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(Warning now: Spoilers ahead.)
Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel Monroe and Tim Matheson as Doc Mullins inVirgin River
There’s the question of Mel’s biological father.
Is it someone else?
Will we even find out in November?
Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan and Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel Monroe in episode 502
And what about Charmaine’s twins?
Will she finally give birth?
Is Calvin actually going to be part of their lives?
Lauren Hammersley as Charmaine Roberts in episode 410
And how is Jack going to react?
Speaking of babies, is Lizzie actually pregnant or is it a false alarm?
And what about Preacher now that Kaia is about to uncover the secret surrounding Wes’s fate?
Kai Bradbury as Denny and Sarah Dugdale as Lizzie in episode 508
It’s justVirgin Riverholiday coziness times 10, he tellsGlamourexclusively.
The cast is wonderful and so talented, and the whole crew did an incredible job this season.
I’m very proud of the season.
Mark Ghanime as Dr. Cameron Hayek and Teryl Rothery as Muriel St. Claire in episode 504
So settle in…we have a lot to get to.
What were the biggest challenges for you this season?
Patrick Sean Smith:There were many, with the first just being the history of the show.
Libby Osler as Ava in episode 501
She’s like our Siri if we’re like, Wait, when did Mel move to Virgin?
because the timeline is very unique.
So my biggest challenge [coming in as showrunner] was wanting it to feel as seamless as possible.
Dean Redman as Fire Chief Smith in episode 506.
People care a lot about this show and I want to honor that.
How much doesVirgin River,the series, follow the books, especially in season five?
[Virgin Riverbook author] Robyn Carr has been very deferential.
Colin Lawrence as Preacher and Kandyse McClure as Kaia in episode 507
She’s like, I write books; you do TV.
You just want to take what suits the direction that you want.
Lets talk about the season five, part one, finale.
Benjamin Hollingsworth as Brady and Elise Gatien as Lark in episode 508
Charmaine is still pregnant.
That was a tough one.
With that said, I love Lauren Hammersley, who plays Charmaine.
She’s an incredible actress.
But first, theres the reveal that Calvin didnt die in the boat explosion in season four.
Will we find out where hes been all this time?
I would suppose the reason he came out of hiding is because Melissas in police custody.
I was like, Perfect.
It just made sense.
It was a lot of fun to come up with that.
What would somebody like Charmaine be doing with Calvin?
And have we ever seen Calvin and Charmaine exist onscreen together at the same time?
It’s not too far out of left field.
Will we see this in flashbacks?
I don’t plan to, but it’s not to say we couldn’t.
Will we get answers to that?
Yeah, and [you’ll begin to] understand more what was going on with the Todd situation.
So I was just waiting for that story to come back around.
I love that you caught that.
Shes not there just for kicks and giggles.
Somethings going to go down, and boy did it.
It’s so fun.
So it was just fun.
Lets move on to the mystery of Mels father.
One of the letters that Joey found is signed Champ.
Should that be a clue for us?
How much of that storyline will be explored in the holiday episodes?
They’re going from clue to clue.
Did we always know then that Mel and Joey are half sisters?
I think a lot of fans are going to assume that Doc is her father.
Have we as an audience met him yet?
I don’t want to reveal.
Who can we rule out though?
It cant be Jacks father, right?
kindly at least rule that out.
I thinkBrothers and Sisterswent there for an episode and it gets a little ick.
So other than Jack’s dad, everybody else is a suspect.
So what can you preview?
I think she continues on her own two feet, but her life has thrown her a curveball.
Her mother also comes to visit in the holiday episodes where it’s all addressed.
The conversations they had at the spa about aging was so refreshingmudslinging aside.
And speaking of, lets talk about Cameron and Muriel.
I love this pairing so much.
Tell me about the decision to get them together.
It’s just something that really wasn’t what their story was about.
Muriel is such a bright lightwho wouldn’t fall in love with her in a second?
I think season four was rough with Cameron because things didn’t work out with Mel.
They still have obstacles ahead, but I think it’s something that we’re excited to explore further.
He had just cleaned up the Mel and Cameron thing.
Mel just came back and now he’s getting thrown this again.
Lets move on to Mels miscarriage, which was so devastating.
Did it have to happen and does it happen in the books?
So it felt like an organic way for it to come up.
What were those conversations like in the writers room?
We had discussed it.
The internet didn’t flinch at it.
We also wanted to be clear what was happening with her in that moment.
Speaking of, we also saw Ava, Taras sister, go through a difficult process with her endometriosis.
And Libby Osler, who plays Ava, is awesome and is out and part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Will Ava stick around for the holiday episodes or be back in season six?
Because now, of course, Jack and Mel are interested in buying Lillys farm.
I think we will see Ava back again at some point in season six.
Libby Osler as Ava in episode 501
Lets discuss the wildfires that ripped through Virgin River this season.
It’s just the exact same town.
It was also an opportunity to see Hope lead more than just open town events.
Then you had Brie dealing with the trial at the same time.
Dean Redman as Fire Chief Smith in episode 506.
Preacher and Kaia have an interesting road ahead of them now that Wess body has been found.
How worried should we be for Preacher?
I would be worried.
He’s a beloved character.
You always want to take your most beloved characters and put them in danger.
Kaias soon-to-be ex-husband, Jay, seems like a real live wire.
And while Im sad for Brady, its nice to see this spark between him and Lark.
What can you preview about these relationships?
The time jump [with the holiday episodes] helps us.
It still feels exciting, not like, Okay.
Well, they crossed the finish line.
So we will get to see a lot of that in the holiday episodes.
Will it be kind of jarring to see so much timeat least forVirgin Riverhas passed?
We’ve joked about it.
We’ve been like, We’re jumping seven seasons ofVirgin River!
It’s definitely not just a two-off.
It’s still tied into the serialized stories.
Might we get a wedding in these holiday episodes?
It feels very appropriate.
You won’t get a wedding, but you may or may not get a birth or two.
The two episodes are packed.
They touch on all the characters' lives.
