Spoilers for Virgin River season 7 ahead.
As if by magic, another 10 episodes have been and gone. Virgin River season 7 needed to answer the unhinged season 6 cliffhangers we were left with during Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack’s (Martin Henderson) wedding… and boy has Netflix delivered.
Doc (Tim Matheson) might have his surgery taken away from him, and Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) disappeared off the face of the earth.
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On top of all this, Mel and Jack are propositioned when Mel’s surrogate patient, Marley (Rachel Drance), turns up at the cabin after her wedding – the parents that the pair have been working with all season long are backing out of the adoption. The surrogate wants Mel to have the baby, leaving her stunned.
Just a normal day in a small town, then… but where are we left now? Thankfully, Virgin River season 8 has already been confirmed, so let’s break down the Virgin River season 7 ending to try and guess where we’re heading next.
Do Mel and Jack adopt the baby in Virgin River season 7?
In short, yes… but it’s not quite that straightforward. Mel refuses Marley’s proposition initially in episode 1, instead wanting to help her find suitable adoption replacements while focusing on the house build.
This changes halfway through the season as Mel and Jack tentatively get their hopes up, hosting Marley in the Airstream on their land while she finds her feet. We learn that the baby’s dad is her ex-boyfriend, whom she ran away from… until he comes to find her.
Again, the story changes at this point. Marley has always wanted her baby boy to have two loving parents, and being reunited with her boyfriend changes her view on whether she needs to adopt at all.
Episode 10 confirms that the young lovers have decided that they’re not ready to be parents, intending to head back to university after Mel and Jack officially adopt the baby. Everything is going swimmingly until Marley feels suddenly unwell at the Founder’s Day picnic.
Thanks to help from Doc and the Grace Valley medics (more on that later), the group learn that Marley’s baby has a serious congenital heart defect that means he will need surgery as soon as he is born, and many more after that.
Marley emotionally apologises, but Mel is fixated on getting the baby into the best shape possible before she can think any further.
In season 7’s final shot, we see Marley successfully give birth, with Mel and Jack piling into the back of an ambulance with baby boy, ready to be taken straight to a nearby children’s specialist center (which is conveniently headed up by Mel’s ex-lover).
But everything else is alright between Mel and Jack, right?
Yes! They move into their gorgeous new house, get a few more horses thanks to Roland (John Ralston), and have a dreamy honeymoon in Mexico.
They’ve also hired newbie Clay (Cody Kearsley), who has almost exactly the same storyline trajectory as Yancy (Jack Schumacher) in Ransom Canyon.
Think seemingly troubled yet hot outsider who has a strained relationship with his family, but a heart of gold underneath. He even rides in a rodeo to win money to pay off debts.
Does Brie agree to marry Mike?
No. This one gets ironed out pretty quickly in episode 1, with Brie revealing to Mike that as much as she wants to love him, her “heart will never get there”. Ouch.
To make matters even worse, the pair then have to work together to try and find Charmaine, as Brie assumes the role of her lawyer after a frenzied phone call begs for help.
Thankfully, as the two sides eventually draw the same conclusion, a truce wins out, with Mike and Brie learning how effectively they can partner together platonically.
So this is brilliant news for Brady and Brie, surely?
Gird your loins, people… Brady and Brie become official in episode 10. Eek!
When Brie dumps Mike, she’s in need of a friend, prompting Brady to step in and try to console her. This works short-term, but the longer Brady spends with Brie, the more he realizes that he can’t be around her platonically.
He immediately distances himself, trying to throw himself into starting up his motorcycle shop. In episode 9, Brie visits him there, claiming that he’s the only one she trusts to “hold her,” and that she’s all his if Brady wants her. Naturally, that’s music to his ears… and to all of ours.
They make things official by turning up to the Founder’s Day picnic together, though Jack seems thoroughly unimpressed that his sister is back with her formerly wayward boyfriend.
Just as things settle in, Brady takes his bike for a ride, imagining Brie is on there with him. He gets so carried away with his fantasy that he slides straight into a broken-down lorry… and we’ve got no idea if he’s survived it.
Does Brady get his money back from Lark?
Yes and no. Brady spends the first few episodes of Virgin River season 7 trying to track Lark down, which is briefly derailed by Mike punching him in the face for sleeping with Brie while she was still with Mike.
Lark is found, and immediately tries to turn stealing Brady’s money on him. She overheard him telling Brie that he still loved her while they were all at Mel and Jack’s wedding in season 6. In Lark’s head, the betrayals are as bad as each other.
In the end, Brady lets Lark keep the money if she promises to put it towards giving her daughter a better life. “The best thing you can do is to make sure she doesn’t end up like either of us,” he explains.
Now short of funds for the bike shop, he takes a job back up at Jack’s bar, though Preacher (Colin Lawrence) isn’t overly thrilled.
Where is Charmaine?
Charmaine’s story is a bit more complicated. In episode 1, Jack finds abusive ex Calvin (David Cubitt) dead on the floor, with Charmaine and the twins nowhere to be seen. Brie and Mike each start separately looking for her, taking her to her old place of work, and uncovering a bunch of questionable-seeming henchmen along the way.
Don’t panic too much, though — Charmaine is well and truly alive, alongside her twins. She went on the run after she (rightly) guessed that she’d be suspect number one for Calvin’s murder, but was also convinced that she was being followed.
She was… by her boss at the nail salon, who was seemingly obsessed with her. Calvin had hired someone because he didn’t like the boss’ behavior, but this backfired when said boss turned up at Charmaine’s house, killed Calvin, and took her with him.
Mike arrests Charmaine’s boss at his hideout while Brie makes sure that she and the twins are safe. We don’t see Charmaine again for the rest of the series.
Does Doc keep his clinic?
Yes! Most of Doc and Hope’s (Annette O’Toole) season 7 revolves around the fight to keep the Virgin River clinic open, which Grace Valley has put at risk by potentially suspending his medical license.
With one of his season 6 procedures called into question, Doc is investigated by Grace Valley’s Dr. Hayes (Kaj-Erik Eriksen) and a woman from the state medical board called Victoria (Sara Canning), while Hope tries to find ways to keep corporations out of Virgin River for good.
Doc fights hard to show them both how much he cares about his community more than money or business, which often falls on deaf ears. The tables turn when Marley’s baby’s heart condition is revealed, with Doc and Dr. Hayes working together to get a diagnosis.
In episode 10, Doc tentatively approaches him about a potential partnership, having Virgin River and Grace Valley work in tandem instead of against each other. While Dr. Hayes is open to it, Hope goes into meltdown mode, claiming Doc has gone behind her back to open the floodgates to corporations.
We later learn that this is because of her relationship with her father, having believed he sold out his local timber business for most of her life. Roland tells her the truth — her dad was drowning in debt and did what needed to be done, not bringing her down with him because he loved her too much.
We’re yet to see if Doc and Hope make up.
What about Preacher and Kaia?
While the pair’s relationship is as strong as ever, Preacher’s future in Virgin River feels less certain. After his hit review in Food & Wine magazine, Preacher is eager to scale up a fine dining menu at Jack’s Bar, as readers want.
Jack, however, wants to keep things as they are. He doesn’t want to risk changing the biggest hub in the community, rejecting Preacher’s proposition of expanding the bar into a totally separate restaurant.
Preacher later tries a different approach — if Jack buys him out of the bar, Preacher can go his own way. Jack agrees, giving him the buyout agreement in episode 10… but can Preacher bring himself to sign it?
Muriel’s health
Don’t worry, Muriel (Teryl Rothery) hasn’t been killed off after her shock breast cancer diagnosis in season 6.
Instead, she’s carrying on stoically with chemo treatment in the background, with her first cycle carried out in episode 2. Things even seem to strike up again with Walt (Troy McLaughlin) as it’s revealed that he has previously had cancer treatment himself.
Lizzie, Denny and the baby
At the same time Muriel starts her treatment, Lizzie (Sarah Dugdale) goes into labour, and with Mel’s help, gives birth to baby girl Koko.
Neither she nor Denny (Kai Bradbury) feels ready for parenthood, but learning on the job seems to come naturally to them.
Midway through season 7, Lizzie begins to struggle with postpartum depression, particularly when the town decides to throw her a baby shower, which feels overwhelming. Mel and Hope are on hand to help her through it… and it really does take a village to raise a child.
Season 8 predictions
Unsurprisingly, we have an entirely new set of cliffhangers heading into the already-confirmed Virgin River season 8.
The biggest onus is on what happens with Marley’s baby, if surgery works, and whether Mel and Jack do decide to keep him (which I’d assume is almost a dead cert).
We also need to know if Brady survives his bike crash, and if Hope and Doc can reconcile after Doc’s decision to partner with Grace Valley.
There’s still a huge question mark around whether Preacher and Kaia (Kandyse McClure) will stay in town too, as Muriel’s treatment continues.
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jasmine.valentine@futurenet.com (Jasmine Valentine)
