Virgin River is a Netflix original that stars a woman, is written by women, is often directed by women, and is produced by women. Netflix has already renewed it for a second season.
At its heart, Virgin River is a love story. It isn’t a romcom, it’s more dramatic than that. If there was a drama-lite genre, it would fit there. It ends with a cliffhanger that is a perfect lead-in for a second season.
Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge) is a nurse practitioner and midwife. She leaves LA and moves to a small town in the mountains of Northern California. She was recruited by Hope (Annette O’Toole) to work with the local doctor, Doc Mullins (Tim Matheson). Mel is leaving behind a troubled past. She clings to the support of her sister Joey (Jenny Cooper).
When Mel gets to Virgin River she finds it isn’t what was promised, and Doc Mullins doesn’t want her around. Much of season 1 concerns whether Mel and the Doc can learn to work together and whether she will stay in Virgin River.
Jack (Martin Henderson) runs the local bar/cafe. He’s attracted to Mel immediately. They become friends, he helps her get adjusted to Virgin River. I don’t want to unveil the complications of Mel’s past, because they are revealed slowly throughout the season. But Jack’s complication is Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley), the woman he’s been seeing for the last 2 years.
Both Mel and Jack have PTSD. Mel’s past losses have scarred her, and Jack was a Marine for 20 years. In spite of the complications on both sides, Mel and Jack are drawn slowly together.
Other complications are caused by the fact that Hope is a busybody who interferes in everyone’s life. She and the Doc are married, although they haven’t lived together for 20 years. There’s a long history as to why that’s the case that is another slow reveal in the storyline.
The fact that Tim Matheson plays the doctor means this series is compared with Hart of Dixie. In that series, Tim Matheson played a small town doctor who has to share his longtime practice with a young female doctor he doesn’t like. The concept of the young doctor moving into a small town and not fitting in also reminded me of the old Michael J. Fox film, Doc Hollywood.
Virgin River is none of the above, however. It’s based on a book by Robyn Carr, who also wrote the series with creator Sue Tenney. The series has danger, romance, mystery, and a few well-developed characters.
Colin Lawrence plays Preacher, a fellow Marine. He cooks and helps in the bar. Preacher has his own love story, which involves Paige (Lexa Doig) and her young son. She sells baked goods out of a food truck and has a big secret.
Another Marine buddy, Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth), shows up. He’s kind of a bad actor. Jack supports him, Preacher doesn’t like him. Brady joins up with a bunch of criminal types who grow weed in the nearby national forest.
The setting for the fictional town of Virgin River is beautiful. The show was filmed in British Columbia. It’s scenic as a postcard. Many sights are incredibly beautiful. There is actually a Virgin River, but it isn’t in California.
Women directors in season 1 include Gail Harvey and Jann Turner.
The series is enjoyable and pleasant. I was hooked in and wanted to see what happened, especially to Mel, who was the driving force in the story.
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