Season 5 and the writers’ strike threw a spanner in the works.
With Season 5 just finished and Season 6 not even in production, it seems strange to be speculating about whether there will be a Season 7 of Virgin River at all. But such was the fans’ dismay at the way Jack and Mel’s relationship was handled in the heavily criticised season 5 that it seems a debate worth having.
All change for season 5?
One of the risks of changing showrunners on hugely successful shows is that the new person will decide to take things in a different direction. When this comes off, we hail them as a genius. When it doesn’t… well, we blame them for ruining what was once a perfectly good show.
Sus Tenney was showrunner for seasons 1-4 of Virgin River, but was replaced by Patrick Sean Smith for season 5.
In the end, though, many fans felt that, if he ever picked up the ball up, he dropped it pretty quickly.
What was so wrong with the last season?
One fan on Reddit was scathing about Season 5, saying they hoped the writers and showrunners “took this long break to study the books, study the dynamics between Mel and Jack, hire new intimacy coordinators AND most importantly, I hope they took this time to read all the fans’ comments on all social media platforms regarding Season 5.”
It seems unlikely that they will have read every comment on social media. But they will no doubt have got to grips with the general feeling that the passion and spark seemed to have gone out of Mel and Jack’s romance in Season 5. In many ways, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. It’s been over six years since the show premiered, and everyone, including the actors themselves, is tired of VR’s infamous slow pacing.
What do we know about a potential season 7?
Not much. Patrick Sean Smith and Alexandra Breckenridge (Mel) have both hinted that there is more to come, but there has been no official word on the new season.
The writers’ strike may prove to be a blessing in disguise for the powers behind Virgin River. It gave them some time to come to terms with the reviews of Season 5, and reports suggest that part of Season 6 has been rewritten to make it more palatable to fans.
With no confirmation of a new series as yet, and the whole industry still trying to work out exactly how it’s going to make up for lost time, the top brass may well be taking this opportunity to think carefully about the future of the show.
There’s always the option of putting the new season out there and seeing how it’s received. But that could be a risky move. More negativity could lead to Season 6 fizzling out and Season 7 just never happening. If next season is going to be the last, the network will want to take the bull by the horns and make that decision for themselves.