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Mel and Jack’s relationship reached a huge milestone in Season 6 of Virgin River, as the couple prepared for the wedding of the year (largely orchestrated by Hope). However, along with the dreamy journey, there was the usual dose of drama.
The final season featured fraud, threats from old enemies, and life-changing news for a fan-favorite character. The latest episode dropped a few bangers for fans, which may have you wondering when the Netflix hit will return. Here’s everything we know.
You can also read our full Virgin River season 6 review.
When could Virgin River season 7 be released?
The good news is that Virgin River season 7 is officially underway, making it Netflix’s longest-running drama series to date.
The cast confirmed the good news on social media well before the season 6 premiere:
Netflix hasn’t confirmed exactly when season 7 will release, but we can guess when it will happen based on previous episodes and rumors.
The final two seasons of the show hit the screens towards the end of the year. According to Deadline, the scripts are expected to be completed in January 2025 and filming will begin this spring, as confirmed by showrunner Patrick Sean Smith.
Filming for season 6 started in February 2024, so this is a little later than that. Therefore, we estimate that Virgin River season 7 will be released in late 2025/early 2026. The latter is more likely if production takes as long as last year.
How many episodes will there be in Virgin River season 7?
Deadline confirmed that Virgin River season 7 will have ten episodes, just like season 6.
What will be the plot of Virgin River season 7?
Spoilers for Virgin River season 6 follow.
Despite several obstacles along the way (both big and small), Mel and Jack had the wedding of their dreams. Now they’re getting another huge life change: a baby is officially on the way.
Mel has suffered several heartbreaking miscarriages and had to come to terms with her difficult fertility journey. At the beginning of the season, the couple discussed the long adoption process. To their surprise, a baby may be joining their family sooner than they thought.
Marley was a patient at Mel’s new birth center and was going to give her baby to a local couple. The day after the wedding, Marley showed up unexpectedly at Mel’s cabin, distraught, as she believed the husband and wife would rescind the agreement.
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That’s why she told Mel she wanted her to have the baby. The couple had already discussed adoption and parenthood earlier in the season, so Marley knew this was something Mel really wanted.
Alexandra Breckenridge gave the following quote to TVLine: “I’m very excited to play Mel who becomes a mother, knowing what it all means to her… all those emotions are going to come out as she finally becomes the mother she’s wanted to be basically all her to live.”
But Mel and Jack becoming parents wasn’t the only cliffhanger of season 6. The final shot showed Jack looking at Charmaine, who didn’t show up at the wedding.
Her front door was ajar and the house was a mess. Jack opened the twins’ bedroom door, a shocked look on his face. We don’t know what he saw, but we do know that former gang leader Calvin harassed Charmaine into seeing the kids after she took out a restraining order.
We’ll probably see what happened to Charmaine, and if there’s any danger to anyone else in town – Calvin already threatened Jack earlier this season.
Another major plot point for season 7 is the possible closure of Doc’s clinic. Vernon was examined by Dr. Hayes after performing a controversial – but life-saving – surgery.
His driver’s license was subsequently suspended and the decision seemed strange considering his years of experience. However, Hope revealed that Grace Valley Hospital wanted to expand into Virgin River, so the urgency to stop operating the clinic may be related to this.
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Muriel will continue her battle with breast cancer, and the showrunners told TVLine that they would like to show a different side to this. “We’ve now seen her persevere through the diagnosis of it, and in season 7 we’ll get into the treatment part of it. Putting a positive spin on life-threatening diseases feels like a story worth spreading in the world.”
The same interview also confirmed that we’ve seen the last of Mark Ghanime as Cameron.
On the last episode, Mike decided to pop the question to Brie. She finally told him she slept with Brady, but Mike already knew. With all that in mind, who will Jack’s sister choose?
Brady confessed that she still felt like she was the one before the ceremony, something Lark overheard. In revenge, she stole all the money from his bank account and left town.
Brady will undoubtedly try to get his money back, and may be confronted by Mike about the affair.
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Then there are Lizzie and Denny, who are awaiting the arrival of their own baby. They are young parents, but they have prepared well – and discussed the possible future of their daughter, given the hereditary Huntington’s disease.
It’s possible that Mel and Lizzie will bond during their journey to new motherhood.
Finally, Kaia admitted to Preacher that marriage isn’t something she sees on the cards after a recent divorce. Can the couple find a way forward in their relationship if they want different things?
Smith told Deadline that the new season will pick up approximately two hours after the events of the finale, so there will be no time jump.
Virgin River season 7 cast – who could return?
We expect the following cast members to reprise their roles in the sixth installment of Virgin River:
- Alexandra Breckenridge –Mel
- Martin Henderson – Jac
- Tim Matheson –Dr. Vernon
- Annette O’Toole – Heap
- Benjamin Hollingsworth – Brady
- Colin Lawrence – Ecclesiastes
- Marco Grazzini –Mike
- Zibby Allen – Brie
- Sarah Dugdale – Lizzie
- Kai Bradbury – Dennie
- Teryl Rothery – Muriel
- John Allen Nelson – Everett
- Kandyse McClure – Kaia
- David Cubitt – Calvin
- Lauren Hammersley – Charmaine
- Nicola Cavendish – Connie
- Gwynyth Walsh –Jo Ellen
As mentioned above, Mark Ghanime will not be returning as Cameron.
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Is there a trailer for Virgin River season 7?
Virgin River season 7 hasn’t started filming yet, so a trailer won’t arrive for a while. We will update this article as soon as we have it.
Will there be a season 8 of Virgin River?
Netflix hasn’t yet confirmed whether Virgin River will be renewed for season 8, but it continues to perform well and is inexpensive to produce, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
If Season 8 gets the greenlight, we’ll likely find out closer to the launch of Season 7, which we estimate will take place around late 2025/early 2026.
What we do know is that Patrick Sean Smith is exploring the possibility of a prequel spinoff show, following Mel’s parents Sarah and Everett, and other younger versions of characters like Doc and Hope.