Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Virgin River’ Season 7 On Netflix, Where Mel And Jack Start Their Marriage And Think About Adopting

When Virgin River was renewed for an 8th season, it officially became Netflix’ longest-running scripted series. Remember, this is a service that gives shows maybe 5 seasons at most. But Netflix knows what it has in this comfort-food show: A warm, small-town setting, characters the viewers root for, and lots of great scenery. The seventh season keeps that going.

VIRGIN RIVER SEASON 7: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: After we see the requisite woodland vistas, we see Jack (Martin Henderson) watching a body being carried out of the house of his ex, Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley).

The Gist:  Detective Mike Valenzuela (Marco Grazzini) confirms to Jack that Charmaine and her twins left the house, and the person shot to death inside is Cal, the drug dealer who was also the twins’ father. Mike got confirmation that Charmaine and the twins are on the run, but other than that, there’s no more information.

Jack goes back to his new wife Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) — the two of them got married the day before — and tells her about Cal. She has her own news to share: One of her patients, a pregnant woman named Marley (Rachel Drance), asked if Mel and Jack could adopt her baby after the prospective parents she had selected backed out. The newlyweds are excited at the prospect, but Mel knows Marley made that request in a moment of panic, so she’d rather help Marley find a new placement for the baby. In the meantime, Mel and Jack have a good-natured debate over where to go on their honeymoon: Jack is in favor of Italy, and Mel wants Hawaii.

Also in the meantime, Mel is talking on patients for Doc Mullins (Tim Matheson), who is being sidelined by a health department investigation into how he treated Henry (Donny Lucas). Hope (Annette O’Toole) thinks this is an attempt by a medical conglomerate to open a clinic in Virgin River at the expense of Doc Mullins, and as mayor attempts to get the town council to slow the conglomerate’s attempts; she’s surprised when the council won’t play along. All this is while Lizzie (Sarah Dugdale) is getting closer to her due date.

Mike tries to find out why Jack’s sister Brie (Zibby Allen) had to think about his proposal, which came after he found out about her affair with Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth). Brady is trying to figure out where Lark (Elise Gatien) disappeared to after taking all of his money. Preacher (Colin Lawrence), clear of the murder charge he was up against, is cited in Food & Wine for his pork chop recipe, even though it’s not a regular menu item at Jack’s Place. Jack gets a couple of old horses to take care of, and hires Clay (Cody Kearsley), who is new in town, to take care of them. Clay, however, has some secrets.

Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Created by Sue Tenney and based on Robyn Carr’s book series, Virgin River has the same tone and pacing as Sullivan’s Crossing, which is also based on a series by Carr.

Our Take: At this point in the show’s history, what will ultimately determine whether people keep watching Virgin River is whether the characters are still worth spending time with. The first episode of the show’s seventh season certainly demonstrates that there is a lot more story to tell with these characters, even with Mel and Jack, and the new characters don’t send the story in ridiculous directions.

Even though the stories in the town of Virgin River do advance through the seasons, they do so slowly, because Tenney and her writers want to give interactions between the characters room to breathe. This is why, for instance, the good-natured tug-of-war between Mel and Jack about where to honeymoon is given so much space, or we get to see Preacher making lots of pork chops.

There is plenty of capital-D drama — the season starts right after Jack found a body in his ex’s house, for heaven’s sake! — but that drama is only equally important as the relationships and the goings on in town.

Is there some ridiculousness? Sure. For instance, anyone who has gone through the adoption process knows that how Mel and Jack will potentially adopt Marley’s baby doesn’t happen in real life. The way Hope tries to keep chain stores out of town — despite the fact that most are franchises owned by local businesspeople — is unrealistic.

But this is one of those shows where none of that really matters, as long as the characters we’ve all gotten to know are mostly doing OK and the town still has the inviting feel it used to have, which is what we see as the seventh season starts.

Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

Performance Worth Watching: We’ve always appreciated Alexandra Breckenridge’s performance as Mel because the character continues to be smart and practical while also being warm and playful. And her chemistry with Henderson is still the biggest draw to the series.

Sex And Skin: Any sex on this show is generally implied, or if there is any, not much is shown.

Parting Shot: Lizzie tells Hope and Doc Mullins that she’s in labor.

Sleeper Star: We’re curious about Cody Kearsley’s character Clay, as he’s shown hiding money and a gun under the floor of Jack’s barn.

Most Pilot-y Line: One of the wedding presents is an Ooni pizza oven, and Jack uses it to make a dinner he hopes will convince Mel to go to Italy. As he talks to Brie on his back porch, you see the box sitting behind him, with a bow on top, as if he literally just unpacked it. It’s obvious product placement, and it’s annoying.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The seventh season of Virgin River isn’t doing much more than keeping the story moving at the pace it set back in its first season in 2019. But that’s what fans want, which is why the show will go as long as Netflix and the producers want it to go.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.