
We can also predict some familiar faces who will return for the event. Firstly, Ricky (Grayson Maxwell Gurnsey) – Jack is the father he never had. Many Virgin River fans love him and miss him. Some hoped he would appear in the Christmas episodes, as that was when his training in San Diego would end. However, Smith said the writers did try to include him, but there were too many storylines for only two episodes.
Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
Naturally, we expect Mel’s sister Joey (played by Jenny Cooper), her husband Nate (played by Dan Payne), and their children to attend the wedding. Jack’s parents, Sam (Tom Butler) and Amelia (Gabrielle Rose), will also be there, as well as some, if not all, of his sisters. It’s a big day for the Sheridan family, as their only brother is getting married.
It seems like it’s time to organize another reunion for Jack’s Marine Corps comrades. Zeke (Garfield Wilson), Josh (Eric Brecker), and Tom (Andrew Zachar) were first introduced in season 2. They would surely want to celebrate their sergeant and lifelong bachelor friend finally tying the knot.
We can confirm Wilson will be returning for season 6. His return was first teased on Instagram by Deb Podowki, who said in a post, “Garfield will be reprising his role on a popular Netflix series.”
Another character who may make a return appearance is Tara (Stacey Farber), who was well-loved by fans, along with her baby sister Chloe. Smith mentioned multiple weddings, but the focus should really be on Mel and Jack’s wedding, which has been highly anticipated.
Virgin River Prequel Spinoff in Development at Netflix
First announced by Deadline, the prequel project will explore the love story of Mel’s parents, Sarah and Everett. The showrunner of the main series, Patrick Sean, is behind the spin-off currently, with our understanding that only Smith is currently involved in writing the pilot for the spin-off.
In season 6, the audience will be introduced to young Sarah and Everett through flashbacks as part of Mel’s storyline. The Virgin River prequel would give viewers a glimpse of the small town in the 80s and showcase the younger version of many beloved Virgin River characters, including Hope, Doc, Nick, Jo Ellen, Bert, and Connie.
It’s important to note that the upcoming flashbacks, which will lay the foundation for a possible pilot, and other storylines in the season, may shift focus away from the main storyline of Mel and Jack in season 6, despite Smith’s promise to deliver more of them to the audience. This is particularly significant as the initial order for the forthcoming series is only for ten episodes.
Netflix Stories: Virgin River is coming very soon
Netflix expanded into gaming back in November 2021, and one of its titles has been Netflix Stories, which launched with Love is Blind and recently released its Money Heist entry as a separate entity. Virgin River was announced as part of that initial lineup, but until recently, there was no indication of when it would be released.
That changed during the Q4 2023 Netflix earnings call when Ted Sarandos talked through their current game library.
“We’re going to look for more great licensing and, you know, some exclusive licensing. So we can do things more like what you’ve seen us do last quarter with GTA, but also other titles like Football Manager 2024, which performed very well for us, Money Heist or Casa de Papel, which was great.
You’ll see it this quarter with titles like Virgin River.”
That’s all we’ve got for now – keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix for the latest on all things Virgin River.
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."
