Earlier this year, Deadline announced that Netflix was looking to expand the Virgin River universe with a potential prequel spinoff centered on the love story of Mel's parents in the 1970s. Rather than spinning off a current character into their own show, the streaming service was looking back into the archives to tackle some history and flesh out one of season 6's new stories.
In season 5, Mel learned that the father who had raised her wasn't actually her biological father. She hit the ground running trying to find Everett Reid, her birth father, who ironically also lived in Virgin River. When she did track him down, he wasn't immediately forthright or receptive, but he came around, especially in season 6 as he and Mel get to know each other.
Before Virgin River season 6 made its premiere in December, fans learned this fall that Jessica Rothe and Callum Kerr would appear in flashbacks as Mel's mother Sarah and her birth father Everett to help set up the possible spinoff that's in development. After watching the flashbacks in season 6, should there actually be a prequel? Well, the jury's still out, but personally, we're leaning toward no.
Virgin River's prequel spinoff is still in development
The problem with the flashbacks to Sarah and Everett in the 1970s in Virgin River season 6 is that they are limited. Typically when a show attempts to lay the groundwork for a potential spinoff series, it employs something that's called a "backdoor pilot." For those unfamiliar, it's basically an episode within an episode that presents the offshoot series in its own form.
However, that's not really the method that Virgin River chose. Rather than a backdoor pilot, the flashbacks feel just like that: flashbacks. There are some Easter eggs within the flashbacks, nods to characters we have met in present day that help tease the scope and perspective of the prequel. But the overall feeling of the flashbacks isn't an overwhelming, "OMG, we need this show now!"
Rothe and Kerr are excellent as Sarah and Everett, somehow having chemistry that jumps off the screen even though, again, their appearances are limited. According to showrunner Patrick Sean Smith, the team did an extensive search for the perfect actors to play Mel's parents before hitting "gold" with Rothe and Kerr, who had "such a spark together." That they do!
Following the release of season 6, Smith has teased that the potential spinoff wouldn't focus solely on Sarah and Everett's love story. The series would further expand the universe by exploring the history of the close-knit community
Here's what Smith shared with Us Weekly about the prequel concept:
The prequel would "expand Sarah and Everett’s story more while also expanding and learning more about the history of Virgin River. One reference that was made in the pilot that had never really been explored before was Hope says that the McCrea Cabin is a place that people within 50 miles know all about, which implies there she has a sort of family legacy to this area that we haven’t really gotten to scratch the surface of."
Smith also mentioned to Deadline that he took inspiration from fellow Netflix romantic drama Bridgerton's successful prequel miniseries Queen Charlotte, which traced the beginnings of the show's glamorous queen. Smith also pulled from the source material, as author Robyn Carr's Virgin River books each focus on a different couple and feature supporting characters.
There are many options that the prequel could lean on, including what's already been introduced in the season 6 flashbacks. Sarah's a politically charged free spirit, while Everett's an aspiring musician searching for somewhere to land. As for town's past, there are plenty of characters the prequel could pull in younger versions of, including Doc and Hope.
If the series comes to fruition on Netflix, that would be a wonderful treat for Virgin River fans. No matter what form it takes, whether it ends up a limited series or a movie special or even a full-fledged series, fans will adore the new love story. But at the same time, if Netflix doesn't end up picking up the prequel, it's not entirely a loss. We'll have to wait and see!
Watch Virgin River only on Netflix.