Mel and Jack’s relationship reached a huge milestone in season 6 of Virgin River, as the pair prepared for the wedding of the year (mostly orchestrated by Hope). However, alongside the dreamy journey was the usual dose of drama.
The latest season had fraud, threats from old enemies and life-changing news for a fan-favourite character. The final episode dropped a few bombshells for fans, and as such, you may be wondering when the Netflix hit is returning. Here is everything we know.
You can also read our full review of Virgin River season 6.
When could Virgin River season 7 be released?
The good news is that season 7 of Virgin River is officially on the way, making it Netflix’s longest-running drama series to date.
The cast confirmed the happy news on social media well ahead of the season 6 premiere:
Netflix hasn’t confirmed exactly when season 7 will drop, but we can guess when it may happen based on previous instalments and rumours.
The last two seasons of the show have hit screens towards the end of the year. According to Deadline, scripts are expected to be finalised in January 2025, with filming aiming to start this spring, as confirmed by showrunner Patrick Sean Smith.
Filming for season 6 kicked off in February 2024, so this is a little later than that. Therefore, we estimate Virgin River season 7 will arrive in either late 2025/early 2026. The latter is more likely if production takes as long as it did last year.
How many episodes will there be in Virgin River season 7?
Deadline confirmed Virgin River season 7 will have ten episodes, just as season 6 did.
What will the plot of Virgin River season 7 be?
Spoilers for Virgin River season 6 follow.
Despite several obstacles along the way (both big and small), Mel and Jack had the wedding of their dreams. Now, they’re getting another huge life change: a baby is officially on the way.
Mel has had several heartbreaking miscarriages, and had to come to terms with her difficult fertility journey. At the beginning of the season, the pair were discussing the long process of adoption. To their surprise, a baby may be joining their family sooner than they thought.
Marley was a patient at Mel’s new birthing centre and was set to give her baby to a local couple. The day after the wedding, Marley showed up unexpectedly at Mel’s cabin, distraught, as she believed that the husband and wife were going to pull out of the agreement.
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As such, she told Mel that she wanted her to have the baby instead. The pair had already spoken about adoption and parenthood earlier in the season, so Marley knew that this was something Mel really wanted.
Alexandra Breckenridge gave the following quote to TVLine: “I’m really excited to play Mel becoming a mother, knowing what it all means for her… all of those emotions are going to come out when she finally becomes the mother that she’s wanted to be basically her whole life.”
But Mel and Jack becoming parents wasn’t the only cliffhanger for season 6. The final shot showed Jack checking on Charmaine, who didn’t turn up to the wedding.
Her front door was left ajar, and the house was a mess. Jack opened the twins’ bedroom door, a horrified look on his face. We don’t know what he saw, but we do know that former gang leader Calvin was harassing Charmaine to see the kids after she took out a restraining order.
We’ll likely see what has happened to Charmaine, and if there’s any danger to anyone else in the town – Calvin already threatened Jack earlier in the season.
Another key plot for season 7 is the possible closure of Doc’s clinic. Vernon was under investigation by Dr. Hayes after performing controversial – but life-saving – surgery.
His license was then suspended, and the decision seemed odd considering his years of experience. However, Hope revealed that Grace Valley Hospital was looking to expand into Virgin River, so the urgency to stop the clinic from operating may be related.
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Muriel will continue her fight against breast cancer, and the showrunners told TVLine that are keen to show another side to this. “We’ve now seen her persevere through the diagnosing of it, and in Season 7 we’ll get into the treatment part of it. Putting a positive spin on life-threatening illnesses feels like a story that is worth putting out in the world.”
The same interview also confirmed that we’ve seen the last of Mark Ghanime as Cameron.
In the final episode, Mike decided to pop the question to Brie. She finally came clean to him about sleeping with Brady, but Mike already knew. With that all in mind, who will Jack’s sister choose?
Brady confessed to still feeling that she was the one before the ceremony, something that Lark overheard. As revenge, she stole all the money from his bank account and left town.
Brady will no doubt be trying to get his money back, and may be confronted by Mike about the affair.
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Then there’s Lizzie and Denny, who are awaiting the arrival of their own baby. They’re young parents, but they’ve been preparing well – and discussing the possible future of their baby girl considering the hereditary Huntington’s Disease.
It’s possible that Mel and Lizzie will bond over their journeys into new motherhood.
Finally, Kaia confessed to Preacher that marriage is not something she sees on the cards after going through a recent divorce. Can the pair find a way forward in their relationship if they want different things?
Smith told Deadline that the new season will pick up around two hours after the events of the finale, so there won’t be a time jump.
Virgin River season 7 cast – who could return?
We expect the following cast members to reprise their roles in the sixth instalment of Virgin River:
- Alexandra Breckenridge – Mel
- Martin Henderson – Jack
- Tim Matheson – Dr. Vernon
- Annette O’Toole – Hope
- Benjamin Hollingsworth – Brady
- Colin Lawrence – Preacher
- Marco Grazzini – Mike
- Zibby Allen – Brie
- Sarah Dugdale – Lizzie
- Kai Bradbury – Denny
- Teryl Rothery – Muriel
- John Allen Nelson – Everett
- Kandyse McClure – Kaia
- David Cubitt – Calvin
- Lauren Hammersley – Charmaine
- Nicola Cavendish – Connie
- Gwynyth Walsh – Jo Ellen
As mentioned above, Mark Ghanime will not return as Cameron.
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Is there a trailer for Virgin River season 7?
Virgin River season 7 hasn’t started filming yet, so a trailer won’t arrive for a while. We’ll update this article as soon as we have it.
Will there be a season 8 of Virgin River?
Netflix hasn’t yet confirmed if Virgin River will be renewed for season 8, but it’s continuing to perform well and isn’t expensive to produce, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
If season 8 gets the green light, we’ll probably find out closer to the season 7 launch, which we estimate to be around late 2025/early 2026.
What we do know is that Patrick Sean Smith is exploring the possibility of a prequel spin-off show, following Mel’s parents Sarah and Everett, and other younger versions of characters like Doc and Hope.
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