Virgin River Season 7, Episode 1 ‘The Afterglow’ is a pretty chill and happy return to the lives of these characters. Sure, the issues we left off on still exist, but as is often the case in Virgin River, things are not as bad as they seemed. Charmaine and her twins are alive, if not well. Calvin is dead. And though Charmaine is on the run, we have every confidence we’ll return to that storyline soon. Or, at least before the season ends.
Then there’s the investigation into Doc’s license, which gets a fair bit of screentime and yet no resolution in ‘The Afterglow’. It makes sense, of course. It’s the kind of storyline the show will certainly milk for all its worth as everyone comes together to help Doc. The same goes for Brie’s love triangle that wasn’t, and even Lizzie’s baby … which we learn at the end of the first episode, is coming now.
In fact, most of the first episode is spent with Mel and Jack trying to decide if they want to honeymoon in Italy or Hawai’i. Talk about first-world problems. But isn’t all of this why we watch Virgin River in the first place? To be a comfort show, it’s gotta be comforting. And it very much is.
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A HONEYMOON (OR A BABY?)
Mel and Jack discuss their possible honeymoon after Mel tells Marley she can’t adopt her baby, which absolutely makes sense. But this is Virgin River, and we always kind of knew that the answer would end up being another one, murky ethics aside. Because Mel and Jack will probably have a lot of fun in either Italy or Hawai’i. But it feels like that’s not what they really want most of all.
Look, this is a wild timeline. I know we’re in Season 7 of Virgin River, but it’s only been like a year since Mel got to the town in the first place. In many ways, this feels rushed. Enjoy your marriage before having a baby! But in others, considering what we’ve known of Mel from the beginning, it seems like the thing she always wanted. And we’re not in the business of judging women for what they want.
Of course, we don’t trust that this storyline is not going to end up hurting us, in the end. We know what show we’re watching. But we are kinda glad we’re getting to see Mel and Jack happy, and looking forward to the future together. Whatever the future brings.
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IT’S US AGAINST THE WORLD
Seeing Hope be particularly “Hope” about all things in support of Doc is very welcome. I wasn’t sure I would ever really miss the Hope of the first few seasons, because she was a little hard to love at times. But having her back being her old self while trying to support her husband is actually kinda nice. I’ll take Hope being, you know, Hope. Much better than that season when she wasn’t around.
What I’m not so sure about is the relationship between Kaia and Preacher, which has felt like it was on shaky ground a few times already. And honestly, I’ve gotten very attached to Kaia. I would hate to see her go. She and Preacher make a really good couple. I just feel like they still haven’t really figured out how to effectively communicate what each of them needs in the relationship. And that’s why we end up with Kaia sitting at home alone, after she tried to surprise Preacher with a nice gesture.
Being in a relationship means adjustments. And it also means, above all things, open communication about those adjustments. Mel and Jack have had to navigate that. So have Hope and Doc. And now, well, now it’s Kaia and Preacher’s turn.
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THE LOVE TRIANGLE THAT WASN’T
Look, it’s felt for a long time like the Brie, and Mike thing was just… convenient. What Brie thought she should want vs. what she really wanted. And Mike deserves better than to be someone’s second choice. So I’m glad Brie put him out of his misery and was finally honest with him, and indeed with herself, about what she wanted. It’s Brady. It’s been Brady for a while.
But that relationship is… complicated. It was complicated before Lark stole all of Brady’s money, and the two of them slept together while they were each in another relationship. And it will not stop being complicated because Mike is still living in the town—and the nerve of Brady to go ask for his help after what he did, truly—and because the Lark thing is sure to come back in some way, shape, or form.
So hopefully we’ll get Brady and Brie taking some time for themselves before anything really advances between the two of them. We’ve seen them be messy together, and if they’re going back to each other, they should probably figure out how to make the relationship something that can work before even taking the next step. That’s the best way to get us to root for them.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of this episode? You can share with us and leave your own rating in our Virgin River hub! And you can also let us know what you thought about Virgin River Season 7, Episode 1 ‘The Afterglow’ in the comments below.
Virgin River Season 7 is now available to stream on Netflix.
