Virgin River will have some changes in the coming seasons. Furthermore,
the head of the series promises new seasons if fans want them.
Virgin River star Benjamin Hollingsworth teased what’s next for the characters in season five.
The Netflix show, which stars Hollingsworth as Dan Brady, recently released its fourth season and introduced what could be season five’s most menacing villain: Melissa Montgomery, played by Barbara Pollard.
Hollingsworth told TVLine: “[Fear] is a healthy emotion when it comes to her. She’s obviously up to no good, and the fact that she’s having dinner with Jack and Mel at the end is worrying.”
The scene that Hollingsworth is referencing revealed that Melissa is Nick’s (Keith MacKechnie) sister and has dinner with protagonist Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson).
Dramatic twists continue
Virgin River’s fourth season also resolved a mystery surrounding Hollingsworth’s character, for example, who was arrested after shooting Jack at the end of season two. However, it was shown that Brady had nothing to do with it and that Vince (Steve Bacic) was actually to blame.
“I knew Brady didn’t do it,” Hollingsworth said.
“For one thing, this isn’t the character I’ve been playing, but I also spoke to the [previous] showrunner. Making Brady a red herring was always part of the plan, but we wanted the audience to say, ‘That can’t be him! We just started liking him!’”
The next season will see a new showrunner taking over. Earlier this year, it was announced that Patrick Sean Smith would replace Sue Tenney, who had run the show since the first season.
As for upcoming Virgin River storylines, season five will likely reveal the identity of the father of Charmaine’s (Lauren Hammersley) twins after it was revealed in season four that Jack is not their father.
Diversity in the focus of upcoming episodes of Virgin River
Netflix has promised “more diversity and inclusion” at Virgin River in the future.
The hit drama hasn’t exactly had the best track record on that front, for example, with few characters of diverse races and the show only introducing its first LGBTQ+ character in season 4.
Speaking to Deadline, Jinny Howe, head of drama at Netflix, explained its plans in terms of diversity: “Without being specific, I will say that this remains a focus. Some of our first conversations about casting for Season 5 [were about that]. I think it’s fair to say that this will continue to be a focus and something that audiences will experience more of in Season 5.
“It’s definitely a priority and I think you’ll see as we expand the Virgin River community that there will be more diversity and inclusion,” she added.
Additionally, Howe also teased the future of the show, saying, “I think we definitely see more longevity and growth with the show. It will be exciting to see which characters keep coming up and audiences want more. We’re paying close attention, understanding that this is a really rich universe of characters and that people always want more. Including me.So I think as long as people want it, you can be sure there will be more Virgin River.”
