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Tired: Virgin River pool table sex. Wired: Virgin River motorcycle sex.
That’s right, folks! Netflix‘s hit drama — based on Robyn Carr’s popular book series — has done it again. In Season 6, Brie (Zibby Allen) and Brady’s (Benjamin Hollingsworth) spontaneous pool table hook-up had viewers in a tizzy. With dreamy dialogue, popped buttons, and an absolutely iconic surface, fans feared that Virgin River climaxed and would never reach the incredibly high bar it set again. Cut to Season 3, Episode 9, when Brie and Brady had their long-awaited reconciliation atop…his motorcycle!
“The entire time, as we were getting scripts, I was like, ‘Are we not doing Brie and Brady? Like, where is this going?'” Hollingsworth told DECIDER over Zoom. “And they’re like, ‘No, no, no. We’re saving it for the end of the season, and we’re going to have this epic pool table-esque scene. They hadn’t quite figured it out where it was going to be. I think we were all trying to make it something that felt similar to the pool table, or that felt not planned and just very raw and in the moment. And the bike came up…”
After Brie went horseback riding and realized the last time she felt that free was with Brady, she put on a stunning dress and headed to his motorcycle repair shop, where she found him straddling his bike backwards, sulking over her.
“Can you just hear me out? You said you want all or nothing, and I haven’t been able to give you all of me. I do trust you. I realized that today. I realized that the only time in my entire life I let go of the reins is when I’m with you,” Brie said. “I spent so much time fighting being with you, because I was trying to go back to being the put together in-control person that I was before coming here. Before Don. Before you. And in searching for the old me I got lost. Because I’m not her anymore. So I haven’t known how to trust what is real or good. But I realize now, you’re the only person I trust to hold me.”
NetflixAs “Never Tear Us Apart” by Paloma Faith started to swell, Brie mounted the bike, put her hands on Brady, and said the words he’d been longing to hear: “Be with me. I’m sure. I’m yours.” SWOON! Brady passionately kissed her as four overhead lights gorgeously illuminated them on the bike. As they made out, their electric chemistry was palpable, as always! Brie mounted Brady, he tugged the strap of her dress, and she pushed him onto the handlebars and tore his shirt open — popping his buttons this time. In one of the sexiest TV scenes of the year, the two got right back into the swing of things, giving new meaning to the phrase, “It’s just like riding a bike!”
“We don’t use [an intimacy coordinator], Ben and I. Only because we have such a familiarity and we feel we have a lot of command, and so much trust with each other,” Allen told DECIDER. “We were really excited about it. We felt like that choice that Brie makes to really say finally, finally, like, I choose you. Let it be me. Let’s do this. It needed to be epic. It needed to be charged sexually. It needed to be visually beautiful.”
NetflixThough the heated moment looked effortless, both actors — especially Hollingsworth, who was sitting backwards on the bike — noted how challenging the scene was to shoot, logistically speaking.
“I had no idea at the time that it would be so uncomfortable, because the body doesn’t naturally arc that way. So I’m like humped back all the way over. And Zibby had it easy. She’s just right up there. And I’m part of the motorbike,” Hollingsworth said. “For the next couple of weeks, my back was in shambles. And my abs I don’t think got a better workout ever. We shot it in two pieces. So the first part, where the shot was wide, the bike wasn’t [secured]. And then once they moved in, they had straps and it was totally strapped down to keep us from falling off the bike. But in real life you’re like, ‘I don’t know if that’s possible.'”
Once the two figured out the basic logistics of the scene, however, Allen said the choreography came naturally. “Everybody knows just to let us do our thing. Like Ben and I both are so emotionally connected to our characters, and we’re really rooting for Brie and Brady. We’re always excited to work with each other, and always excited when there’s a big, iconic make-out scene. Because we know what we’re giving them is like another chance to connect in a really powerful way.”
NetflixUnfortunately, the Virgin River sex bike giveth, and the Virgin River sex bike taketh away.
Virgin River Season 7 finale spoilers ahead.
Minutes before Season 7’s end credits rolled, as Brady was headed to Brie’s house and reminiscing on all their happy times together, he got in a motorcycle accident. His fate going into Season 8 is up in the air, but assuming he pulls through (because Virgin River fans will riot if he doesn’t), the stars know they’ve set a precedent for “one crazy out-of-control [sex] scene.”
“I don’t know how we’re going to top now the motorcycle,” Allen said. “The writers have a big-time challenge in front of them this year,” Hollingsworth echoed.
Read Decider’s full interview with Benjamin Hollingsworth here for more Season 7 insights, Season 8 teases, and another sex scene suggestion.
Virgin River Season 7 is now streaming on Netflix.
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