Virgin River – Season 4 Episode 9 – Picture: Netflix
Virgin River season 4 is coming to Netflix in July 2022 with an expanded season! Season 5 of Virgin River is on the way too with production scheduled to start in July 2022 too. Here’s a rundown on everything we know so far about Virgin River season 4 including plot, production updates, cast, and more.
Editor’s note: This preview was first published in July 2021 but has been updated monthly to reflect new developments with the most recent update being in July 2022.
Virgin River is the Netflix Original drama series adapting the Robyn Carr series of novels. It focuses on Mel, a young midwife and nurse practitioner who moves out of the big city to live in a small rustic town in Northern California.
Throughout the show’s three seasons we’ve seen Mel introduced to a myriad of different people throughout the town laying down her roots. Of course, not everything has gone swimmingly with plenty of drama throughout.
When will Virgin River season 4 be on Netflix?
Let’s begin with the all-important release date.
Season 4 of Virgin River is coming to Netflix on July 20th, 2022.
A trailer has yet to be released but we’ve had a couple of dozen of new screenshots from the new series. We’ll include them throughout this article but here are a few of the most interesting for us:
Dan Payne as Nate, Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan in episode 408 of Virgin River. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix
Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan, Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel Monroe in episode 404 of Virgin River
Colin Lawrence as Preacher, Nicola Cavendish as Connie in episode 403 of Virgin River.
When did Netflix renew Virgin River for Season 4?
Official renewal status: Officially renewed (Last updated: 07/26/2021)
On September 20th, Netflix confirmed to USAToday that season 4 was going ahead and not only that, the show would return for a season 5 at Netflix too. Multi-season orders are rare at Netflix but is a testament to the series’ popularity.
ICYMI: Virgin River has been renewed for a fourth and fifth season! pic.twitter.com/asZhZDT6O4
— What's on Netflix (@whatonnetflix) October 20, 2021
Of course, we’ve been reporting about season 4 of Virgin River existing long before the official renewal came. For the past several seasons, we’ve often heard that filming dates were scheduled before any renewal and that was once again the case for season 4.
Reacting to the news of a dual season renewal, Martin Henderson said:
“Yep. This is happening. Such a relief to finally share this news with all of you who’ve been patiently waiting. Virgin River Season 4 and 5 are in the works thanks to all of you passionate fans….thank you!! so much more drama to come…”
Colin Lawrence posted on Instagram saying:
“So excited to share with you that our little show has been picked up for two seasons!!!! Thank you all for being the best fans ever!!!!!”
Best of all, Colin announced that season 4 would be even longer than previous seasons. The episode count for season 4 of Virgin River has been expanded to 12 episodes from 10.
Earlier in 2021, we reported that several production listings listed the show to be coming back for a fourth season. Better yet, we later got word that filming on season 4 was due to begin at the end of July 2021.
The show films entirely in Vancouver, Canada.
Thanks to a post from Watershed Grill on Instagram, we also knew that filming was taking place there between August 17th and 18th, 2021 (and multiple times afterwards).
The Watershed Grill serves as the filming location for Jack’s bar in Virgin River.
Additional filming took place at The Watershed Grill between August 30th and September 2nd.
Filming for Watershed Grill – Picture: Instagram
Filming was expected to conclude on November 30th, 2021, and thanks to posts via the Instagram page they’ve confirmed that the show has wrapped.
That's a wrap on #VirginRiver season 4! pic.twitter.com/oibNTpfYXw
— What's on Netflix (@whatonnetflix) December 7, 2021
Much of the cast and crew received goody-bags following the conclusion of filming.
In February 2022, according to an Instagram Story (h/t HelloMagazine) Alexandra Breckenridge posted that another key part of the production process had just finished telling followers:
“I just went and finished my last ADR, for Virgin River, for those of you who dont know ADR is, I think it stands for audio digital recording,”
This process is also sometimes known as “soundpost” which means that Breckenridge likely went into an audio booth to record additional lines or even re-record some of the lines from the show in a quieter setting.
Virgin River ADR session – Picture: martinhendersonofficial/Instagram
How well did Virgin River season 3 do on Netflix?
A swift renewal shouldn’t come as a huge surprise for followers of the show. Both seasons 2 and 3 before were renewed ahead of their season debuts on Netflix. This was especially the case for season 3 which was filmed during the release of season 2.
Thanks to new top 10 figures, we can see exactly why Netflix opted to give the show a two-season order.
According to newly released viewing hour figures, between July 4th, 2021 to August 15th, the show pulled in over a quarter of a billion hours viewed on the platform. Between the above period, it was watched 255,120,000 hours on Netflix.
| Time Period | Million Global Hours Viewed | Weeks in Top 10 |
|---|---|---|
| July 4th, 2021 to July 11th, 2021 | 62,580,000 | 1 |
| July 11th, 2021 to July 18th, 2021 | 87,270,000 | 2 |
| July 18th, 2021 to July 25th, 2021 | 44,890,000 | 3 |
| July 25th, 2021 to August 1st, 2021 | 28,320,000 | 4 |
| August 1st, 2021 to August 8th, 2021 | 18,840,000 | 5 |
| August 8th, 2021 to August 15th, 2021 | 13,220,000 | 6 |
The show has featured in the US top 10s for 75 days in total. For season 3, the show was #1 in the United States for just over two weeks and eventually dropped out of the top 10s over a month later.
Nielsen’s top 10s also ranked the series the number 1 watched series between July 12th and July 18th with 2,109 million minutes watched during that week beating out Manifest (on Netflix) and Loki (on Disney+).
Virgin River – Picture: Netflix
New cast members for Virgin River Season 4
In late October 2021, Netflix announced two new characters that would feature in season 4 of Virgin River.
Mark Ghanimé, known for his stint on Helix, will play Dr. Cameron Hayek. He’s Virgin River’s brand new physician who is “armed with eye-catching good looks, a razor-sharp intellect, and a smile that could light up the world, Cameron makes an immediate splash in town – especially with the ladies of Virgin River.”
Also, starring is Kai Bradbury who will play Denny Cutler who is Doc’s long-lost grandson. Denny comes bearing a secret despite his best intentions to rekindle a relationship with his grandfather.
Mark Ghanimé (left) and Kai Bradbury (right)
One of the extras we’ll see in season 4 includes Rohain Arora who will play a waiter.
Confirmed returning cast members for season 4 include:
- Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel Monroe
- Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan
- Tim Matheson as Doc Mullins
- Annette O’Toole as Hope
- Sarah Dugdale as Lizzie
- Jenny Cooper as Joey Barnes
- Zibby Allen as Brie Sheridan
- Kai Bradbury as Denny
What to expect from Virgin River season 4
Mel’s big story going into season 4 is that she’s pregnant although the actual father has yet to be revealed. That’s believed to be revealed by the end of season 4.
Brady’s future looks to be in jeopardy given that he’s been arrested for the shooting of Jack at the end of season 2.
We will absolutely be seeing the return of Hope in season 4 after her notable absence in season 3. The reason why she was absent for season 3 was due to not being allowed to travel to film but in the show it was explained that she was visiting her aunt in another state. On the way back, however, she had been hospitalized after an accident in the storm when returning to Virgin River.
Crossing to Doc Mullins (husband of Hope), he’ll continue to battle his disease (macular degeneration) which has been slowly progressing throughout season 3. Sue Tenney, who serves as the showrunner for Virgin River, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about what we can expect from Hope in season 4 saying:
“To us, it’s the recovery and what she’s dealing with – a traumatic brain injury. In a hospital and going through recovery, that’s not really where our show lives.
But we’re very committed to what the truth of something is, so we’ll go to the edge of what’s the best recovery for this.
We always stick with the parameters, medically, but also we know at this point what we like to do, which are complicated emotionally drama-based stories.”
Doc in Virgin River season 4
It’s been confirmed that Lynda Boyd will return for season 4 in the form of flashbacks according to an interview with the actress.
Daniel Gillies has teased a return to the show too saying:
“Here’s what I’ll say, somewhat enigmatically, the good news about being the dead husband is that you can appear at any time. I’ll leave it at that.”
On the show’s Instagram account, they rarely give too many hints about what we can expect but did recently ask for suggestions for Jack’s specials board that sits outside the restaurant.
Courtesy of Deadline, Netflix provided some more information on where season 4 will take us:
“Mel confronts a dilemma. Despite not knowing whether her baby belongs to her deceased husband, Mark, or Jack, she has a sense of optimism. For years she yearned to be a mother, and her dream is one step closer to reality. While Jack is supportive and excited, the question of paternity continues to gnaw at him.
Complicating matters is the arrival of a handsome new doctor, who’s in the market to start a family of his own. Hope is still healing from her car accident, and the lingering psychological effects of her brain injury will have profound consequences for both her and Doc.
Brie, intent on proving the innocence of the man she loves, unexpectedly finds herself in a closer relationship with Mike and one step closer to Calvin’s violent criminal web. Even as Preacher forges a new romantic connection, he can’t help but hold out hope for being reunited with Christopher and Paige.”
Will there be a season 5 & 6 of Virgin River on Netflix?
As we mentioned there will absolutely be a season 5 of Virgin River. Details are slim right now with the script likely still being put together.
In an Instagram live, Alexandra Breckenridge revealed that filming was originally scheduled to begin in March 2022 but has subsequently been pushed back.
“We were supposed to start in March but it’s been pushed so I don’t know,” the actress said, adding “I’m hoping that maybe we’ll start in the summer. It would be nice to film in Vancouver in the summer rather than in the winter because to be quite frank with you guys, I’m pretty done filming in the winter.”
Now we know that season 5 of Virgin River is set to begin filming in July 2022 through November 2022.
As for season 6, it’s really too early to tell. It’ll all be down to performance on Netflix.
Speaking before the announcement to Us Weekly, the showrunner Sue Tenney teased that they “want to do as many seasons as we can”. There’s a mountain of source material to cover in future seasons so the door is wide open.
If you’re looking for something else to stream in the meantime, head on over to our top recommendations on shows similar to Virgin River.
As for keeping up-to-date with Virgin River announcements, either follow us or follow the official Instagram page for Virgin River which has been a great exclusive source of behind-the-scenes snaps and more.
You’ll find videos and photos like the recently uploaded video on set celebrating the birthday of Martin Henderson.
Are you looking forward to season 4 of Virgin River on Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
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."
