Who’s the daddy?)
along with some new mysteries to unpack.
Welcome to a new season ofVirgin River!
MARTIN HENDERSON as JACK SHERIDAN and ALEXANDRA BRECKENRIDGE as MEL MONROE.NETFLIX
It’s time to recap season 4.
Episode 1: Be My Baby
Can you keep a secret?
If the answer is no, consider relocating to beautiful Virgin River.
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You’ll fit right in!
), Jack doesn’t want her telling anyone quite yet.
Elsewhere in Virgin River, some of the residents are having trouble with their own secrets.
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First, the good news: Hope (Annette O’Toole) is alive and out of the hospital!
(And no, Calvin had nothing to do with her car crash, despite the mid-season rumors.)
(That girl’s had a personality transplant since her introduction in season 2, hasn’t she?)
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Changes are afoot at the clinic, where Doc’s hired a new doctor.
The women of the town are ready with a warm welcome and stampede to make appointments with Dr. Hayek.
To his credit, he gamely keeps them all.
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He also notices when Mel refers to him as hot in passing and doesn’t let it go unremarked.
Watch ya back, Jack.
Starting off the season strong there, Char.
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Alas, Jack’s starting to realize that he may have pointed the finger at an innocent man.
Call somebody, Jack!
Your buddy Mike, maybe?
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Get somebody on the horn before it’s too late!
Ope, it’s too late.
Brady’s reading a big ol' hardback during yard time when Jimmy approaches with a shiv.
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Episode 2: Father Knows Best…?
Brady’s going to be okay, y’all!
When he wakes up, an emotional Brie apologizes for not believing him.
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She tells him that she loves him and promises to get him home.
I mean, you could be stabbed in the kidney.
The woman who usually brings the awkward has gotten even worse following her brain injury.
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She begs for help getting her life back.
Remember Doc’s newly discovered grandson, Denny (Kai Bradbury)?
Of course, Ricky catches sight of them flirting.
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Okay, let’s circle back to Mel and Jack.
Once she’s out of sight of the parents, she collapses with her own remembered grief.
So the men have a heart-to-heart.
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But he grudgingly accepts that Jack is happy where he is, which is a start.
up and running, bad things are going to happen to her.
Because Cameron and Mel have anenergy, and Jack and I are deeply suspicious.
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Julia obviously agrees with me and offers him private Aikido lessons.
(Add WiFi and we’re the same, sister.)
The camera pans out to a vase of lilies, which is a nice touch.
Secret alert: Doc hasn’t told Hope about Denny yet.
“It’s silly because I’m missing something I never had,” he laments.
Over dinner, Doc finally brings up Denny.
Annette O’Toole is just marvelous this season, isn’t she?
Hope’s still prickly and demanding, but her voice is softer, more frustrated and unsure.
Now to the Sheridan siblings.
She, in turn, asks him to get Mike involved to help with Brady’s case.
(How is there still a case?
If Jack’s going to testify that it wasn’t Brady who shot him, thereisno case!)
Time for the weird-energy coworker dinner!
Cameron’s basically everything Jack’s not, yet he and Mel enjoy easy rat-a-tat banter once she arrives.
This does not help Jack’s silent, panicky spiral.
He gets the news from his hospital bed that he made bail.
He arrives home to find his place trashed, presumably from the police executing their search warrant.
A knock on the door has him picking up a baseball bat, but it’s Brie.
She says she wants to fix him, but girl, you’re able to’t fix another person.
Then “You?”
His bandaged stab wound makes Brie pause to ask if it hurts.
“Not enough to stop.”
Todd didn’t want her to tell Jack, which leads to a (completely understandable!)
eruption, because he’s having twins with a literal demon.
They send her off to nap and make plans to get her help with meals and childcare.
She’s… all but engaged?
To the owner of the only restaurant in town?
I think that’s a pretty good sign that she’s there for good.
That was a missed layup.
They head to the great outdoors to brainstorm but mostly seize the opportunity to make out.
Thank you to this couple for keeping Virgin River at a boil all season long.
Afterward, Brie meets Mike to talk about flipping Calvin and finding his boss in the fentanyl pipeline.
(Poor Mike thought they were on a date.)
It’s not just a river in Egypt, Brie!
Episode 5: Mayday
Truly, Jack is the Charlie Brown ofVirgin River.
If it’s bad, it’s gonna happen to him.
(He’s been taking lessons from Brad himself, thankfully.)
So all of that definitely isn’t going to make Mel and Jack’s paternity test conflict any worse.
Brady’s hostile, and says Jack almost got him killed in lockup.
I’ve never been shivved after being framed for attempted murder.
Jack gets home from seeing Brady to find Mel still focused on the paternity test.
He finally admits that he never wants to know in case it changes his feelings about their baby.
Hey, you know what?
It’s not what Mel wanted to hear, but it’s honest, and that ain’t nothing.
Then Brie takes Mike to lunch.
Gotta say, Zibby Allen has great chemistry with everybody.
And while Iadoreher with Brady, she and Mike have definite sparks.
Consequently, I’m watching those two like a hawk in all their scenes.
If anything happened to him in the upcoming raid, he just wanted someone to know.
Can some lawyer make this make sense?
A grudge-keeper, that one.
Things are still going well with Preacher and Julia.
Hope does a bad, bad thing in this episode and cancels her neurology appointment behind Doc’s back.
After all, Laney Baxter’s niece took all her money and skipped town.
We close this installment with Denny creeping downstairs that night to pick the lock on the clinic medicine cabinet.
Mel catches him, and we go to credits before learning what he’s up to.
Episode 6: All’s Faire…
This episode is a real turkey drumstick of a good time, in other words.
Tim insists that nobody blames Jack for Chris' death, and Jack pretty much shuts down.
Apparently Denny claimed he was looking for aspirin in the Schedule II drug cabinet.
Yeah, she needs to tell Doc about this.
(Never tell me how old that child was when the books were originally published.)
(We saw the first three seasons, Brady.
You didn’t trythathard.)
And like Monica Geller, Brady hates it when animals are dressed as humans.
If not, Brady gets in the way, he’ll have him arrested again.
Brady agrees as long as Calvin stays away from Brie.
She kisses him anyway.
On to the next difficult conversation: Mel tells Doc about Denny and the drug cabinet.
He wishes Mel had told him before he agreed to Denny moving into his house.
Gee, ya think?
I kind of assumed they’d joust, but Netflix didn’t pony (ha!)
up for horses, so it’s a sword battle.
When he comes back to himself, he’s holding tight to Ricky in front of a nervous crowd.
You’ve gotta get counseling.
What you’re doing now clearly isn’t working.
The letter’s full of praise for Jack’s leadership, and he burns it after he reads it.
Um, not cool.
I’m assuming Chris' family might’ve liked to have that back at some point.
Their brewing fight is interrupted when Mel’s sister Joey arrives with a surprise fiance in tow.
It sounds like she’s given it some thought and made her decision.
Mel might want to respect that.
(LOL Mel does not respect that.)
After he’s gone, she tells Hannah that Denny confuses her by running hot and cold.
OMG WHAT IF HE’S SECRET TWINS?
Preacher steps away from the bar at lunchtime for an Aikido lesson with Julia.
(Isn’t… isn’t he the chef?)
Good for her, honestly.
His proverbial ears perk up and start to vibrate.
Hope, too, counsels Mel to trust her sister.
After all, she and Doc got married after a month.
Awww, those lovebirds!
Time for the crime portion of the episode.
Um, did a cop just commit a battery?
Do the police usually let random dudes talk to people in interrogation?
Mike then advises Brady to cut Brie loose so she doesn’t get tangled up in his legal troubles.
But Brie refuses to let herself be cut loose.
They give him morphine, and Doc hikes back out to get the EMTs.
She freaks and admits she wasn’t actually cleared to drive.
Episode 8: Talk To Me
Who’s ready for a surprise wedding?
Yeah, guess who’s not quite ready for that yet… An observant Doc quietly warns Cameron not to cast his lustful eye on Mel because she’s taken.
Baby, what is youdoing?
This boy has flimsier excuses than an Ikea loft bed.
Meanwhile, Jack himself is with Ricky going through storage to find items for the Airstream.
So much for his promise that he’d cut back.
(Why why why must it be so similar to Melinda Monroe?
As if this show doesn’t already have a billion names to juggle!)
She and Mike are also on the lookout for the boat that Calvin may be hiding on.
Time for the wedding!
Hope comes downstairs with curled hair and a dress Doc bought her five years ago.
Weird gift from your estranged-at-the-time husband, but she looks fabulous.
Doc goes to turn off the guest room light and finds one of his financial records on the bed.
Baby boy,what are you up to?
The wedding is a lovely affair.
After the ceremony, we got some nice beats with the various town members.
At Connie’s urging, Lizzie tells Doc about the Klonopin, and Doc gives a huge sigh.
Mel’s fretting about Jack’s absence, and Cameron swoops in to lament not having a plus-one.
Then he looks at her with his greedy, greedy eyes.
It’s small-town wedding perfection, and Hope and Doc cuddle and watch it all.
Episode 9: Bombshells
Jack’s okay, everybody!
Jack has the audacity to be surprised by all the missed calls and texts.
Ooohhh that’s gotta burn.
She orders him to leave.
Well that says a heartbreaking amount about his self-esteem, no?
The next day, Preacher takes Jack back to his Bronco and urges him to see a therapist.
It’s beyond awkward, and Mel hauls Jack outside.
but he’s decided to be done drinking, to be done with the past.
Mel accurately says trauma’s not a switch you could turn on and off.
Yeah, but like she said earlier, he has to want to help himself.
(In case y’all forgot, Stacie was downright terrible to Mel.)
Also bringing the drama?
Doc actually gets there first and confronts Denny about the Klonopin and the financial files.
I have so many questions.
So that was his own account he moved money from?
Why did they call him Mr. Mullins, then?
Also how does the clinic still have a mortgage?
Hasn’t Doc been in business for literally decades?
Wait, is this because almost nobody he treats has insurance?
A pox upon you, American healthcare system!
Naturally, she’s annoyed at how well Muriel’s winning her over.
As she sits, Lilly (Lynda Boyd) appears, giving Hope a chance to say goodbye.
Jack has a good encounter too, with Charmain, surprisingly.
GAH, this woman!
Barry tells Jack he does what he does because he lost more friends to suicide than in battle.
Barry’s a calming presence, and he talks Jack through the therapy process.
This is a great start!
Also a great start?
Preacher apologizes to Julia for the mixed messages he’s been sending.
He’s not a clean slate, but he can be honest with her moving forward.
So is it smooth sailing from here for Preach and Julia?
And now we come to the most exciting 10 seconds inVirgin Riverhistory.
Brady finds the mysterious Melissa Montgomery (Barbara Pollard) waiting in his Emerald Lumber office.
As per usual, Brady agrees to whatever the bad guys want as long as it keeps Brie safe.
Sure enough, he’s there, and Mike calls for backup.
Just as Calvin notices their presence on the shore, his boat explodes.
I may never recover from the adrenaline of this.
Brie bumps into Mel post-meeting and offers to help when Mel vaguely describes the threats.
He even reschedules his therapy to help her.
They sure are, Jack!
Get on board already.
And if he screws up, he’s dead too.
(No, but seriously, I do think he’s actually dead.
No conspiracy theories here!)
Mike’s not done, though.
He also found Sally, who set Preacher up at the end of season 3.
I still don’t understand this.
And he said Vince did it!
But you know who is doing well this episode?
Excuse me,what?
Back away slowly, Lizzie.
Mel hustles a shocked Brie outside.
We jump over the rest of the shower and get to Jack loading wrapped gifts into his Bronco.
I swear, Charmaine makes me hate women.
Later that day, Brie’s in bed crying when Brady finds her.
Although she’s still not willing to confide in him, she does ask him to stay the night.
Mel’s overwhelmed too, and when Jack realizes it, he agrees to the paternity test.
This is going to become a legal necessity with Cassandra waiting on the sidelines.
And we close with a surprising reappearance: Paige!
That’s some incredible timing…
Episode 11: Once Again
Once upon a time, Jack had an older brother, Adam.
One night, the two boys snuck out a bedroom window, but Jack hesitated.
Adam turned back for him and fell off the roof and died.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s unbelievably tragic, but… less pinwheeling next time.
At least he’s doing it now, I guess.
Jack even tells Brie about Mel’s pregnancy, and she jumps into congratulatory mode.
And Brady loves Brie too.
But I’ll stop," he mutters and so forth.
When he helplessly states that Brie didn’t deserve that to happen to her, Mel replies thatnobodydoes.
And just like that, Hannah becomes my favorite resident of Virgin River.
Anyway, Brie’s monster of an ex Don (James Kot) is in town.
Speaking of exes, we’re about to learn more about Cameron’s former fiancee.
That’s actually really sweet of him.
(What he’s about to do is way less sweet, though.)
In his defense, shewashaving a private conversation at work with the door open when he overheard her.
He agrees not to tell anyone about the pregnancy, then proceeds to make things weird.
First, he admits that he has feelings for her.
Next he says he’s concerned about Jack’s suitability as a partner and father.
You see, his ex-fiancee was an alcoholic, so he knows the signs and the dangers.
Infuriated, Mel storms out.
Uh, did they drive together?
Is Cameron stuck walking back to the clinic, or does Virgin River have Uber?
Could that be a problem since Nick’s hoping to invest in Jack’s glamping business?
When she won’t accept his evasiveness, they end their relationship.
and reminds Hope that it’s a blessing to have someone care for you the way Doc does.
Then Denny arrives home and dramatically collapses to the floor.
Genuinely,genuinely, what is going on with this boy?
At least Preacher gets some answers.
I’m not sure what you were expecting here.
She explains that Vince contacted her and offered to give Christopher back if she turns herself over to him.
Take a second and imagine that spinoff…
So Preacher’s two steps forward, one step back.
Jack’s in business.
That night, he and Mel hang out on the fancy deck area of the now-fixed-up Airstream.
Episode 12: The Long Goodbye
Reader, she said yes.
Jack and Mel are engaged!
After a brief hesitation and a pep talk from Jack, she opens it to see that Jack!
And it’s a girl!
At the clinic, Doc wraps her in a hug when she shares her engagement news.
Awww, look how far they’ve come.
Cameron notices the ring right away and offers his congratulations.
He also acknowledges being out of line, which is why he’s put in his two weeks notice.
He doesn’t want a front-row seat to her marriage.
Brie, meanwhile, wakes up to find Brady making breakfast for her.
Mel pulls her outside to explain… sort of.
Jack shows up next, and Mel explains that Cameron thinks he’s unreliable.
Dang, how many softened versions of this story does Mel have?
Anyway, the charges are dropped, and the case is closed.
Brie’s about to embark on a different legal battle, though.
He sneers that no one will believe her, and that thread’s left danging for season 5.
What a masterful journey O’Toole’s taken us on this season as Hope slowly comes back to herself.
Denny gets a call on the house phone (why not his cell?)
and says the news from his doctor is that he collapsed from dehydration.
Doc’s still worried about him, but Denny says it’s under control.
Raise your hand if you actually believe anything is under control.
Sidenote, but I can’t let this season end without mentioning that the bakery truck is magical.
When Mel visits Doc at home, Denny overhears Doc explaining the Lizzie/Hope/Denny situation.
She’s not going to have that job for much longer.
She tells Doc that Cameron’s too important to the practice and resigns so he’ll feel comfortable staying.
Oh honey, no.
Time to send off Ricky.
Lydie gives him cash to get a fancy coffee in San Diego (my heart!
It’s too much!
), then sends him with Jack to the bus station.
Jack takes a detour to swing Ricky by his townwide farewell organized by Lizzie.
Everyone’s there with signs and good wishes, and it’s truly a lovely sendoff.
He and Mel agree that it’s sad she doesn’t have anyone else to talk to about it.
Not surprising, mind you, but sad.
Sidenote the second: who’s running the bar right now?
Is Queen Hannah in charge?
At the bus, Jack reminds him that it’s okay to be scared.
Next, Preacher finds Vince threatening Paige with a gun in the cabin.
They grapple, and Paige picks up the gun.
Then Vince gets distracted taunting Paige, and Preacher leaps up to knock him out.
Guess we’ll see next season!
Did she approve Nick’s investment to keep her fingers in Jack’s pie?
Will this somehow pull him into the fentanyl ring?
I can’t wait to find out!
Melissa immediately spots that Mel’s pregnant, and they confirm it and drink a toast.
So there you have it, friends!
It’s exactly howVirgin Riverlikes to leave us.
So what are your hopes for season 5?
(Rember, the show’s already been renewed!)
My personal wish list involves Hope continuing to recover with Doc by her side.
More Jack getting healthy.
More Brady and Brie goodness.
No more legal jeopardy for Preacher and Paige.
Charmaine getting hit by a meteor.
A peek at Ricky post-boot camp.
