Virgin River had to change the story of season 6 in a hurry

Virgin River returned for the third season on Netflix, but had to change its plot due to a difficulty with the actress.

Virgin River ended up losing its mayor and fans felt her absence.

In the third season of the Netflix series, which premiered last Friday (09), Hope (Annette O’Toole) ended up absent from most episodes. And unfortunately, she didn’t appear physically. What many don’t know is that this story had to be hastily inserted into the series, changing part of what the writers planned.

In the new episodes, Doc (Tim Matheson) informs everyone that she is visiting her elderly, sick aunt and taking her to doctor appointments. This becomes the source of even more drama when an impending hurricane causes Hope to lose even phone contact with Doc.

But as the season continues and one obstacle after another arises when it comes to Hope’s return to town, you may start to wonder why we only see her through FaceTime and Zoom calls.

The answer, as you can imagine, has to do with the current pandemic we are facing.

“This disappearance has to do with the pandemic,” explains showrunner Sue Tenney. “We worked really hard to make sure she was still on the show. In the fourth season, everyone will certainly be vaccinated. So I hope we get Annette back.”

Since O’Toole wasn’t able to return to the Virgin River set amid the pandemic, they came up with creative, virtual ways to embody her character. But Tenney said this led to a major rewrite and the loss of a storyline that fans were undoubtedly eager to see – Doc and Hope’s vow renewal ceremony.

“We were going to have two long, lovely episodes about it,” she revealed that they chose to cut it rather than just have it happen off-camera. “Two episodes of plot on this. When we get to that point, which is a ‘recommitment’ ceremony, we’ll definitely want to see it. But we have some drama going on with these two characters that puts that on the back burner but also increases their commitment to each other.”

Doc’s illness plot ended up being explored in another way
Certainly, Virgin River had in mind to explore the bias of Vernon’s illness in another way in the series. With the vow renewal ready to happen, the writers will design a drama about Hope discovering her husband’s problems and how this will impact their relationship.

But, with Hope out of the picture, it was up to Vernon to focus on finding a “replacement” for him at the clinic. And obviously this ended up creating tension with Mel.

At first, Vernon hid from Mel that he was looking for a new professional, until she thought she would be the one to replace him. So afterward he told the nurse that he was going to retire and therefore he would find a new doctor. But only later did he end up revealing to his friend and co-worker about her illness. Which messed with Mel.

Additionally, the pair got busy with another emotional storyline this season, involving Lilly and her stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Given these changes, with luck, the producers will be able to resume what was planned in the fourth season.

It is worth noting that filming for the fourth season will begin soon. So, Netflix could release another installment of the great success Virgin River in the first half of 2022.

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