Virgin River Season 5 Episode 10 Review: Labor Day
Of course, they waited until the season finale to drop so many delicious plot twists and revelations!
Capping off one of the strongest seasons of this series, Virgin River Season 5 Episode 10 delivered love, wrapped up storylines and opened up new ones, gave us shocking revelations, and even confirmed who the father of Charmaine’s babies is!
And somehow, none of those things were as surprising as learning that Mel’s ties to Virgin River precede her and that her father may reside there.
Life has a funny way of working, doesn’t it?
As expected, the hour wasted no time delving right into the crime-thriller component of the series by diving into Melissa’s operation.
Brady was able to tell Jack a little about what was happening, and while Jack’s initial reaction was on par with how he typically treats Brady, something managed to click.
It’s like he took a breath and realized that Brady wasn’t lying to him, saw the situation’s urgency, and gave Brady a chance.
And once he saw Melissa holding Dan Brady at gunpoint, it was clear that what Brady was saying was true.
Jack always has people’s backs, so it was a relief that he not only contacted Mike and told him to get their pronto, but he tailed Brady and Melissa and surveyed the situation until he had no choice but to act.
When Virgin River dives into the small-town mysteries and crime drama, they go balls to the walls with the action, and then it just dies away as we transition into everything else.
No matter how long they’ve done this, that transition never stops being jarring.
Jack and Brady were kicking some serious ass. And they were holding their own quite well as they waited for Mike and the calvary to come.
All’s well that ended well until one of the henchmen attempted to shoot Brady, and Mike caught that bullet to the chest.
I don’t dislike Mike Valenzuela, so it was shocking to see him go down like that, but this is also Virgin River, where our male heroes take bullets, knife wounds, punches, and knockouts like champs, so there wasn’t any fear that he wouldn’t make it out of this on the other side.
And amid all of this, it at least felt like he and Brady cleared the air a bit, or Mike could acknowledge that Brady did good, and he told Brie as much, too.
Brie: Brady, I will love you forever, but I need you to know that things have changed for me.
Brady: Yeah, I get it.
So he’s forgiven, only slightly, for exploiting the situation with Brady having to keep this secret.
Knowing that they cleared the air, it feels like he and Brie can start on the right foot, even though this isn’t the desirable pairing.
Brie wouldn’t leave his side once since he got shot, something that Jack noticed. And Brady got some closure from his last conversation with Brie.
She’s grateful that he’s okay and appreciates everything that he did. It doesn’t feel like she’s harboring ill will toward him for keeping her in the dark.
However, she’s firm in needing stability and knowing that Brady cannot emotionally provide what she needs while she’s so vulnerable.
I can respect Brie’s feelings regarding that. However, I struggle with her jumping into another relationship as a solution.
Mike learned from Brady’s mistakes and told Brie the truth, and it served him well as the two of them agreed to see where their new relationship goes.
The series is trying too hard to nod at the book series canon with this pairing without doing the proper work. One’s feelings and preference for Brady and Brie Sheridan aside, they’ve rushed into this Mike and Brie thing, and something doesn’t sit well with it.
Mike: There’s something that I need you to know. Brady is the real hero. It was his idea to go undercover to help take Melissa down. He risked his life. He did it all for you. So, if that changes anything…
Brie: It doesn’t. I want to see where this goes.
Mike: Yeah?
Brie: Yeah.
In the end, all parties deserve to be happy, and for now, it seems Brie and Mike have found that in each other. Whether or not it’s for the long run is a further discussion.
It’s also tough to see Brady and Brie still have all this chemistry oozing in their every interaction. They feel incomplete.
Their relationship feels like it’s a semicolon at the end of it rather than a period.
Brady’s transition into accepting a date with Lark and hanging out with Hazel feels a bit rushed, too. It’s like he has nothing else to do but go along with this woman who has shown interest in him, and I wish they’d at least worked towards building something there organically.
But in the end, Brady did well. His goodwill has been acknowledged even if things didn’t work out as he planned.
It was a strong season for Brady, and I appreciate his shift to becoming one of Virgin River’s heroes rather than a thorn in its side.
Calvin’s return certainly opened the door to the biggest revelation in multiple seasons.
Charmaine Roberts has been absent for most of the season, so it only felt right that she’d appear, still a gazillion months pregnant, and be part of the season’s biggest “gotcha!”
Charmaine: What do you want?
Calvin: You know what I want. I want to be a father to my boys.
Who had Calvin as a possible father to the twins? We know Charmaine’s taste is questionable at times, but CALVIN?
No wonder she didn’t want him near her or the kids. He’s not the type of man who could turn over a new leaf for the sake of his children.
He’s the sort that will rule over Charmaine, control her, and see his children as these prized extensions of himself. It doesn’t bode well for Charmaine.
All the work she did offscreen to embrace finding herself and being happy alone will get tested, with Calvin returning to make things hell for her.
Just when it felt we were free of the criminal underbelly of Virgin River, Calvin returns to replace Melissa. Boo!
Another angle that could rear its head is the fire exposing the body Preacher buried. We should’ve known the man couldn’t be happy for too long.
He seemingly has everything he wants, with Kaia taking a gig that will have her hanging around Virgin River for months rather than shipping out to Alaska.
Her ex doesn’t seem like he’ll be an immediate problem. But now, Preacher‘s past is coming to haunt him with that body discovery. On the one hand, one can hope that the corpse was burnt to a crisp, and they won’t be able to find any identifying evidence.
But until we get more confirmation, it’s a nail-biter that can jeopardize Preacher’s life and future—hell, Connie’s too.
Preacher went from high-fiving Hannah and beaming over the prospect of double-dating with Mel and Jack to his heart dropping at the word of a corpse. Oof!
And that was only one bombshell in the relationship department. When Lizzie said she had something to tell Denny, I feared it would be a pregnancy.
What is in the water of Virgin River? Why is this series so obsessed with babies and pregnancies?
Lizzie was thriving, and now she’s saddled with an unplanned pregnancy, all for the sake of her and Denny, paralleling Doc and Rose; it’s madness!
Was this supposed to give credence to Rose’s rationale that she didn’t tell Doc the truth to spare him?
Denny had decided to follow his plan afterall traveling the world and going to Stanford to become a doctor. And now, all that could go to hell because he and Lizzie are expecting.
It feels like too much. It’s not a fun type of plot twist. It’s too dramatic, soapy, and on the nose, and it’s disappointing that they couldn’t let these kids be.
Denny, I- I think I’m pregnant.
Lizzie
There was nothing wrong with them traveling the world together instead. I love Virgin River to bits, but I hate that these are the types of stories they constantly retread.
Lizzie and Denny Cutler have a support network to navigate through all of this, and many factors are at play with this. For one, it’s concerning that Denny could pass the Huntington’s gene down to the baby, among other things.
But it’s still like a sledgehammer with this storyline officially catapulting them into adult territory and removing the youthful, fun element of what they provide to the series.
In the interim, Cameron and Muriel couldn’t be stronger.
They rolled into their romance full steam ahead, and in many ways, I miss the slow-burn approach they were taking with them.
But they’re cute together regardless, and they made their couple’s debut at the Labor Day carnival.
Jo Ellen will spread that news around town by the time Cameron and Muriel get to the Tunnel of Love.
Doc handled the news well; I believe everyone can work well together at the clinic. Muriel is damn great at what she does, which frees up Mel to have a more insular focus on medical matters.
Muriel: I haven’t been as lucky in love as some.
Doc: Muriel.
Muriel: And I know that Cameron is still working to earn your trust, but you can trust me that this is more than just a flirtation.
Doc: Muriel, I do not care what you and Cameron do in your private lives, but we are here for our patients only. Do you suppose both of you can conduct yourself in a professional manner while you’re at work?
Muriel: Yes, we do.
Doc: Just watch out for yourself.
The concept of having a birthing clinic is promising, and the Telemedicine angle is long overdue and great for Doc. He can handle it as he awaits the clinical trial for his eyesight.
But I’m curious if something will come from Doc’s warning to Muriel about protecting her heart, essentially. It feels foreboding, as if Dr. Cameron and Muriel, like many of the couples in Virgin River, will have a rocky road ahead of them sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, Muriel better enjoy herself. She has had a hard time finding love, and she deserves something special. It’s amusing that she went from fawning after a man 15 years her senior to her junior, but I love every second of it.
As if there weren’t enough bombshells in this finale, we had that ending with Mel, too.
It’s great that they managed to wrap up the Lilly farm situation. For a bit, it seemed like something they’d reference a lot but not do anything about in the end.
But with the glamp site getting tied up in federal custody and Jack and Mel figuring out new paths for their future, it’s fitting that they could have that farmhouse.
The callback to their conversation at that swing in Virgin River Season 1, equipped with the actual flashbacks, was among the best scenes of the hour.
It tied things up for them nicely, and this season has mostly served their love story well.
As long as we’re together, we are home.
Mel
They’re just so freaking happy and making the best out of where they are in life which is all you can ask for here.
I don’t know how they can afford to buy the farm when they’re still recuperating from the fire and all the damage it has done.
But it suits Jack Sheridan that he gets to build a house for his family like he’s always wanted, and Mel gets to have the farmhouse with the swing she dreamed about.
It’s also a beautiful way to honor Lilly.
The time jump felt tacked on, and it’s apparent that they were setting things up for the Virgin River Holiday special.
Christmas is fast approaching, and they have big plans for their family. But Joey calling with that shocking news has opened the door for a whole new mystery.
I have always thought that if I didn’t carry my own child, I would be missing out on something. But the more Jack and I have been talking about it, the more I realized being a parent is so much more than how you got there. So if you decide you want to be a mom someday, you’ll find a way.
Mel
Mel has felt this connection to Virgin River and never could grasp why, and now we may have an answer to why she’s been pulled that and now calls it home.
It’s the home of her father.
We spent all season subtly exploring motherhood with Mel, reflecting on her mother and losing her, and ending it with them opening up an avenue for her father and exploring that, too.
Mel’s mother was having an affair with someone in Virgin River, meaning she’s walked the same pavement and space as the man responsible for her existence and never knew.
Joey: You’re not going to believe this, but I found this whole stack of letters and postcards and letters to Mom from Virgin River.
Mel: What? Mom knew someone in Virgin River?
Joey: Apparently, quite well. Mel, I’ve been reading this all morning, and they’re love letters.
Mel: What?
Joey: They were having an affair in Virgin River. And I think this guy might be your father.
It’s a fun mystery that can be compelling as Mel searches for biological family, just as she’s come to grips with how DNA doesn’t specifically make a family in the first place.
It’s an exciting note for Mel Monroe, and it could dig into the history of Virgin River a bit more while opening the avenue for more storylines for Mel that aren’t marred by tragedy and sadness.
She can gain something instead of losing it. It’s a decent note to leave on for our heroine.
Over to you, Virgin River Fanatics.
Which revelations shocked you the most?! Do you think Mel has met her father already and hasn’t realized it? Are you looking forward to the Holiday Special?
Virgin River Season 5 Part 2 returns November 30 for two all-new episodes!
We’ll see you then! But first, hit the comments with all of your reactions.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You’ll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on Twitter.
