REVIEWS
Virgin River is Kind of Addictive
Especially If You Grew Up in a Small Town
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Full spoiler alert: If you haven’t watched the series, you’ll get a pretty good rundown, here.
I came of age in a small town bordered by a scenic free-flowing river. As a teenager, I worked at a small independently owned restaurant and social hub — although not quite to the standard of “Jack’s Bar” in Virgin River, the fictional setting of one of the most popular series on Netflix for three years running. And when our community faced a crisis, we came together. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I kind of miss that … the potlucks, community picnics, and fundraisers, oh, my…
People are hooked on “Virgin River,” the romantic small-town series based on the books by Robyn Carr. Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia and the nearby towns of Burnaby, Squamish, and Port Coquitlam, “Virgin River” premiered in December 2019 and went on to have successful second and third seasons. Season four premiered on July 20, 2022, and the series was renewed for a fifth season. One reason may be its small-town setting, a fictional community set in the mountains of northern California — think Humboldt County — where people rely on each other to solve their problems, and don’t have much faith or interest in “outsiders.”
This popular series centers on two couples: Jack and Mel; and Doc and Hope. Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson) is a twenty-year veteran of the marines, with PTSD and strained relationships with his family. Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge) is a twice-bereaved nurse practitioner retreating to the remote Northern California town to nurse her wounds after losing an infant in a stillbirth, followed by her husband’s death in a car accident. It’s too much — she needs a break from L.A. where everything she sees, everywhere she goes, is a painful reminder. She’s quickly embraced by the small town of Virgin River — more importantly, they seem to need her presence there for a variety of reasons.
