If there’s one thing we know about Virgin River, it’s that — like the body of water for which it is named — the Netflix drama isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
The numbers don’t lie: For the week of July 25, Virgin River was the streamer’s most-watched show with 2.4 billion minutes viewed across 42 total episodes. In other words, Netflix is going to milk this small-town drama as much as it possibly can.
With production currently underway on Season 5, TVLine is sharing our hopes for the upcoming batch of episodes and beyond.
Scroll down for our Virgin River wishlist, then drop a comment with your own hopes for the town’s residents.
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A Graceful Exit for Charmaine
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Jack’s ex-girlfriend is one of those characters we really want to root for — she just makes it so hard! Her reveal in the Season 4 finale that Jack’s twins aren’t really his was the last straw. He’s no longer tethered to her, and as much as we enjoy actress Lauren Hammersley, it’s time for this character to find her happy ending… somewhere else.
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Personal Growth for Ricky
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix When we last saw Ricky (surname unknown!), he was leaving town to train for the Marines. Good. Let him stay there for a bit. He’s never been a particularly dynamic character, but watching him pine over Lizzie for the show’s entire fourth season was just painful. We’d love to see him return after a season or so away, more mature and self-assured than when he left.
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Time for Mel and Jack to Savor Their Milestones
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix At the pace this show moves, we could get a wedding in the Season 5 finale before Mel even starts showing. And as much as we can’t believe we’re about to say this… we’d be OK with that. Getting married and having a baby are two separate, significant milestones in a relationship. Why not devote a full season to each journey?
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Happiness for Preacher
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix This poor guy. Preacher has had to sacrifice his own happiness — including his dream job as a restaurant chef, and multiple potential relationships — as a result of his involvement in Paige and Christopher’s drama. Now that Vince has been taken care of, we’d love to see everyone get a fresh start. Not to be callous, but if that means Paige leaving town with her son and letting Preacher pursue things with, we wouldn’t complain.
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A Juicy Villain Story for Melissa
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot With all respect to Calvin, he never really did it for us as a Big Bad, especially after he settled into being a Brady-specific problem. Melissa Montgomery, on the other hand, has the potential to be a true troublemaker moving forward. Not only is she picking up where Calvin left off, but she also has her hooks in Jack (via him being in business with her brother) and Mel. This could be fun!
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More Screen Time for Hannah
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot Netflix’s commitment to infusing Virgin River with more “diversity and inclusion” moving forward has us hopeful that we’ll get to spend more time with Hannah, the show’s only on-record LGBTQ+ character. She’s funny! And as serious as this show can get, it definitely needs more funny.
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A Man for Muriel
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Hope may not trust Muriel as far as she can throw her, but to Muriel’s credit, the lonely lady has remained (mostly) respectful of Hope and Doc’s relationship — and she’s had plenty of opportunities to go in for the kill. So how about we find Muriel a man of her own? She deserves happiness, and we’d be curious to learn more about her by way of a new romance.
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A Christmas Episode for All of Us
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix, TVLine illustration We stopped bothering to keep track of the actual calendar on Virgin River, but shouldn’t we get to Christmas at some point? We can’t imagine anything quainter than the holiday season in this already-idyllic town, so just give the people (aka us) what they (aka we) want already!
