In the first part of Virgin River season 5, Mel and Jack are preparing to become parents, which leads them to resolve past issues and make certain decisions regarding their future. Virgin River season 5 part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
As Mel is going to be a mother soon, she quits her job at Doc’s clinic. Mel insists that Jack, who is very upset about being lied to by Charmaine, talk to Charmaine and forgive her, as Charmaine is not the only one at fault.
Charmaine lied because she just wanted someone to be there for her and her unborn children. She apologizes to Mel and Jack before going back to work at the salon. Jack realizes that he led Charmaine on and also apologizes to her. They forgive each other and part ways.
Nick’s sister, Melissa, who runs an illegal drug business, wants to move her illegitimate money through Jack’s glamping business. She tells Jack that she wants to expand his business, and she becomes his new partner.
Brady does not want to work for Melissa, but he is forced to do whatever she says for Brie’s sake. Brady’s friend, Jeb, also starts working for Melissa and ends up dying due to a fentanyl overdose.
Brie finds out that Brady lied to her about Jeb not being a close friend and confronts him about it. He has no choice but to tell her how he is being forced to work for Melissa, who is shipping drugs through the lumberyard. This leads to Brie not trusting him.
Brie is going to testify against her ex-boyfriend, who is being tried for assaulting many women. She does not let Brady accompany her, but she runs into Mike at the court. Mike is there for her when she needs support more than anything else.
Mike also starts working with Brady, who wants to take Melissa down to protect Jack and Brie. Brady is not allowed to tell Brie anything about being a confidential informant or working for Mike, which drives Brie and Brady further apart. Finally, when Brady sees Brie with Mike and gets jealous, Brie breaks up with him.
Meanwhile, the townspeople find out about Hope’s accident and her TBI, so Nick is made the new mayor of Virgin River. This makes Hope frustrated and upset. She later admits to her friends that she is worried about not being the same again.
Soon after, a wildfire that has been spreading across California reaches Virgin River. It is Hope who takes charge and works alongside Nick to ensure the safety of the town. The fire brings the whole town together.
Mel goes back to Doc’s clinic to assist him and Cameron. Jack and Brady work together to save others, and Brady takes a step towards regaining Preacher’s trust by stopping the fire from advancing and saving Jack and Preacher’s bar in the process. Jack and Mel rescue Chloe and her older sister, Ava, who is currently in town.
Although a lot of people lose their homes, Hope manages to arrange planes to drop water from the sky, and the fire is contained. Due to this, Nick hands over the position of mayor back to Hope.
However, Mel miscarries and has to suffer the loss of an unborn child once again. Mel no longer wants to try to have children. Jack talks to her about considering other options, but Mel is reluctant, as she always wanted to give birth to her child.
Earlier, after Mike had arrested Vince and told Preacher that Wes’ death was not being investigated, Paige had left Virgin River with her son because the town was no longer a safe place for her. Preacher had also broken up with Julia to be with Paige.
Now, he starts seeing Kaia, a firefighter, who is in the middle of getting divorced. Initially, the fact that Kaia did not tell Preacher about her divorce creates problems between the couple, but they eventually sort it all out and start dating. Preacher also allows Brady to stay at the bar when Brady loses his home in the fire.
At the same time, Doc meets Rose, his first love and Denny’s grandmother. She tells him that she did not tell Doc about being pregnant with their child and disappeared because he did not want to have children back then.
Rose claims that she loved Doc, and that is why she never told him about their son, who is now dead. While Doc cannot excuse the fact that he never got to see his son because of Rose, he is ready to be cordial with her for Denny’s sake.
Despite knowing about Denny’s disease, Lizzie wants to be with him, so they start dating. Lizzie’s mother wants her to go to college, but Lizzie decides to stay in Virgin River, which means that her mother will no longer be supporting her financially.
By helping Hope with community service, Lizzie impresses her. Hope believes that Lizzie is a very capable woman and decides to make her the chief of staff to the mayor of Virgin River. Similarly, Denny also decides to stay in Virgin River with Lizzie and not go to college or travel the world.
After Brady and Brie break up, Brie starts growing close to Mike. On the other hand, a woman, Lark, whose daughter Brady had saved with Jack, starts liking Brady.
Since Lark and her daughter do not have a home, Jack allows them, along with other people who lost their homes in the wildfire, to stay in his trailers, not knowing that Melissa is using the trailers for her illegal business.
Virgin River season 5 part 2 ending explained in detail:
Does Melissa get caught?
Brady repeatedly tries to collect evidence against Melissa, but he fails to get anything substantial. He wants to tell Jack about how Melissa is using his business, but Mike stops him, as that will ruin the whole operation.
Brady follows Melissa’s men and sees them storing drugs in a trailer. At night, he goes to find the drugs in the trailer, but Jack catches him. Brady tells Jack about working with Mike. At the same time, Melissa finds out that Brady has been trying to collect evidence against her and gets him kidnapped.
Jack follows them and informs Mike about Brady’s kidnapping. Jack saves Brady from being murdered, and Mike arrives there in time to arrest Melissa. However, when one of Melissa’s men attempts to shoot Brady, it is Mike who gets shot while saving Brady.
Mike survives, and Brie stays by his side. She knows that Brady risked his life to expose Melissa for her and Jack’s safety, but she still wants to be with Mike. Brady also moves on and goes on a date with Lark and her daughter.
What happens to all the other characters?
When Cameron found out about Doc losing his eyesight, he was upset that he was not told about it earlier. However, he now knows why Doc wanted him to stay here and is ready to commit to being a small-town doctor.
Furthermore, when Mel quit, Doc hired Muriel to help them manage the clinic, and she was made the office manager. Cameron and Muriel start liking each other. When they get Doc’s permission to be in a relationship, they start dating.
Doc’s vision is deteriorating, so he decides to sign up for a clinical trial that might help him retain his vision. The trial is risky, but he is ready to take the risk, and Hope supports his decision.
Since Tara’s house burned down in the fire, she gets a job in the city and leaves Virgin River with Chloe. Ava, who has endometrioma, becomes a close friend of Mel’s and decides to get a hysterectomy to get better.
Denny begins to doubt his decision to stay in Virgin River when he comes to know that his grandmother thinks that he is making a mistake. He starts thinking about going to college or traveling with Lizzie, but she tells him that she might be pregnant with his child.
Kaia’s husband wants to be with her again. Instead of taking his offer of leading a team in Alaska, she decides to stay in Virgin River with Preacher. However, Preacher’s happiness does not last long because, while cleaning up after the wildfire, firefighters find a body buried in the woods.
The news makes Preacher anxious, as it is most likely Wes’ body that Preacher had hidden to protect Paige. Apart from Preacher, Charmaine also gets a rude shock. Calvin is the father of Charmaine’s twins, and it is implied that she was the one who tried to kill him. He is still alive, and he wants to be a part of his children’s lives.
What are Mel and Jack’s future plans?
With time, Mel realizes that being a parent is not just about how one gets there; it is a lot more than that. She still dreams of being a mother and raising children with Jack. Mel is now open to considering other options like surrogacy.
The place where Jack wanted to build his business and a home for his family is taken over by the FBI because they are investigating Melissa’s illegal activities. Due to that, Jack now stands to lose the land and the business.
Mel then convinces him to buy Tara and Ava’s farmland and build their home there. She also goes back to work as a nurse at Doc’s clinic. She has several new ideas to help the community, and Doc likes them.
Furthermore, Mel gets a call from her sister, who tells her that she found their mother’s old love letters. Their mother was having an affair with someone from Virgin River, and that person might be Mel’s father.
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