Not all of the original Virgin River book storylines made it to the Netflix show, but one deleted Lizzie storyline might improve Lizzie and Connie’s relationship in the show. Based on Robyn Carr’s romance novels of the same name, Netflix’s Virgin River follows Mel Monroe, a nurse practitioner who moves to the small town of Virgin River for a new start after the death of her husband. As a nurse practitioner, Mel has many interactions with the townsfolk of Virgin River, although the town’s exploits are likely beyond what Mel expected when she took the job.
Virgin River has an ever-changing and expanding cast of characters. In Virgin River season 2, 19-year-old Lizzie, the niece of Connie, arrives to stay in the titular town. Although Lizzie remains a featured character in the subsequent seasons of Netflix’s Virgin River, she and Connie often appear to be at odds with each other, with Connie disapproving of many of Lizzie’s choices in the show. Although their dynamic feels jarring given Lizzie’s age, a missing book storyline could improve their relationship in the Netflix show.
Lizzie Is Pregnant In The Virgin River Books
When Lizzie arrives in Virgin River during Virgin River season 2, Lizzie is described as Connie’s “troublesome” niece who is coming to stay with her. Lizzie displays multiple rebelious tendencies that challenge Connie, although Connie in particular is hard on Lizzie for being sexually active in any way, and gets angry when Mel prescribes Lizzie birth control pills. This dynamic between Lizzie and Connie comes across as a bit strange, considering Lizzie is 19 years old and capable of making her own decisions. However, this aspect of Lizzie and Connie’s relationship can be explained by a deleted book storyline.
In the Virgin River books, Lizzie is a different character than she is in the Netflix show. Lizzie’s original storyline in the Virgin River books is that she is pregnant, which is a storyline that didn’t make it into the Virgin River TV show. Additionally, Lizzie is aged up in the Netflix adaptation, which makes her original storyline even more dramatic. This explains Connie’s attitude towards Lizzie’s behavior, as Connie is an incredibly traditional woman. Although Lizzie’s storyline was changed for Netflix’s Virgin River, her and Connie’s relationship remains the same.
Why It Makes Sense Netflix Changed Lizzie’s Virgin River Story
Even though Lizzie’s story in the original Virgin River books explains her dynamic with Connie, it actually makes sense why Netflix decided to change Lizzie’s story for its Virgin River adaptation. Netflix’s Virgin River already has multiple pregnancy storylines before Lizzie gets introduced in Virgin River season 2 – namely Charmaine’s pregnancy with twins and Mel’s fertility struggles. Including yet another pregnancy storyline in the Netflix show might feel repetitive, which is likely one of the reasons this particular Virgin River book storyline didn’t make it on screen.
Changing Lizzie’s book storyline also makes sense for Netflix’s Virgin River because it allows the TV show to tell different stories with Lizzie’s character. Being one of the few young adult characters in Virgin River, Lizzie presents the opportunity to focus on storylines that don’t suit the older characters as well, which Lizzie wouldn’t be as free to explore if she was pregnant when she arrived in Virgin River. Lizzie’s plots tend to skew towards her romantic connections with characters like Ricky or even Denny in season 4, but Netflix’s Virgin River is a romance at heart, and Lizzie’s show storylines help contribute to this aspect of the Virgin River show’s charm.
