This post contains spoilers for Virgin River season 5 episode 4, Never gonna be the same.
While Mel and Jack go on a camping trip, Brie tries to figure out what to do about Brady and Lizzie gets dragged into a spa day with her elders.
However one thing is for sure, this new episode of Virgin River is leaning into the quiet before everything is set on literal fire.
What does the show have in store for its characters in Never gonna be the same? Let’s recap this new episode of Virgin River season 5...
Down by the riverside
While Brie is getting ready to head to Sacramento for Don’s trial, Mel and Jack are off camping in Clover Canyon. Somehow, they seem to have little concern about the wildfires that are currently sweeping through Grace Valley. But their little vacation is soon interrupted by a trio of siblings who crash their camp with their cuteness. Meeting their dads, Mel and Jack offer up to look after the children while their parents go on a hike.
Spending time with the kids pushes Mel and Jack to confront their different approaches to parenting. While Jack is the fun one to be around, Mel worries she’ll always have to play bad cop with their daughter. When one of the kids is injured from playing rough, Mel saves the day and Jack eventually admits he did not enjoy growing up around a bad-cop dad and doesn’t want to be like that, but Mel reassures that they will be fine and can provide both love and structure to their child.
Mel and Jack aren’t the only ones enjoying the outdoors in this episode. After seeing his eye doctor, Doc takes Denny to go fishing with him. After his grandfather tells him how proud he is of the way he is handling his disease, Denny confesses it took time for him to be okay with it. While they are sharing, Doc explains he is losing his eyesight, and that he is considering a rather risky experimental treatment. Going blind comes with a big concern for Vernon, he is the “Doc” of Virgin River and wonders who he will be when he can no longer be a doctor, and Denny sweetly tells him he will then be “Grandpa” (and it’s the first time he calls him that).
Relationship ups and downs
Meanwhile at the clinic, Cameron is singing “Good morning” from Singin’ in the rain along with Muriel and tells her of the crush he used to have on his drama teacher, and this confession that he had a thing for an older woman can only turn viewers’ radar on: is there something brewing between Muriel and Cameron?
Over at the bar, Preacher is also having a good morning after his night spent with Kaia. Hannah, Virgin River’s most attentive waitress, can definitely tell why he is in a good mood and advises him to just enjoy the ride. Indeed, if Kaia left without breakfast that morning, she returns in the evening willing to spend more time in Preacher’s company.
In the meantime, Brie and Brady are on a break. She actually runs into Mike while getting coffee and, noticing that she is not feeling the best, he reminds her that she is a badass and makes her say it out loud. There is always a sweet chemistry between Mike and Brie that even the most diehard Brie and Brady fans cannot deny. Brady has not said his last word though, and he comes knocking on Brie’s door to give her his dog tags, which he keeps close as a reminder of his strength. She accepts them and appreciates the gesture, but tells him he will have to do more if he wants them to make up.
There’s only one thing Brady can do then, and it’s to get out of the drug cartel. To that end, he calls up Mike and asks him to make him a confidential informant. He tells him all about Melissa taking over the fentanyl traffic at Emerald Lumber but Mike is hesitant to trust Brady. It is only when the latter says that the only reason he is involved is to protect Brie, whom Melissa threatened, that Mike jumps on the case. But he warns Brady that nobody can know about it, especially not Brie.
A not-so-nice spa day
After Lizzie tries to teach her yoga, Hope accepts Connie’s invitation to spend the day at a spa. When they arrive, Hope is angry that Jo Ellen is also attending, and Lizzie is quickly disappointed to see this isn’t a mani-pedi type of spa. Instead, she is in to sit in a sauna while the older ladies discuss menopause and then finds herself in the crossfire of a mud fight. How? Well, Hope and Jo Ellen started fighting while they were all sitting in mud baths, and things escalated to the point that they all got kicked out of the spa.
The outing did feature some sweet moments however, like when Lydie reminded her friends that getting old is a privilege by saying “Everyone gets to be young, but not everyone is lucky enough to grow old.” Then, after being asked to leave, Jo Ellen and Hope managed to end their quarrel when the former declared that the only reason she told her husband about Hope’s accident was because she got scared that Hope would end up killing herself or hurting someone else. On her end, Hope admits that she struggles with the thought that she might never get back to her old self.
Later on, Vernon and Hope meet up at home and discuss how they both just had the best and worst day they’ve had in a long time. Meanwhile, Lizzie goes to see Denny and tells him about being surrounded with ladies talking about aging, and he suggests they don’t waste any time as he closes his bedroom door.
It seems like all ends that end well. Or does it? Not so fast, more drama is always around the corner on Virgin River! Indeed, the following day when Mel and Jack wake up in their tent, they smell a not-so-sweet burning scent. Stepping outside, they see a large column of black smoke that is heading right towards their beloved town…
Will Virgin River be safe from the wildfires? How will Mike and Brady take down Melissa? Can something be done for Doc’s eyesight?
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.
