Virgin River’s most adored couple are finally about to say “I do” — and their wedding will be the can’t-miss event of season 6.
“It’s been six seasons in the making,” showrunner Patrick Sean Smith exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of season 6, which hits Netflix on Thursday, December 19. “When we started writing it, we looked at the responsibility and expectations that come with that, so I wanted to make sure that there was no wedding stone unturned that we didn’t get to portray in the season.”
After coming to the town of Virgin River in season 1, Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) immediately connected. Over the course of the next five seasons, the pair weathered breakups, a faux paternity scandal, a pregnancy loss and more before getting engaged at the end of season 4. Two seasons later, they are more in love than ever, and more than ready to walk down the aisle.
Smith told Us that while writing season 6, he wanted to ensure that audiences felt “satiated from the wedding experience they have been looking forward to” for so long, but also wanted to allow the show to continue moving forward after so much anticipation.
“To introduce the notion [of marriage] in season 4, it felt like [we] might be overextending the engagement [by season 6], so it was time to finally pay it off,” Smith explained. “The show’s celebrating its five year anniversary, and for the characters, too, it felt like it was time for them to enter a new phase in their relationship.”
While Mel and Jack’s wedding will be a huge focal point of the new season, it’s far from the only thing happening in Virgin River. Keep scrolling to see what the cast teased to Us about their characters’ upcoming story lines:
Alexandra Breckenridge exclusively told Us that Mel’s connection with her biological father, Everett (John Allen Nelson), will also be a major part of her journey — and even weave into her wedding day.
“Where we left off in season 5, she had just met her biological father,” she explained. “So she’s really trying to connect with [Everett] because it’s a surprise, but it’s really meaningful for her. And he knows so much about her mother that she didn’t know.”
Breckenridge said that Mel is excited to bond with a “living parent” as well as learn more about her late mother, Sarah, who died when she was 11. (Episode 2 of season 6 will tell the story of a young Sarah and Everett through flashbacks.)
“It’s really deep and meaningful for her throughout the season,” Breckenridge told Us. “I think that [Mel and Everett’s] relationship, there’s some bumps in the road, but I think ultimately their connection is very strong and it becomes very strong throughout.”
