Even after 5 seasons of content, Virgin River is still here to keep viewers guessing. The titillating Netflix drama has upstaged even the biggest Netflix juggernaut, Stranger Things. But unlike the kids riding around on bikes trope, Virgin River has something different to offer. Following Nurse Practitioner Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) after a series of harrowing tragedies, she travels to the titular town to start over. But even as she learns to love again, things aren’t always that easy.
Season 5 rehashes Mel’s trauma after suffering yet another miscarriage. This plot development puts a kink in her future with Jack (Martin Henderson) and has made fans even more eager to follow up on their trials and tribulations. Netflix may have a habit of prematurely axing fan-favorite shows, but it looks as though Virgin River is safe for the time being. Head of Netflix development, Jinny Howe, promised as much in an interview with Deadline.
“It will be exciting to see which characters continue to break out and audiences crave more of; we’re paying very close attention, understanding that this is a really rich universe of characters and that people can’t seem to get enough, myself included. So I think as long as that continues to be the case — which we’re very hopeful for — you can rest assured that there will be more Virgin River.”
But as easy as it is for Netflix to renew the romance and how many fans flock to it, it may be some time before season 6 hits screens.
‘Virgin River’ season 6 may not come out on schedule
Though Virgin River has been renewed for season 6, there is no official release date yet. With the current season ending in 2023, normally we could expect another installment the following year. However, the current state of the entertainment industry has thrown all scheduling expectations into chaos. In light of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, releasing any series on time — even one as successful as Virgin River — is uncertain. If the Writers Guild were the only union on strike, there could likely have been previous scripts for actors to work on. But the dual strike makes this difficult.
With streaming culture, it is nearly impossible for actors to make a living. Residuals were once a powerful tool that allowed creatives to have comfortable careers in television. With such uncertainty, and studios refusing to meet even the simplest demands, the strike is necessary. Even if this state of affairs gets resolved sooner rather than later, we may not see a season 6 until 2025, depending on how much work had been done on the season before the strike went into place. The only certainty we have is that production will resume when, and only when, the writers and actors are given a fair deal.