‘Virgin River’ Star Benjamin Hollingsworth Makes the Case That Brady Didn’t Shoot Jack

Just because the gun was found in Brady’s (Benjamin Hollingsworth) truck and he was arrested for shooting Jack (Martin Henderson) at the end of Virgin River Season 3 doesn’t mean he did it. He maintained his innocence throughout the season, and while Mike (Marco Grazzini) will probably never believe him, you should.

“I really do think Season 3 brought out a side of Brady that was unexpected, a new layer,” Hollingsworth says. “We saw a softer side of him, [qualities that] don’t lend themselves to a cold-blooded killer.”

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TV Insider spoke with Hollingsworth about Brady’s claim of his innocence, his key relationships, and his hopes for a Season 4. (Netflix has yet to renew it.)

Brady insists he didn’t shoot Jack. Make the case for why we should believe him.

Benjamin Hollingsworth: Maybe at the end of Season 2, you might have not have had a strong case to make, but I really do think Season 3 brought out a side of Brady that was unexpected, a new flavor of Brady, so to speak. We saw a softer side of him, someone who’s compassionate, understanding, empathetic, someone who is worthy of love, capable of love, all of those things don’t lend themselves to a cold-blooded killer, especially of one of his close friends. I just can’t see a world in which he is the shooter after all we know about him. I think a lot of fans agree with me. I certainly hope he’s not.

He’s made some bad decisions in the past, but to then get in a relationship with Brie (Zibby Allen), the sister of the man he tried to kill…

Yes. And [he’d have to be] very stupid to have left the weapon in his Jeep. It just doesn’t add up to me, so we’ll have to hopefully get a Season 4 and find out.

It seems like Brady’s alone in proving his possible innocence.

I think there are people who will inevitably come to the same conclusions I made. I imagine Brie has a hard time believing he’s the shooter, and I believe Jack has a hard time believing it as well. I certainly hope that they do more investigating and digging into what really happened because I think the relationship between the two of them is too strong for that. Brady and Jack have had their falling outs and they’ve had their difference of opinion. Over the first two seasons, we saw the relationship become more strained than it ever was before, but I think when you’re in the Marines with someone, it’s more than just a friendly connection — it runs much deeper than that — and I really, truly hope that Jack doesn’t also give up on him, that he comes to his senses somehow that way as well.

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I don’t think Mike is ever going to come around.

Mike seems pretty convinced, doesn’t he? But it also seems like Mike might have a secret of his own that he’s protecting and might have some ulterior motives. It also kind of seems like Mike might be after Brady’s girlfriend. Mike’s got a lot of reasons to try and make Brady be the shooter.

That conversation about Mike’s secrets was so intriguing because it seems Brady knows all this stuff no one else does.

Yeah, and he does. He knows a lot about Mike. They fought over there. I think Brady witnessed something that I don’t even know if Jack knows but the fact that he hasn’t gone out and told everyone about what it is just shows also that Brady’s not a bad guy either. He’s not like, “well, you did this!” For whatever reason, he’s kept that a secret and that shows his loyalty to someone who even is arresting him. That he doesn’t stoop that low shows a sense of integrity right there.

Who do you think shot Jack?

I don’t know. It’s definitely gotta be someone who is really motivated. Obviously, there’s Calvin (David Cubitt) and Jimmy (Ian Tracey), who obviously have all the motives, but Jimmy had an alibi but it doesn’t mean that Calvin didn’t have a hired gun. At least that’s what it sounds like. It could be someone we haven’t met yet or someone that no one’s even considered that might be a part of someone else’s storyline. There’s a lot of possibilities out there.

Courtesy of Netflix

What will it take for Brady and Jack’s relationship to be anything like it once was?

Obviously, Brady’s name has to be cleared, and there’s gotta be a having out. Sometimes two guys, in order to really move on from something, really have to address it in a wide-opened, clear manner. Until that happens, I don’t know if they will move on. If we get a Season 4, I hope that’s reconciled and they do move on because I do think they are good friends and it would be really great to explore where their friendship would go and if Brie and Brady become a thing, how that relationship would affect theirs. It would be good to see Jack and Brady be on the same side, maybe trying to hunt down whoever took Christopher [Chase Petriw] or even seeing Brady and Preacher [Colin Lawrence] working together. Martin’s so much fun to work with, and Colin, we have a lot of fun on set working together and we certainly have a really solid friendship outside of work as well, so it’d be great working with those guys again.

Brady tells Brie he’s in love with her, something that’s new for him. What does having opened himself up to that different side of himself mean to him?

It’s a big step, to be able to love someone, especially after his upbringing. We found out that his childhood really wasn’t that stable and he didn’t have a solid father figure and not really a solid family base and I think that’s where his yearning to get Jack’s approval, to be a part of Jack’s life stems from. It’s kind of the worst-case scenario for him. He opens himself up to this woman really for the first time ever in his life and then weeks later, he’s arrested right in front of her for something I believe he didn’t do. I imagine he’s going to be pretty frustrated if he ends up in jail and might have a vendetta of his own to resolve.

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Do you think there’s hope for them?

I do. We saw what they went through in Season 3, and we saw the connection that started as a sexual thing. I don’t think Brie has fully opened up to Brady and I think that needs to happen — she told Jack and Mel [Alexandra Breckenridge] but she didn’t tell Brady about the sexual abuse stuff — for them to move forward and for them to really have a fulfilled relationship. I feel like when you truly are in love with someone, you feel comfortable enough to talk to them about all the stuff in your life, regardless of how painful.

Even without knowing about it, he helped her. She needed that relationship.

Yeah, absolutely. She needed Brady, and Brady needed her. [It’s] a pretty unexpected pairing, but a lot of fans ended up gravitating towards it. There’s a lot of stuff in the books about Mike and Brie being together and there’s not really anything about Brady and Brie in the books. So I think on one side, you have this loyal fanbase that comes from the books that are really waiting for Team Mike and Brie to be together and then you have on this other side, this new group of fans who are discovering Virgin River for the first time via the Netflix series, and they seem to be very much on the Brie and Brady bandwagon.

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A Season 4 would have to explore that inevitable love triangle.

That’s going to be tricky because I think Brady would be really — well, you saw what happened to Mike after Mike got a little bit in the way. I can only imagine if Brady comes out of jail to find out they’re an item — he wouldn’t shoot Jack, but maybe if he saw Mike and Brie together, who knows? That seems like a more plausible offense for Brady. [Laughs]

The other major question is whose baby is Mel having. Who do you think the father is?

We know it’s not Brady. [Laughs] I want to believe it’s Jack’s. After being a father of three kids myself personally, I know it’s possible, it’s a lot of work. Could you imagine trying to raise someone else’s baby meanwhile you’ve got two babies of your own, and that baby is from your lover’s past? Gosh, what a mess. I don’t envy Jack’s predicament at all. Both Jack and Brady find themselves in pretty difficult situations at the end of Season 3.

Courtesy of Netflix

Is Brady ready to be Uncle Brady?

Could you imagine? Brady talks about his relationship with his uncle in Season 3 and he talks about how that was really the only relationship he had as a family, that was who looked out for him growing up, and that’s cool. Maybe Brady is ready to step up as an uncle, take on some responsibilities.

Is there anything else you’re hoping to explore with Brady in Season 4?

It would be great to see him take initiative and utilize his Marine background and go on a bit of a mission to track down where Christopher is. Brothers are brothers, and when you’re a Marine, you’re always a Marine. It would be really great to see Brady, Preacher, and Jack on the hunt, a little escape from Virgin River or maybe even within Virgin River, so that’d be a lot of fun. [Showrunner] Sue Tenney’s so talented about bringing out her own ideas and marrying them with what’s in the books, and there are endless possibilities as far as what could happen in Season 4 if we get one.

Virgin River, Season 3, Streaming Now, Netflix