2020 has definitely been something else. It’s been unpredictable, unusual and all-around unsettling. And in a year that has been so topsy-turvy, many people have started to turn to comfort watches: the kind of shows that feel familiar, relaxing and will just transport you to an entirely new place. Enter Netflix’s Virgin River, the ultimate comfort watch during the cold, wintry months – or just any time, really.
Virgin River, which is based on Robyn Carr’s series of novels of the same name, follows Melinda ‘Mel’ Monroe who decides to answer an ad to work as a midwife and nurse practitioner in the remote California town of Virgin River. She initially thinks that it will be the perfect place to start fresh, or to leave her memories behind — especially since her contract is only for a year.
But it isn’t long until she ends out that small-town living isn’t quite as simple as she thought it would be, especially after things start off on the wrong foot with her new boss, Doc Mullins. Eventually, Mel realises that if she really wants to make Virgin River her new home, she needs to learn to heal herself.
Season one landed on Netflix in December 2019, and viewers instantly fell in love with Mel, Jack, Preacher Hope and Doc, as well as the rest of the residents of the town. And it definitely helped to know that there was a season two on the way: the show was renewed shortly after it premiered, so you knew you’d be getting a lot more time in the small town.
The second season landed on the streamer last month and, once again, fans were hooked — and it’s easy to see why. It’s the kind of show that feels comforting and familiar, while still being new. And in a year where it feels like we’ve watched just about everything Netflix has to offer, it’s just what we need right about now.
Part of the charm of Virgin River is that it feels so familiar: almost like one of the TV shows that you’d tune into after school once upon a time, like Dawson’s Creek, Everwood, or Gilmore Girls. It’s also got echoes of the slightly-more-recent Hart Of Dixie — which is only amplified by the fact that Tim Matheson, who plays Vernon ‘Doc’ Mullins, stars in both of the shows.
Virgin River evokes the same kind of nostalgic feeling of those shows, but in a way that’s more grown-up and a bit more current. While Mel and her arrival into town is the main focus of the first season, there are a number of other plot threads carefully woven into the story — including the baby discovered on Doc’s front porch one morning and the identity of the infant’s mother, Jack’s handling of his PTSD from his time as a Marine, the illegal grower’s camps just outside the town, and plenty of dramatic love triangles (a must-have in this kind of show, really).
But while it has its heavier moments, Virgin River and its cosy, small-town setting is an enchanting bit of escapism.
There’s an incredible sense of community among the town, which shines through whether they’re rallying around one of their own in a time of need or welcoming a new arrival like Mel. In fact, many of Virgin River’s town events feel like they’d be equally at home in Stars Hollow, or even vice-versa. While watching Mel come to grips with her new surroundings, it’s impossible not to at least think she and Jack would fit right in at the 24 Hour Dance Marathon. Or, in turn, that Taylor Doose would be right at home working at Virgin River’s annual town picnic or their Moonlight Mingle, alongside Hope McCrae.
And then there’s the will-they-or-won’t-they relationship at the heart of it all. Gilmore Girls had Luke and Lorelai, Dawson’s Creek had Dawson Leery and Joey Potter — and Virgin River’s got their own in Mel and Jack, the owner of the bar/restaurant in town. The way that they try and navigate their relationship with each other — whether to bring it from friendship to something more — makes it impossible not to root for them along the way.
Most of all, though, Virgin River will make you feel like you’re there in the town with them all. The characters feel like ones you’ve been watching for ages, rather than just for two seasons — which is helped, at least in part, by the fact that it’s got a similar medical-professional-starting-fresh-in-a-small-town storyline to other comfort watches, like Hart Of Dixie and Everwood. But it’s also because they’re the same kind of characters that feel like they’re familiar and comforting – and just about all of them are some mixture of the traditional character types.
For example, you’ve got Jack, who’s a mix of the Everyman and the Hero, with the way that he’s meant to be the good neighbour and the guy-next-door, but still swoop in and save the day; Mel, who is the Caregiver thanks to her profession, and the Lover, in the sense that she wants to be there and support those that she loves; and Preacher, who is the Hero with just a splash of the Sage, seeming to know everything that’s going on everywhere in town (and have a solution to save the day).
The characters feel like they could be the kind of people that you actually know, minus the fact that, well, they’re fictional. And the fact that they can draw you in that easily is part of what makes the show feel so comforting. Because after just an episode or two, you’ll find yourself getting caught up in the characters’ lives — and not to mention just-one-more-episode-ing your way all the way to the end of the second season – and hopefully beyond, if the show gets renewed again.
READ MORE: 8 Books To Read If You Loved Netflix’s Virgin River
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