Virgin River season 6 ending explained

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Virgin River season 6

In its sixth season, Virgin River built up to a moment fans have been waiting for since the series began in 2019: Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) finally joined in the tenth episode. Their storybook wedding unfolded with very little drama, except that Mel’s father Everett (John Allen Nelson) missed the ceremony because he was in the hospital. (He reached the reception to sing a special song for her.)

But this is Virgin River, a town known for its beautiful views, cheerful residents and some of the hottest gossip you’ll ever see on TV. After the happy couple made it official, the bombs began to drop, ending the season on a juicy cliffhanger, with one character’s fate hanging in the balance. Virgin Riverwhich was just renewed for another season — making it Netflix’s longest-running English-language drama series — is known for these twists and turns. TIME spoke with Virgin River showrunner, producer and writer Patrick Sean Smith on the final moments of the season and what to expect from the beloved characters in this idyllic but cursed California enclave.

Doc’s medical license

At the start of the season, Tim Matheson’s Doc was celebrated by his family and friends at the clinic, where they honored his 30 years of work as a doctor in Virgin River. But after a house call lands a patient in the hospital, Doc’s expertise is questioned by another doctor. This leads to an investigation into his medical license that threatens everything he has ever worked towards. In the finale, his wife Hope (Annette O’Toole), who is also the town’s mayor, reveals that she got a call that a major hospital network is looking to expand into Virgin River, threatening the future of Doc’s clinic. “It blows everything up professionally for Doc in season seven,” says Smith. “It also gets Hope involved as the mayor looking to protect what is most precious to her, which is Doc and the integrity of the city.”

Lark drains Brady’s bank account

For most of the season, Lark (Elise Gatien) tried to trick her boyfriend Brady (Ben Hollingsworth) into giving her all his money. She secretly worked with the father of her child, Jimmy (Ian Tracey), whose work for local drug lord Calvin landed him in prison. Fortunately, Brady’s ex-girlfriend and Jack’s sister Brie (Zibby Allen) happened to be visiting a client in prison when she saw Jimmy and Lark talking, prompting her to tell Brady about what she saw. After learning that his girlfriend was playing him, Brady decided not to give Lark any money that she had said was for her sick mother.

But after Brady realizes he can’t have Brie (more on that later) and Lark realizes Brady is actually a good guy, the two decide to truly commit to each other. “It was real, but complicated,” says Smith. “If Brady lived in a world where Brie didn’t exist, then Lark would seem viable. But that’s not the case, and that’s what makes it messed up.” The mess only continues when Brady talks to Brie at Mel and Jack’s wedding, and they reveal their feelings for each other, unaware that Lark is overhearing their conversation.At the wedding, Brady gives Lark’s daughter his phone to play When the night is over, Brady doesn’t realize that Lark and her daughter are gone. When he sees that all his money is gone, what happens is that Brady starts to looking for answers – and reconciling how he treated Lark in the past with the reality that could actually be for him and Brie in the future.

Brie tells Mike that she cheated on him

Speaking of Brie, Jack’s sister is really going through it. She is torn between two men: Brady and Mike (Marco Grazzini). “With Brady there’s passion and sex, and with Mike there’s security, stability and comfort,” says Smith. “Both of those are important qualities in a relationship, but Brie is in this unenviable place where she gets one from one guy and one from another, and she can’t choose which way is best.” This causes her to make some difficult decisions. In season 6, she is perfectly happy with Mike, but ends up sleeping with Brady.

In the finale, after Mel and Jack get married, Mike proposes to Brie and she tells him that she cheated on him. He responds by telling her that he knows. Smith reveals that they shot this scene two ways: a version where Mike says he knows, and one where he doesn’t. “I saw that with some of the writers on the show who didn’t realize we added a line because it wasn’t in the script,” he says. “There were just audible gasps, so that’s the one we went with.”

Mel and Jack’s adoption journey

Throughout the series, Mel has been very honest about her struggle to have a baby, and this season she and Jack were excited to adopt, even though they were early in the process. The day after their wedding, Mel is contacted by one of her patients, Marley (Rachel Drance), who is pregnant. She announces that the couple who were supposed to adopt her baby are getting cold feet and she wants Mel to adopt the baby instead.

For Smith, this was a complex situation that felt exciting to play with. Before the wedding, Mel had a hard time embracing the good things that happened to her because of all the tragedies she had suffered in her life. “It was interesting to see how her character would react, the day after her storybook wedding, to have this other thing that she wanted that the whole series just offered her,” says Smith. Although she is desperate to have a baby, Marley’s offer comes with a lot of complicating factors. On an ethical level, Marley is Mel’s patient. And even though Mel knows Marley, Jack doesn’t at all.

Charmaine is MIA

This season, new mom Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) balances her twin children as well as a looming and dangerous situation. The babies’ father Calvin is out of prison – and he’s trying to make Charmaine’s life as miserable as possible, even threatening her safety. Then, on Mel and Jack’s wedding day, she doesn’t show up. She is supposed to be doing Mel’s hair and is nowhere to be seen.

The following day, Jack decides to go to Charmaine’s house to make sure everything is okay. When he gets there, he opens the door to a room, his eyes widen, and the episode cuts to black and ends on this cliffhanger.

Smith won’t reveal what happened to Charmaine, but he knew he wanted to end the season that way because he has a bigger plan in season seven. He’s also thrilled that people are invested in Charmaine, who was once Mel’s biggest antagonist and a thorn in Jack’s side. “Historically, she was a polarizing character,” he says. “I love that people care about her!”