Development of a Virgin River prequel has been announced as season 6 hits the ground running. The popular Netflix romance show stars Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel Monroe, who moves to a small Northern California town to become a midwife and escape her past. Her romance with local bar owner Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson) has been a core component of the long-running show, which also stars Colin Lawrence, Jenny Cooper, Lauren Hammersley, Annette O’Toole, and Tim Matheson.
Per Deadline, production has officially commenced on Virgin River season 6. In addition to that, Netflix has announced that a prequel show is now in development. The show would follow the love story of Mel’s mother Sarah and her biological father, Everett. If the show is officially picked up, it will tie in with flashback sequences that are already set to explore this time period of Sarah and Everett’s life in season 6.
This potential growth of the cast of Virgin River characters is in keeping with Netflix’s recent programming. The streaming service has been steadily expanding the universes of many of their most popular shows with a variety of spin-offs. These can range from prequels to spinoffs to tie-in games, and even the reality show Squid Game: The Challenge, which is an unscripted take on the smash-hit South Korean thriller Squid Game.
Some of these spinoffs have been more successful than others. The Emmy-winning Bridgerton prequel show Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, for instance, was a critical success in addition to drawing a large audience. The To All the Boys trilogy sequel spinoff XO, Kitty was similarly popular and has already been renewed for season 2. However, the fantasy sequel The Witcher: Blood Origin wasn’t so lucky in its attempt to expand that franchise, proving that prequel shows aren’t always a sure bet.
Ultimately, if Netflix does elect to move forward with this prequel show, the streamer will still have its work cut out for it. However, if the new season can successfully follow up on the Virgin River season 5 ending and keep audiences engaged, it will have crafted the perfect inroad to get the prequel off the ground. Presuming audiences respond to the increased presence of flashback material, this tease of further Sarah and Everett storylines could provide the streamer with a huge boon.
