For a breezy, feel-good pair of Christmas-themed episodes, Virgin River Season 5 Part 2 sure did stuff our stockings full of dramatic developments. (But hey, isn’t that what we were all hoping? If we wanted to watch nothing happen, we’d binge Clear River. No thank you.)
Where do we even begin? Mel’s family increased two-fold, first with the emotional discovery of her estranged biological father, then with the gift of a puppy (named Pony, which is what she really wanted); a chance encounter under the mistletoe almost led to a kiss between Brie and Brady, the latter of whom is unaware that his new girlfriend has ulterior motives; and Lizzie learned that she and Denny are expecting a baby girl.
Meanwhile, Doc and Hope reaffirmed their commitment to one another in an impromptu (but still very romantic) vow renewal ceremony; Cameron’s ex-wife showed up to throw a wrench in his relationship with Muriel; and Preacher, after dropping the L-bomb on Kaia, received a bomb of his own — the authorities found Wes’ body!
Like we said, it was a lot. Fortunately, showrunner Patrick Sean Smith was more than happy to field TVLine’s questions about some of Part 2’s biggest twists and turns, including how they could affect Virgin River‘s upcoming sixth season.
The good news? Mel found her dad! The bad news? He appears to have something pretty serious to tell her in the final moments of Part 2, and we’ll have to wait until Season 6 to find out what it is.
All Smith will say about Everett’s seemingly important news is that it will affect Mel “personally.”
Regardless of what Everett has to share with Mel, he will become a major part of her life next season, making things a little awkward for Doc, who has been Mel’s father figure since she arrived in Virgin River.
“What we’re exploring in Season 6 is a sort of a paternal love triangle,” Smith says. “Doc has always been a surrogate father to Mel, so we’ll see what happens when her actual biological father comes into her life and how that affects their relationship.”
Of course, Everett wasn’t the only newcomer to Mel’s family in Part 2. Jack also surprised her with a puppy (named Pony, because she always wanted one). This probably seemed random to those who merely watch the show, but not to viewers who also read Robyn Carr’s Virgin River books.
“One of the books in the series deals with a basket of puppies being found, so it was a bit of an Easter egg,” Smith explains. “There are a ton of Easter eggs in the two episodes of other Netflix holiday movies. Hopefully people will be looking for those as well.”
