‘Virgin River’ Boss Previews Mel’s Search for Her Father in Holiday Episodes

Who wouldn’t want to spend the holidays in Virgin River? It’s gorgeous, the residents are there for each other, and love is always in the air.

Virgin River returns to Netflix with two more episodes on November 30, set around the holidays, and Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) is now searching for her biological father after learning that he is actually from the very same town she now calls home. Might there be a wedding? Mel and Jack (Martin Henderson) are engaged, but we all know how slowly time moves and they haven’t even started planning. How about a birth (Charmaine’s twins)? Well, that is happening, though you’ll have to wait and see just how that plays out.

Showrunner Patrick Sean Smith previews the holiday episodes.

What came first, the plan to do the holiday episodes or the story you wanted to tell at this point in the series? It’s perfect for the holidays, but it would all work another time, too.

Patrick Sean Smith: Before I came onto the show, actually, it was an idea that I had discussed with Netflix, about having a holiday two-parter, just because obviously the holidays and cozy and Virgin River just kind of go hand-in-hand. And the fact that Robyn Carr had committed a couple of books in the book series to the holidays, it just felt like an opportunity that was just waiting to be taken. So we went into Season 5 and arced out over the 10 episodes knowing that the two would be a bit of a time jump so we could then get into the holidays. There was some back and forth on whether they would be standalone or if they would continue with the serialized storytelling, and we opted for the latter. So in the two holiday episodes, there are definitely a lot of answers to questions that we’ve set up in part one.

Speaking of that, what can you preview about Mel’s search for her father and what she learns about herself as a result?

I think one thing that she learns is just how deep of a connection she was wanting to have to her mother, but also who she is and where she comes from, realizing that what she knew before is no longer the truth. She starts and she’s excited about this opportunity to connect with this person who’s an extension of who she is. I think it’s a lot about her identity and then just the way it plays out in the episodes, that Jack is along for the ride of them going through this sort of Virgin River holiday scavenger hunt following these breadcrumbs to ultimately lead her to this man who she knows nothing about but has a very personal connection to her.

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How is Mel and Jack’s relationship? And because there’s always the question of the wedding, how close are we actually getting to that with these episodes?

Well, time is a tricky thing in Virgin River. I would say, it’s always on the horizon. In the holiday episodes, I don’t think we get to it as much, but what we do get to introduce is a little of the family dynamics that will eventually someday play out in a wedding context as Mel and Jack are planning their lives together. It also involves bringing their families together, which is always a tricky thing.

The Brie (Zibby Allen), Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth), and Mike (Marco Grazzini) triangle has taken a turn, to say the least, but how does she feel about both men at this point?

We find her, in the holiday episodes, in a happy place with Mike, but I think Brady will always be an important person in her life and somebody who she has an undeniable connection with and obvious chemistry with. And I think there’s always going to be that pull anytime he’s in the room for her, even while she and Mike are looking ahead to having a relationship together.

And they’re all part of this small community of Virgin River. Everyone knows what’s going on with everyone there.

Yes. I grew up in a small town in Texas of 4,000 people. So small town gossip is something that I am fluent in.

Lizzie (Sarah Dugdale) thinks she could be pregnant at the end of the first part of the season. So what does that mean for her and Denny (Kai Bradbury) as well as Hope (Annette O’Toole) and Doc (Tim Matheson) in these episodes?

We’ll answer the question if Lizzie is, in fact, pregnant, and we will see how that affects the four of them as they’ve become this sort of immediate family. It stirs up great family conflict and dramas, which is also as true to the holiday experience as Christmas trees and hot cocoa.

Courtesy of Netflix

I have to say how much I love the Lizzie and Hope stuff in the first part of the season. It was so good, and I love seeing that relationship on the show.

Same, same. It was something that it felt like it was always kind of there, but it hadn’t really been explored. And to put Lizzie on a path as she’s maturing and looking at potential motherhood is definitely a trajectory for her character to deal with real young adult issues.

Preacher (Colin Lawrence) may finally have some luck in love, though things are complicated with Kaia (Kandyse McClure), given her divorce and that body in the woods … How is that affecting him in these episodes?

The cliffhanger from Season 5 is definitely sort of a specter that’s looming over the holidays, but it doesn’t overtake the opportunity that Preacher has, which is to celebrate this with the woman that he’s falling in love with.

Is he the most optimistic that he’s been when it comes to his love life on the series so far?

I would say so, yes.

Virgin River, Season 5 Holiday Episodes, Thursday, November 30, Netflix