It has now been nearly a year since we had the opportunity to catch up with the love stories and surprising developments of the residents in the small California town where Virgin River takes place. And, while Netflix has been mum for most of this time on what would happen when Virgin River Season 4 finally came around, we now have a lot more information about the upcoming set of episodes.
The Virgin River Season 3 ending left fans with no shortage of cliffhangers that will need to be explored this time around, and we can all start getting pumped for the romantic drama’s return to the small screen as we mull over the new details that have now been revealed about Season 4. Let’s get to it!
Season 4 Debuts On Netflix On July 20
Fans have known about Virgin River’s Season 4 renewal for many months now, as the series was actually renewed for both that season and Season 5 back in late September of 2021. Until quite recently, though, only stars Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson had updated viewers on Season 4’s progress, with both noting on social media when they were in the process of wrapping up their work on the upcoming season.
Now, however, we can assume that post-production is either nearing its end or complete, as Netflix announced in mid-May that Virgin River Season 4 will hit the streamer on July 20, making it a part of the 2022 Netflix TV schedule! This, luckily, puts us in the same release window as the previous season, which was released on July 9, 2021, meaning that we’ll only have a little over a year between seasons.
Virgin River's Season 4 Synopsis Reveals A New Character Who'll Complicate Things
As mentioned above, viewers have been left to ponder a shocking number of very important cliffhangers over the past several months. While it’s hard to know the full list of which ones will be dealt with immediately and which cliffhangers will take more time to deliver answers (we’ll get to both more in a bit), the full synopsis for Virgin River Season 4 has let us in on what we’ll get when the new episodes finally arrive, and part of that includes an intriguing new character. Take a look at the first part of the description, below!
Despite not knowing whether her baby belongs to her deceased husband, Mark or Jack, Mel begins Season Four with a sense of optimism. For years she yearned to be a mother and her dream is one step closer to reality. While Jack is supportive and excited, the question of paternity continues to gnaw at him. Complicating matters is the arrival of a handsome new doctor, who's in the market to start a family of his own.
Ooooh! Look, I have no idea how a new doctor (handsome or not) is going to impact the relationship that Mel and Jack have forged over the past three seasons (which has only been a few months in the time of the series), but this sounds troubling, doesn’t it? Especially with Jack having (sorta understandable) difficulties when it comes to dealing with the fact that Mel might not be having his baby. But! At least the rest of the synopsis also neglects to mention Jack’s problematic ex, Charmaine, so maybe she’ll be less annoying this season. Observe:
Hope is still healing from her car accident, and the lingering psychological effects of her brain injury will have profound consequences for both her and Doc. Brie, intent on proving the innocence of the man she loves, unexpectedly finds herself in a closer relationship with Mike and one step closer to Calvin’s violent criminal web. Even as Preacher forges a new romantic connection, he can’t help but hold out hope for being reunited with Christopher and Paige.
I gotta say, I’m looking forward to all of this!
The New Season Will Have 12 Episodes
And, we have more good news for fans, especially those who tend to blow through an entire Virgin River season in a couple of days and then lament the lack of new episodes. It will take a bit longer to do that this time around, as Season 4 will contain 12 episodes, instead of the usual 10.
All Of The Main Cast Is Expected To Return
You likely noticed, while reading through that full synopsis earlier, that a lot of the main characters were mentioned along with that one mysterious newcomer. Well, it is expected that everyone who’s been with Virgin River for these three seasons (and not had their character die or have to flee the town) will be reprising their roles for Season 4. This includes Annette O’Toole, whose meddling, cranky town mayor, Hope, was largely off-screen for the entirety of Season 3, as she was shown in the recently released photos for the new episodes.
We’ll Learn More About Doc In Season 4
One of the incredibly surprising cliffhangers from Season 3 involved a potentially explosive reveal for Doc Mullins, when a young man arrived in town and announced to town bed and breakfast owner, Jo Ellen, that he was Doc’s grandson. When discussing that development with TVLine last August, showrunner Sue Tenney said that Season 4 will bring the answers we want in the form of exploring Doc’s past:
We haven’t really dealt with Doc’s past. 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!
I bet it will be worth the wait!
Virgin River’s Season 4 Finale Will Resolve A Major Season 2 Cliffhanger
I’m sure that all Virgin River fans will remember that Season 3 came and went without us getting a clear answer for one Season 2 cliffhanger, as we still don’t know who actually shot Jack in that major finale. Brady was arrested for the crime, but there are a lot of things suggesting that he was set up to take the fall. Sue Tenney spoke to Us Weekly about revealing Jack’s shooter, and admitted that it’s going to be a complex reveal that’ll probably take us into the Season 4 finale:
If we get the actual reveal [in Season 4], it would detail more of how this all was intertwined. The webbing of that story goes all the way back to the first season, so it’s a connective tissue that goes through four seasons.
With so many other plots to devote attention to, and with the who-shot-Jack mystery being one with “intertwined” “webbing,” it makes sense that they’d need the full fourth season to lay out the pieces. This might be one of the reasons why Virgin River was granted two additional episodes for Season 4… Which now has me realizing that it’ll take even longer for us to get to the bottom of that enduring cliffhanger. Dangit!
Virgin River Season 4 hits Netflix on July 20, so you have plenty of time to revisit previous seasons to refresh your memory about what’s happened so far!
