When Virgin River showrunner Sue Tenney first discussed Season 3 with Netflix, she promised a “humdinger” of a finale. As it turns out, that was an understatement.
Between the mountaintop proposal, the paternity shocker, the surprise visitor, the arrest of a potential shooter and the fate of a beloved character hanging in the balance, this felt like the finale to end all finales. And we didn’t even list all of the episode’s game-changing twists!
Rather than attempt to process everything on our own, we decided to hit up some of the show’s key players — including Tenney, plus cast members Alexandra Breckenridge (Mel) and Benjamin Hollingsworth (Brady) — to get their thoughts on the moments we’ll be thinking about until Netflix blesses us with a fourth season. (Full disclosure: We ran out of time before we could discuss the situation with Connie and Preacher, so we’ll just have to keep a prayer circle going for those two.)
Scroll down to read the Virgin River team’s take on some of the finale’s biggest developments, then drop a comment with your hopes for a potential Season 4.
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POP GOES THE QUESTION
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot Let’s start with the event we’ve waited for since Day 1: In the final moments of Episode 10, Jack finally got down on one knee and proposed!
“My initial response would be that she would say yes,” Breckenridge theorizes, though she admits that Mel still has reservations. “I mean, he did just break up with her a couple weeks ago!”
Then again, this twist became fairly moot when Mel replied with the bombshell to end all bombshells.
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WHO'S THE DADDY?
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot That’s right, folks, Mel is pregnant… and she doesn’t know if the baby is Jack’s or Mark’s! And if you’re hoping for a quick answer, prepare to be disappointed.
As for the identity of the father, Tenney says, “You’ll find out by the end of the fourth season,” should the show be renewed by Netflix. In other words, get ready to wait.
(While we wait, let’s talk about this: Whose baby do you think it is? And whose do you hope it is? I’ll see you down in the comments section!)
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CHARMAINE VS. JACK
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot (2) Now that Charmaine has made it clear that she intends to seek full custody of the twins, Tenney says we can expect major legal warfare in the near future.
“I have sympathy for Charmaine,” she says. “I don’t condone her actions. They’re a little squirrelly. But she’s not evil. She’s just hurt. Everything that Charmaine does is out of hurt. She’s always working from a place of hurt.”
That said, Jack does have a fight ahead of him, and he’s going to be thankful to have his sister in his life. “We will utilize the fact that Brie is an attorney in the show going forward,” Tenney confirms.
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DID BRADY DO IT?
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot Brady started looking increasingly guilty of shooting Jack as Season 3 rolled on, so we can’t say we were surprised that he ended up in handcuffs by the end of the finale. Still, we don’t know for sure… Did he do it?
“I’d like to believe that he didn’t, but that’s because I’m playing him,” Hollingsworth says. “Being so close to him, I don’t believe he’s someone that would do that, regardless of his state of mind.”
As for how Brie feels watching her boyfriend hauled away for possibly shooting her brother?
“I think she wants to believe him,” Hollingsworth says. “He admitted he was at the shooting, he admitted to being in jail and he really opened up to her. He said, ‘Look, this is who I am.’ He said he had nothing to hide, so for this to happen and play out the way it did, she’s definitely facing that internal struggle: ‘Did I make the wrong decision? Do I just have a horrible judge of character?'”
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RICKY'S CROSSROADS
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot Ricky and Lizzie may be on the outs after their finale blow-up, but all hope is not lost for the Virgin River’s youngest lovebirds.
Right now, he “has to decide between love and duty,” Tenney says. “Ricky and Lizzie are growing and maturing at different rates, but we hope they’ll get to the same place at a certain point. And that’s the best way to describe that relationship — it’s the timing thing we go through.”
As for Ricky enlisting, “it seems impulsive, but it’s not,” Tenney says. “It’s something he’s wanted since he was 13. In the books, that’s how Ricky is. For Ricky, it came to a head when he met Jack and Preacher. He’s always been into the military, but he wants to be Jack. He wants to be the hero.”
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HOPE-LESS?
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot Hope finally tried to come home to Virgin River towards the end of Season 3 — click here for the behind-the-scenes explanation for her absence — but it didn’t exactly go as planned. Doc’s one true love (sorry, Muriel!) is currently fighting for her life in the hospital, and while Tenney won’t tell us whether or not she’ll survive, she will say that she’d “like to have Hope back” if Netflix gives Virgin River a fourth season. So there’s, you know, hope!
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PRODIGAL GRANDSON
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot The final moments of Season 3 welcomed an unexpected visitor (pictured here) to Virgin River, and the look on Sue Ellen’s face said it all: Doc has a grandson?!
“We haven’t really dealt with Doc’s past,” Tenney acknowledges. “We’ve only talked about his medical background. All of your questions [about Doc] will be answered in Season 4. It’s a really interesting addition, another outsider in Virgin River. He’s carrying a secret that will come out [if the show is renewed for] Season 4. It’ll be interesting to see. It’s worth the wait!”
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