‘Virgin River’: 9 Burning Questions for a Season 4
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for all of Virgin River Season 3.]
It can’t end like that, can it? That’s all we need to know after the Virgin River Season 3 finale left us worried about the fates of several characters and relationships.
A quick recap: Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) got back together, he took out a ring, and she … told him she’s pregnant and it might not be his. Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth) was arrested for shooting Jack but insisted he didn’t do it. Hope (Annette O’Toole) returned to the town only to get in a car accident, and she was in serious condition last we heard. Doc’s (Tim Matheson) grandson (!) showed up. Charmaine’s (Lauren Hammersley) husband (Patrick Sabongui) is the worst.
Netflix has yet to renew Virgin River for a fourth season, so while we wait for hopefully positive news, we’re taking a look at the questions those cliffhangers and others left us needing answered.
Virgin River, Season 3, Streaming Now, Netflix
Whose baby is it?!
The good news is Mel didn’t sleep with anyone else during that brief breakup. The bad news is she was in Los Angeles during it and used the embryos she and her late husband had at a fertility clinic.
“If we have a Season 4, it will be revealed at the end of [it] and it’s a driving storyline in [it],” executive producer Sue Tenney tells TV Insider of the father’s identity.
Breckenridge hopes it’s Jack’s, though admits “that might be wishful thinking,” while Henderson expects a “really weird and awkward and uncomfortable” conversation to follow that bombshell, even once Mel explains what’s going on. “At the drop of a hat, she goes and [uses the embryos she had with] her dead ex-husband,” he says. “It’s rather a quick reaction to Jack’s rejection. Jack would have felt that perhaps they could talk about it or that she would maybe give it a couple of weeks before deciding to do that.”
Will Mel and Jack get engaged?
The good news is Tenney promises “in the series, eventually, they are going to get married.” But the not-so-good news is the proposal isn’t coming at the best time. They did just get back together. For Jack, “it’s quite important that he shows her that his commitment is absolute, and what better way to do that than to take those vows and make it forever?” Henderson says.
“My first inclination is she would have said yes,” Breckenridge says, but adds, “However, just because you want to say yes in that moment…”
Who shot Jack?
Both Breckenridge and Henderson know the answer to that question, which fans are still asking a season after it happened. “I will say if we get to go into a Season 4 that the audience will be genuinely surprised at who’s behind all of it,” Tenney teases. “The person who pulled the trigger and wanted him dead are the same person, but Calvin [David Cubitt] and Jimmy [Ian Tracey] and the failed raid in Season 2 and him getting shot all intersect with all the rest of it.”
And if you believe Brady’s claim that he’s innocent, the EP points out, “We’ll find that even if you believe someone’s innocent, proving that they’re innocent is much more difficult.”
Will Hope survive?
Hope’s storyline was due to O’Toole’s availability as a result of the pandemic. Based on Tenney saying that “Annette is very excited to rejoin” the cast if there’s a Season 4, we have a feeling her character will be just fine. “We’ll get back to pieces of [the planned storyline for Doc and Hope] as we go forward,” the EP says.
Will Preacher be OK?
Last we saw Preacher (Colin Lawrence), he’d been drugged and left unconscious in the woods by Paige’s (Lexa Doig) supposed friend Sally. All Tenney would say is what comes next is “a surprise for Preacher, so it should be a surprise for the audience. Who [Sally’s] working for would be revealed in the next season.”
What's Vince up to?
Sally could be working for Vince (Steve Bacic), the twin brother of Paige’s abusive, dead ex-husband. Last we saw him, he was sitting in the dark like a good villain as Paige’s son Christopher walked into the house. “There’s a big reveal when we open Season 4 that puts certain people in jeopardy,” the EP previews. “Finding Vince becomes paramount.”
Will Jack and Charmaine be able to work out any kind of custody agreement?
Jack and his ex-girlfriend Charmaine just can’t make anything work — a relationship, a custody agreement for their twins she’s carrying — and it’s made worse by moves her new husband Todd is putting into play. (He plans to be the twins’ father.)
“There will be ebbs and flows to their relationship in the coming seasons,” Tenney says of the parents-to-be. “Jack is very committed to being a good father, being present for those children, and that’s never going to change. So he will fight for his right to be involved as much as humanly possible, and she will fight to serve her own priorities.”
“Jack feels torn about that because he wants [Charmaine] to be with someone, he wants her to be happy, but obviously, [that] might not be the case,” Henderson adds. “And Jack doesn’t want his children growing up influenced by a man that might not have a lot of integrity.”
Doc has a grandson?!
Near the end of the finale, a young man naming Doc as his grandfather came to town, but that’s all we know about him. “It’s going to be a very fun Season 4, if we have a Season 4,” Tenney teases. “That’s peeling back another layer of the onion of [Doc’s] character. And all the questions that you’re going to ask me, I can’t answer. Where did he come from? Who is he?” Something tells us life isn’t going to get any easier for Doc and Hope, whose relationship was shaky once again after he kept Lilly’s diagnosis from her (at her friend’s request).
What secrets is Mike hiding?
We have to admit we’re a bit suspicious of Mike (Marco Grazzini), especially as the detective (and Jack’s friend) pointed the finger in Brady’s direction when it comes to the shooter’s identity. And Brady did bring up the fact that he’s paid for the crimes he’s committed, but Mike may not be able to say the same and may have blood on his hands. But according to Tenney, we shouldn’t worry too much about him: “Mike is a really positive and great character, but there’s definitely some stuff that will come up and need to be dealt with.”
