Virgin River Season 4 Premiere: Alexandra Breckenridge Breaks Down Jack’s First Encounter With [Spoiler]
It’s the moment Virgin River fans never thought they’d get to see — and the moment Jack never wanted to see.
Now streaming on Netflix, the drama’s 12-episode fourth season kicks off with Jack strolling alongside a very pregnant Mel, casually exchanging baby name ideas, including Catherine, Indiana and Jack Jr.
Then she goes and says it: “We also have to consider Mark.” And not just as a name. “The baby might be his, remember?” Right on cue, in walks Mel’s dead ex-husband, who acknowledges Jack before greeting Mel with a kiss.
The entire incident turns out to be a figment of Jack’s imagination, a manifestation of his fear that Mel’s baby might not be his. This should be obvious for two reasons: (1) Mark is dead, and (2) There’s no way Mel would be that far along given the pace at which this show crawls.
“Wasn’t that funny?” Alexandra Breckenridge tells TVLine of Mel’s men meeting for the first time. “It was funny to film, too, because [Martin Henderson and Daniel Gillies] have known each other from years and years ago. But obviously they’d never worked together on the show.”
And where do they know each other from, you ask? Funnily enough, Henderson and Gillies previously played romantic rivals in the 2004 movie Bride and Prejudice, so this is really nothing new. Behold:
But before you start asking yourself questions like “How would Jack know what Mark looked like?” just know that it’s best not to overthink this one.
“Mel has pictures of Mark, so maybe Jack saw one on her computer or something,” Breckenridge theorizes. “I hadn’t thought of that, but yeah, he probably wouldn’t have known what Mark looked like. That’s funny.”
As for whether Mel’s baby is Jack’s or Mark’s, the paternity is confirmed by the end of the season. It’s a storyline that Breckenridge admits can be “rather confusing” once you start digging into the science of it all.
“Most of the time people have to be on hormones before they can even do that kind of procedure, because it has to be during a certain part in their cycle,” she says. “So it’s very specific. Is it feasible that she actually got pregnant at this time with Mark’s baby? I think the timeline between when she was with Jack and when she had the IVF is very close together. Obviously she was quite fertile.”
Despite Jack’s fears, however, it’s pretty obvious that Mel is hoping he’s the father. As Breckenridge explains, “She really did not believe that they were getting back together last season. Mel wouldn’t have [had the procedure] if she thought there was a shot in hell that she and Jack would be together again.”
Did you enjoy the Jack-Mark dream as much as we did? Who are you hoping is the father of Mel’s baby? (No spoilers from those who have watched ahead!) Grade the premiere below, then drop a comment with your thoughts.
Ok. I feel Mel definitely is pregnant with Jack’s baby !!!Charmaine is not even pregnant( unless the baby comes out weighing just a few ounces! Virgin River is by far my favorite show! It’s one of the things that I cherish and look forward to! Oh yes one more thing, Jack is the hottest man on the planet!
This show has more paternity issues than a month of “Maury”s.
Love to meet the cast loved the show
Feels like they heard a lot of the issues people had with season 3 that are now corrected in season 4….thankfully. It’s a cute show that seems to back to the storyline that was in the books.
Okay ,just finished binge watching…and…anyone who watches dramas could see those reveals coming….
ah, waited a long time for this! Worth the wait :) am watching a couple a night. I want to stretch it out, since it will probably be another year before season 5! I was only going to watch one a night, but, yeah, that’s not realistic LOL It took every ounce of strength I had to hit the stop bottom. I watched 3 episodes! Jack and Mel are a lot more touchy feely so far. I like it. Lots LOL So very happy – I will watch it at least the same amount of times I watched seasons 1 – 3. I have no idea. Lost count after 50 :):):)
Two heart attacks one at the grocery store then the airplane. They never did the fundraiser for lupus for Alice. There wasn’t any questions asked about the mystery grandson. There is a lot of lack of common sense in this season. Every storyline has issues. The writers need some imagination that makes sense
I love this show and it is one of the top shows out there, however, here a couple of comments that I think would make it better. One Mel and Jack’s chemistry didn’t seem as strong this season. I don’t know if it was because I felt they weakened Jack’s personality by making him too human with all these faults or whether they have been working together too long. Two, there were a little too many public service announcements. Some are ok but not quite so many. Granted it might have seemed that way because I binged watched. But I will gladly put up with them since like the show so much. Just keep Jack strong and masculine.
It was so gross and weird last season that Muriel basically was trying to steal Doc from Hope the entire season and this season there is no weirdness about it.
Then Brady has beef with Jack? Really? Sure he was innocent and got sent to jail but at that point he had done so much to Jack that he really doesn’t have the justification to be that mad at him.
The entire Doc has a surprise grandson after never knowing he had a kid for 40 years, makes absolute no sense, especially the timeline. Doc said his ex’s sister told his ex died 40 years ago but then his Asian grandson who looks nothing like a relative of the blue eyed Doc shows up and he’s been in college for a few years, so he’s 22-23? So the timeline makes no sense as people don’t have kids that young anymore & highly doubtful that a 40 year old would have a 22 year old son. His entire storyline was so bad and seemed unnecessary & he is completely unlikable because of how shady he is until you find out why on the last episode but by that time, I was so uninterested and has hoped he betrayed Doc just so his character wouldn’t be seen again next season. I don’t really see that character being written differently and him redeeming his likability in the future because it was so poorly written and glossed over the most interesting thing about the entire drama llama situation, which was WHY didn’t anyone ever tell Doc or want to answer for keeping it a secret all these years since…..SURPRISE she is still alive and kicking and NOT dead.
Then Jack became overly triggered this season (yes, I’m aware of how PTSD is) but he was a sloppy mess who drank all day like a sailor and then he is all better and back to Happy Jack 24 hours later. At the snails pace this show’s timeline progresses, it was poorly written. And also, his brother we never knew he had fell off a roof??? Mmmk.
This season was better than last. Covid really threw a wrench things & the show suffered, I get it, but man this season was super sloppy writing. I did like it better than last season but there were a lot of things that led to some variation of eye-rolls or head scratching while watching.
Also, thankful the nixed that creepy, very, Nick Cannon baby mama drama storyline with Jack fathering the entire next generation of Virgin River residents. Hopefully Charmaine will be off the show moving forward, she’s A LOT.
I loved Season 4 of Virgin River. So glad some story lines were answered and now I cannot wait for Season 5! So glad the baby is Jack’s and I knew Charmaine was lying about the twins! I hope we do not have to wait a whole year for season 5!!!!!! Lizzy was much nicer this year too. I like the Muriel and Hope budding friendship. Like Brady too. So glad he didn’t shoot Jack. I like he and Brie together. I am not sure if I trust Mike. I cannot believe how evil Nick’s Sister is!!!!There are still many story lines left to tell. Thank you for bringing Virgin River back. It was so nice to have something worthwhile to watch
for a change.
LOL – this show has so many sub-plots that nothing ever gets resolved. The two things that never keep up with the timeline of everyone else in the show is Lily’s baby doesn’t age, and Charmaine’s pregnancy doesn’t progress. The surprise will be when Mel delivers her baby before Charmaine delivers the twins. At least the truth of Charmaine’s babies gets revealed this season and she probably won’t be back for Season 5 because of it.
The new doctor storyline is a dud, and Doc’s grandson being there for reasons that are simply too obvious.
Jack’s first wife isn’t mentioned again, so either they are saving that to insert drama for Mel & Jack next season or the writers paid attention to the viewers screams not to bring her into the show.
Seeing the way the show runner took jack
Apart with his PTSD I’m glad she got replaced. It made Jack look like a Bum and
Cameron look like a Hero. To me he’s a Weasel , snake in the grass.
I absolutely LOVE Season 4 sofar (so happy that Season 5 is filming). You cannot predict what is going to happen next as you get surprised all the time. This show keeps you plastered on the couch with lots and lots of popcorn!!!!