‘Virgin River’ Holiday Episodes: Here’s Why Mel Has New Hair, Plus the Story Behind Her Biological Father

Virgin River‘s holiday episodes were the equivalent of a cozy blanket in front of a fireplace with spiced eggnog—a perfect combination of sugar and spice.

Charmaine finally gave birth to her twins, but not before Mel found out that Cal was the unlikely father. (Charmaine swore Mel to keep it a secret from Jack for now; can’t wait to see how he reacts to that one). Meanwhile, Kaia is the new Virgin River fire chief, thereby complicating things even more in her relationship with Preacher now that Wes’s body has been identified.

In other developments, Cameron’s ex-fiancé, Michelle, showed up wanting to get back together. Cameron tells new lady love, Muriel, that he has no interest in revisiting that relationship, but Muriel isn’t so sure she believes him. TBC in season six…

Meanwhile, Lizzie is pregnant with a baby girl, and everyone seems to be delighted, including Lizzie’s mom, who comes around after a heart-to-heart with her daughter.

On the marriage front, Doc asks Hope to marry him again (of course she said yes), and Mel asks Doc to walk her down the aisle whenever she marries Jack (of course he said yes).

Speaking of Jack, he gets Mel a puppy named Pony for Christmas. (That’s not at all confusing, but also, yay!).

Then, in the last few minutes, we find out that Lark is out to get Brady, and is in cahoots with Jimmy. “Brady doesn’t suspect a thing,” she tells him. (And to which I tell Lark, shame on you for being so awful).

But most importantly, we find out that Mel’s biological father is a man named Everett Reid, who lives in a remote cabin on the outskirts of Virgin River. When she shows up at his door, he originally wants nothing to do with her, but by the end of the two episodes, he’s come around, literally and figuratively. He also has some news for his daughter, which makes you wonder, what is his real motive?

With that said, we got on a Zoom with executive producer and showrunner, Patrick Sean Smith, who was “chugging along on season six” from the writers room, to answer all our questions and preview what’s to come. Grab your coffee or cocoa (or spiced eggnog) and settle in!