Late last year, romance fans were given a true treat when Virgin River debuted on Netflix just in time for the holidays. The show, which is based on the 20-book series from author Robyn Carr, gave those who love the novels a chance to see the story realized on screen for the first time, and also brought in tons of new fans who were looking for small-town love stories peppered with a dash of intrigue and soapy goodness. Now, Season 2 of the hit is debuting soon, and we know that it will deliver more backstory for Jack and Preacher.
While there are a few burgeoning love stories at the heart of Virgin River, all of them will have to blast through some tough obstacles to see those promises revealed. As we saw in Season 1, some of the Virgin River townsfolk spent time fighting for their country overseas and are still dealing with what they saw while there. Fans got snippets of what happened to these characters during the war, but now showrunner Sue Tenney has revealed that we'll get more information about those events in the upcoming episodes. As she told TVLine:
We will indeed shed some light on what Jack, Preacher and Brady (the man who steals from the bar) went through during the war. Jack feels a responsibility to Brady because, having lost one soldier under his command, he is determined to never lose another. Although Brady will continue to test Jack’s commitment.
Both Jack and Preacher, along with town trouble-maker Brady, are Marines who lived through some rough action together overseas, and while Preacher seems to be dealing with his time spent fighting for his country pretty well, Jack has not had the easiest time with it, and is living with PTSD. Meanwhile, Brady is also having even more difficulties adjusting to civilian life, and seems to be headed down a pretty slippery path toward increasingly illegal activities.
As Sue Tenney noted, Jack still feels a responsibility to those he served with, even though they're now back on American soil. Because he owns a bar in town, he gladly gave Preacher work as his chef and right-hand man to help run the place, but when he tried to give Brady a similar leg up, after noticing how much trouble the young man was having, things didn't turn out so well. According to Tenney, Jack will continue to try helping Brady out, though the stubborn and hot-headed vet won't make it easy for his former employer.
Something tells me that Jack and Preacher may both be dealing with fallout from some of Brady's actions when Season 2 of Virgin River rolls around, even as they try to handle trouble in their own personal lives with baby mama drama for one and a potential love interest disappearing mysteriously for another.
Virgin River Season 2 hits Netflix soon, on November 27, and you can catch up on (or revisit) the first season right now. For more to watch in the coming weeks, check out our guide to fall TV and see what the small screen will bring in the winter / spring of 2021!
