This post contains spoilers for Virgin River season 5 episode 2, Songbird.
Virgin River may seem to be a quiet town, but it has its fair share of drama going on.
As Mel comforts a young woman facing devastating news, Brie tells Jack about something important while Preacher decides to focus on himself.
What else happened to the heroes of Virgin River season 5? Let’s recap this second episode of season 5, titled Songbird.
Conflicts...
The least that can be said is that Jack is upset with Charmaine. For months, she led him to believe he was the father of her unborn twins, and finding out this was a lie has now made him feel disappointed and humiliated. As he confronts her about it in the beginning of this new episode of Virgin River, the only explanation Charmaine can give is that she lied to provide a future for her children. Yet, as much as Jack can sympathize with that, he cannot forgive her. The only good thing to come out of their conversation is that at least now that Jack has said what was on his mind, he feels better.
Over at Brie’s, Jack’s sister is convinced the rock that smashed her front door came from Don, the man she is pressing charges against for assaulting her. Brady, however, is not so sure Don is really to blame for this. Instead, he suspects his boss Melissa to have something to do with it. Later on when he goes to work, he confronts her about threatening Brie when they had a deal to leave her out of their business. But Melissa is not pleased with Brady lately and on top of using Brie to send him a message, she scolds him like a school boy for not being the best minions in her ranks. Reluctantly, he then agrees to train Jeb to oversee the less legitimate aspects of the lumber business, but warns him to be cautious of Melissa and her men.
…and confrontations!
Brady is not the only one struggling at work. Over at the clinic, Doc is having issues with Cameron while at home, Hope is on a warpath to prove to the town council that she should remain mayor of Virgin River. She enlists the help of Lizzie and Denny, who are making plans regarding their first “real” date, to write a speech she will deliver at the opening of the new community garden. Hope intends to use the speech as a way to convince the council but what she writes comes out more like a rant than anything else. After explaining to Lizzie and Denny that she wants to remain mayor because it is the only thing her TBI has not taken away from her, they advise Hope to speak from the heart in her speech.
Over at the clinic, Doc is cross with Cameron because of some paperwork that the latter didn’t take care of when Doc asked. The two of them mostly have trouble communicating and are struggling with the day-to-day of the clinic now that Mel is gone. Witnessing the vibe between Doc and Cameron, Muriel suggests that the young doctor stand his ground and show Doc that he deserves to be treated as his equal. She also offers to help them with the insurance claims they need to file.
Later on, Cameron follows Muriel’s advice and stands up to Doc, who apologizes for the way he behaved with him. They then find Muriel in the kitchen, tidying things up and telling them about all the tasks she took care of to help them out. Impressed, Doc immediately offers her to work at the clinic.
When daughters miss their mothers
You can take the girl out of the clinic, but you can’t take the need to help out of Mel. After what happened with Eva at the bar, Mel takes her to the hospital and it turns out Ava has been living with endometriosis, and it is flaring up again. According to doctors, her best course of treatment would be to have a hysterectomy, but Ava is not sure where she stands on the idea of having children and when Mel asks her about it, Ava struggles to discuss the subject. Later on, she will admit to Mel that although she used to not want to be a mother, now she isn’t so sure anymore.
Mel is flooded with thoughts about motherhood in Songbird, and she especially feels the weight of the loss of her mother. Throughout the episode, we find her reminiscing about the past and missing her mom as she prepares to become one herself. She confesses to Jack that she became a nurse because of her mother, that she turned her death into a purpose, and that she doesn’t want to lose that connection with her. She isn’t the only one thinking about her mom though, as we also find Charmaine comparing herself to mother and wondering if she is repeating the same mistakes.
Speaking of Charmaine, Mel tells Jack he should forgive her in order to fully get closure on what happened between them. Playing devil’s advocate, Mel argues that Jack has a part of responsibility in what Charmaine did, because when they were seeing each other, he never made it absolutely clear to Charmaine that they had no future together. So when the latter shows up at the cabin to apologize to Mel for lying, Jack takes the opportunity to also make amends.
The path to redemption is a rocky one
After the debacle with Paige, Preacher feels like he needs to take a break from dating. When Brie hears about it, she assures him whoever he ends up with will be very lucky to have him. Confiding with Mel later on, Preacher tells her about how he hopes to find a soulmate while having her try out a new mac ’n’ cheese recipe, based on one of his mother’s, that he wants to add to the bar’s menu. Can we get that recipe, please?
While Preacher is busy in the kitchen, Brie and Jack go for a hike during which she tells her older brother about what Don did to her. Jack admires his sister’s resilience but also feels the need to protect her and be there for her. However when he says he will come to the trial, Brie asks him not to and explains that she does not need his protection but rather his support, and that it would be a bigger help for her if he considered giving another chance to Brady. At first, Jack isn’t thrilled but he agrees to a double-date with Brie, Brady, Mel and himself that evening. The dinner goes well overall, but when Brady asks Jack if they will ever be okay again, Jack says it is all up to him.
As usual in Virgin River, when things start to get better on one end, they crumble on the other. After the dinner at Brie’s, Brady goes back to work to find Jeb (whom he left in charge while he was gone) unconscious on the floor, his nose and fingers covered with drugs. On the other side of town, Hope finds out the speech she gave did not convince the council of her ability to remain mayor, and that she has been voted out of office. Meanwhile at the bar, Preacher hears concerning reports about wildfires over the radio…
What dangers are on the horizon for the folks of Virgin River? What will Brady do about Jeb? Can Hope recover from losing her job?
All episodes of Virgin River season 5, part 1, are now available to stream on Netflix, so tune in to the next one to find out.
