Virgin River showrunner Patrick Sean Smith says there may be trouble ahead for Mel once her biological father reveals his big secret.
“He’s hinting at something that will make their relationship more complicated, so we’ll say it’s negative,” Smith told Entertainment Weekly in a Friday, December 1, interview of season 5’s big cliffhanger.
When part 1 of Virgin River’s fifth season dropped on Netflix in September, Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) was left reeling after learning of her biological dad through love letters he once sent her mother. During the season’s second half, which premiered on November 30, Mel quickly discovers that her father’s name is Everett Reid and that he still resides in Virgin River.
After initially pretending he wasn’t the man she was looking for, Everett comes clean about his identity by bringing her a music box with her mother’s voice. He then reveals he has something important to share with his daughter before the screen fades to black, leaving fans with a major cliffhanger.
Breckenridge, for her part, told EW that she hasn’t read any scripts for season 6, but believes Everett will inevitably complicate things for her character.
“It’s going to be a little strange,” she said. “Everett says, ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’ I don’t know if that has anything to do with any of the people that she’s around in the town or Doc or anyone.”
Prior to Everett’s official introduction, fan theories ran wild over who Mel’s father could be, with many hoping her coworker Doc (Tim Matheson) would be behind the big reveal.
“Everyone thought it was Doc,” Brekendridge quipped. “I was like, ‘That’s too obvious.’ Bert (Trevor Lerner) we thought would be fun. Nick (Keith MacKechnie) was another funny idea.”
Smith confessed that they considered “all the possibilities” of her dad’s identity, with Doc being one of them. “But Doc is already a surrogate father to her,” he explained. “So to make it then about biology felt like it was defeating the purpose of what’s so special about their relationship.”
Despite not being blood-related, Doc has become a parental figure to Mel since she arrived in Virgin River during season 1 after her husband’s death. While the characters were initially at odds, their relationship has formed into a centerpiece of the series.
“When you meet Mel, you get the sense that she is really overwhelmed by the loss of her husband, her parents, especially her mother and her child,” Breckenridge said. “Over the seasons, she’s really softened Doc in a lot of ways, and that family connection that they have has been so sweet and beautiful.”
The pair have become so close, Smith said, that Everett’s presence may cause some serious tension. “Having another father figure move into Mel’s life will be a new challenge for Doc and their relationship,” he teased.
As for why Mel connected with Everett so quickly in season 5 — the show is known for fleshing out certain dramatic story lines across multiple seasons — Breckenridge explained that it was important to avoid getting too bogged down with drama during part 2’s holiday-themed episodes.
“We were in the realm of Christmas spirit,” Breckenridge said. “We wanted to maintain a coziness and a lightness to the characters and what they were dealing with. Of course, it’s a little odd that she’s all of a sudden [jumping into this], but we had to move the story along.”
Smith also noted that because Mel had read the letters from Everett to her mother, it tracks that she wouldn’t have reservations about seeking him out quickly.
“She was heartened by the letters that she read to know that Everett did want to be a part of her life and respected her mother’s wishes,” he said. “She came into it feeling that connection with her mother. It was a win-win situation for her to bring this man into her life.”
Netflix has yet to announce a return date for Virgin River.
