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Based on Robyn Carr’s book series, the hit showVirgin Riverjust dropped its sixth season on Netflix. Although the series deviated quite a bit from the books throughout its entire course, the difference is highlighted in Season 6. In it, the show veers a little from Mel and Jack’s storyline to give a backstory to her parents.
In the books, her parents are never a big part of the story, hence never being properly introduced. But the show decided to focus on them as new characters, and the results have reportedly been marvelous.
The main reason behind that is the show creators’ idea to expand theVirgin Riveruniverse given the show’s popularity. And according to reports, they have already signed a deal with Netflix to make it happen.
Virgin RiverSeason 6 ditched the books to produce a prequel
One of the main plot pointsVirgin Riverhas deviated from the books, according toScreen Rant, is obviously Mel’s relationship with her parents. In the books, they do not show up at all, and as a result, their impact on Mel’s life has been infinitesimal.
In the show, though, Mel, played by Alexandra Breckenridge, is shown trying to come to terms with her mother’s death, along with her first husband’s demise.
This is what poses a huge obstacle to her diving headfirst into a marriage with Jack (Martin Henderson). Capitalizing on this theme, Season 5 of the show introduced her father, Everett, played by John Allen Nelson. Who, unbeknownst to her, has been living in Virgin River all along.
After their initial introduction, Season 6 focuses on Mel trying to build a relationship with her long-estranged father. Eventually, their conversation turns to her mother, Sara, who passed away when she was just a child.
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While Mel finds it difficult to remember the woman Sara was before her illness, her father enlightens her on the woman he used to be so deeply in love with. This gives the show a chance to delve into their story, as the scene shifts to days past narrating a young Everett, played by Callum Kerr, and Sara’s, played by Jessica Rothe, first meeting.
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This gives Mel a chance to connect more deeply with her parents, and in turn, provides her with the courage to embark on a new life with Jack by marrying him. It also helps the show set the premise for the next season which is going to dive into Sara and Everett’s story. And as reports suggest, it is already in the works.
Virgin Rivercreator speaks of deciding to follow Sara and Everett into next season
Showrunner Patrick Sean Smith said in an interview withVarietyrecently that they had plans to expand the universe, but had to be cautious while casting. According to him, the idea of expansion itself came from watching John Allen Nelson portray present-day Everett in Season 5 ofVirgin River.
As the outlet reports, the creators knew they needed to delve deeper into his character and the relationship he shared with Sara, the first time they saw him.
He was in two scenes, and he was perfect.
As a result, they needed to be faithful in casting actors for a young Everett and Sara, who could portray the intensity of their relationship properly. Especially because according to Smith they always intended to establish their introduction inVirgin RiverSeason 6 as a“back-door pilot”.Thankfully for them, they found Callum Kerr andJessica Rothesoon enough.
We did chemistry reads with them and a couple of other actors who were really incredible. But Jess and Callum had such a spark together, such a fire together that it felt like we had hit gold in casting them.
Smith also disclosed that along with delving into Sara and Everett’s relationship, the next season will focus on how Virgin River came to be back in the 1970s.
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Fortunately for fans, they probably will not have to wait very long for the next season to arrive as according toDeadline, it is already in the early stages of development.
Virgin RiverSeason 6 is now streaming on Netflix.
Anushree Banerjee
Articles Published :595
Anushree Banerjee is an Anime Writer at FandomWire with over 550 published articles. She has a post-grad in English and years of experience working with some of the biggest companies on the pop culture, and anime scene, such as, Sportskeeda, Pinkvilla, and MovieWeb. Staying on top of everything anime consumes her days, while bingeing on everything horror, and thriller keeps her up at night. Be it superhero flicks from Marvel and DC, or Shonen, and Seinen, like Bleach, The Apothecary Diaries, and Attack on Titan, she can probably state facts about them faster than she can recite her home address.
