Virgin River season four finished strong back in July of 2022, with the binge-worthy show’s fourth season catapulting its way to the top of the Netflix watch list, taking the number one spot away from Stranger Things and gaining 100 million views in its first week. Now we have an update on the fifth season, and it’s so close!
Fans knew early on that a fifth season would be underway after an Instagram image showed the cast on a Zoom call for a table read. Now, a year on, we get to see the fruits of their labor as Virgin River returns to Netflix on Sept. 7.
What To Expect in Virgin River season five
The trailer for the fifth season has dropped, allowing us all a look at what is in store for the not-so-sleepy town of Virgin River and its inhabitants. We open on Jack and Mel, played by Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson respectively, as they discuss their upcoming parenthood. Now that all the mystery over who the father might be is done and dusted, the two can focus on their child together, although the town setting on fire might make that a little more complicated.
As explained in the official synopsis for the series, this season will feature “surprising new relationships, a shocking break-up, a difficult court trial, a heartbreaking goodbye, and a wildfire that threatens the town, bringing some people of Virgin River together while tearing others apart.”
There are still some cliffhangers left at the end of season four that the trailer doesn’t quite touch on, like how Charmaine admitted, right at the very end of the final, that Jack was not the father of the twins as she had been stating all along.
Season four finally revealed one of the bigger mysteries left at the end of season two, identifying the individual who shot Jack and left him for dead, and now we will have to deal with the outcome of that.
Who is returning to Virgin River for season five?
The Instagram picture shared a year ago already gave us a very clear image of who exactly will be back, with the actor’s faces and names on display. Of course, the two leads Breckenridge and Henderson are returning, along with the usual Virgin River crew. Town physician and Mel’s boss, Doc, played by Tim Matherson, is present along with his wife and town mayor Hope, Anette O’Toole.
Another co-worker of Mel’s that is hanging around, despite saying he was leaving, is Dr. Cameron Hayek, played by Mark Ghanimé. Fans will get to see just why he is still sticking around after the character revealed his feelings to Mel and was promptly turned down. Doc’s grandson, Denny, Kai Bradbury, is also here after revealing that his shady behavior was down to his wanting to keep his Huntingdon’s diagnosis a secret from his romantic interest Lizzie, Sarah Dugdale. Lizzie’s former love interest and cast regular Ricky, Grayson Maxwell Gurnsey, appears to have ducked out, though.
Jack’s fellow ex-marines are still with him; with Preacher (Colin Lawrence), Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth), and Mike (Marco Grazzini) all present and accounted for at the table reading. Lawrence also has beside him his wife, Lucia Walters, who recently joined the cast as her husband’s on-screen love interest and appears in the trailer as well.
Many of the residents of the town also look to be returning to their roles, and it would seem that bad guy Vince, Steve Baci, is also back and will hopefully be placed behind bars after Preacher fought and won against the dirty cop to save Paige, and reunite her with her son Christopher. Though actor Chase Petriw, Christopher, is present at the table read, Paige, Lexa Doig is absent. The actress hasn’t had a huge amount of screen time after fleeing Virgin River at the beginning of season two, only reappearing at the end of season four.
With Henderson telling Glamour, “season five’s great, by the way. It’s the best season yet. I’m amazing in it,” fans are excited to get underway with the next season. Catch the fifth season of Virgin River on Netflix from Sept. 7.
