‘Virgin River’: What to Expect in Season 4 From Mel & Jack, Brady, and More

The return of Virgin River for its fourth season on Netflix is just around the corner (July 20), but if you can’t wait that long, fortunately, we have some ideas about what to expect in the 12 episodes.

The third season left off with quite a few lingering questions, including: Whose baby is Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) having — her boyfriend Jack (Martin Henderson) or late husband Mark’s (Daniel Gillies)? Who shot Jack? Was it Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth), or is he innocent as he claims, even though the gun was in his Jeep? Doc (Tim Matheson) has a grandson?!

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Thanks to executive producer Sue Tenney, Breckenridge, Henderson, and Hollingsworth, we have some teases. Below, we’ve gathered everything we know about what we can expect from the fourth season. (Plus, we already know it’ll be back for a fifth!)

When We’ll Find Out Whose Baby It Is

Season 3 ended with Mel interrupting Jack’s proposal to inform him she’s pregnant — but the baby might not be his. (She visited the fertility clinic where she and Mark had two embryos while in L.A.) “[The father’s identity] will be revealed at the end of [Season 4] and it’s a driving storyline in [it],” Tenney said.

Mel and Jack Discussing Getting Married

Just because Mel’s announcement overshadowed the proposal doesn’t mean that’s not something they have to talk about in Season 4. And with Tenney promising, “in the series, eventually, they are going to get married,” something tells us that discussion is going to take center stage sooner rather than later.

Courtesy of Netflix

But whatever Mel’s answer is to Jack’s proposal, we do know there’s a lot the couple must address. They did just get back together towards the end of the season and there’s the matter of the baby’s father’s identity. “She’s just going through a lot of emotional turmoil about it and [in] Season 4, we’ll obviously explore that a lot,” Breckenridge said.

The Identity of Jack’s Shooter Will Finally Be Revealed

Someone shot Jack in his bar at the end of the Season 2 finale, and while Brady has been arrested, it seems just a bit too easy to pin it on him. What we do know is that we will find out definitively who pulled the trigger. “The audience will be genuinely surprised at who’s behind all of it,” Tenney promised.

“[In] Season 4, we wrap up actually what started as [Mel and Jack] being kidnapped, the introduction of Calvin [David Cubitt] and Jimmy [Ian Tracey], so we bring it all home and then we open up a new avenue of ‘Oh my God’ at the end of Season 4,” she continued. “The person who pulled the trigger and wanted him dead are the same person, but Calvin and Jimmy and the failed raid in Season 2 and him getting shot all intersect with all the rest of it.”

Courtesy of Netflix

We’ll Find Out if Brady’s Innocent or Guilty

While Brady hasn’t always been truthful — he held back the fact that he did see Jack that night — he has maintained his innocence, even as he was being arrested. Considering we’re going to find out who did shoot Jack, that means we’ll find out if he’s been lying this entire time or if we’re right to want to believe him.

More Hope!

Due to the pandemic, Annette O’Toole only appeared virtually as Hope, requiring them to make some changes to her and Doc’s storyline. “We’ll get back to pieces of it,” Tenney said. “Annette is very excited to rejoin the Virgin River troop.”

What we won’t necessarily see is what was planned for Hope and Doc when it came to his health as he faces losing his eyesight. “Because [Hope] was away, that emotional part of that story didn’t play out,” the EP explained. “There’s a different emotional story that will play out in Season 4 between the two characters.”

Courtesy of Netflix

Doc Faces His Future — Both Health and Career-Wise

Doc’s “medical problems will continue,” Tenney shared, and the fourth season will include “a surprise at the beginning” that addresses the fact that he put his search for his replacement at the clinic on hold. Was it because he’s not ready to stop working or is it that he doesn’t want to accept his prognosis? (We also know that there’s a new doctor coming to town!)

Paige Returns!

Following the accidental death of her abusive ex-husband, Wes (Steve Bacic), Paige (Lexa Doig) has been in hiding and Preacher (Colin Lawrence) has been watching her son, Christopher. “Paige is on the run, but we revisit Paige in Season 4,” the EP shared.

The Search for Vince Will Be On

In fact, Preacher thought he was going to meet her at the end of Season 3, only for her friend to drug him and leave him in the woods … just as Wes’ twin Vince (Bacic) waited in the dark as Christopher came home. “There’s a big reveal when we open Season 4 that puts certain people in jeopardy. Finding Vince becomes paramount,” Tenney teased. (If Hollingsworth gets what he wants, that will mean Brady teaming up with Jack and Preacher to do so — and possibly healing those friendships in the process.)

Courtesy of Netflix

Mike’s Secrets, Revealed?

As was hinted at in a heated exchange between Brady and Mike (Marco Grazzini) in Season 3, the latter is keeping some secrets. “They all come back with scars and skeletons from their time in war. The thing that Brady touched on in Season 3 is something that we’ll explore in coming seasons,” the EP previewed. “Mike is a really positive and great character, but there’s definitely some stuff that will come up and need to be dealt with.”

According to Hollingsworth, Brady “knows a lot about Mike…I think Brady witnessed something that I don’t even know if Jack knows.”

A Mike-Brie-Brady Love Triangle

Brady and Jack’s sister Brie (Zibby Allen) grew close in Season 3 — he told her he’s in love with her — but they weren’t exactly in the best place at the end of it. (He was, after all, arrested for shooting her brother.) But Mike and Brie do end up together in Robyn Carr’s books (on which the series is based), and he has started showing interest in her. “As I’ve always said, if it’s in the books, eventually I want to get our characters back to where they were in the books,” Tenney admitted. “So I think that we’re possibly setting up a bit of a love triangle there.”

Netflix

All Our Questions About Doc’s Grandson, Answered

At the end of Season 3, a young man came to Virgin River and identified himself as Doc’s grandson. That’s all we know about him. “It’s going to be a very fun Season 4” when it comes to that storyline, according to the EP. “That’s peeling back another layer of the onion of his character. And all the questions that you’re going to ask me, I can’t answer. Where did he come from? Who is he?”

Virgin River, Season 4 Premiere, Wednesday, July 20, Netflix