Alexandra Breckenridge as Melinda Monroe, Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan, Tim Matheson as Doc Mullins on “VIRGIN RIVER.” Courtesy of Netflix(3)
There’s at least one Virgin River lead preparing to potentially say goodbye to their character when season 7 premieres.
During the sixth season finale, which aired in December 2024, questions arose about Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) after her home was found ransacked. Hammersley, 44, proved that she doesn’t have any answers about what’s to come after sharing a text exchange with Virgin River showrunner Patrick Sean Smith.
“Am I dead?” she wrote in the screen grabs shared via Instagram on Friday, February 28. “It’s OK if I’m dead I just need to know if I should start putting resumes out at Wendy’s or something.”
Hammersley suggested a creative way for her character to go out, adding, “So … IF Charmaine dies this year, could you please drown her in the river? I think that would be EPIC.”
Mel and Jack finally made it to the altar on Virgin River ahead of season 7 — but what comes next? Virgin River, which premiered in 2019, follows the lives of residents living in a small town in Northern California, including Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and her love interest, Jack (Martin Henderson). The series also stars […]
Charmaine isn’t the only character left in limbo. Elsewhere in season 6, Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) finally got married — but they were thrown for a loop when a local teen girl asked them to adopt her baby.
There’s also that love triangle involving exes Brie (Zibby Allen) and Brady (Ben Hollingsworth), who slept together, and her boyfriend Mike (Marco Grazzini). Us was rooting for Brie and Brady to reunite, but when Brie broke the infidelity news to Mike, he chose to propose to her.
Lauren Hammersley as Charmaine Roberts of VIRGIN RIVER. Courtesy of Netflix
On the shocking departure front, Smith previously confirmed to Us Weekly that actor Mark Ghanimé wouldn’t be returning as Cameron, sharing in December 2024, “I love that relationship, and, I think this season saw a little bit of a sendoff for Cameron. In terms of Mark, the actor who I adore, he unfortunately won’t be coming back for season 7.”
Smith didn’t rule out a potential return in the future. “But that’s not to say that Cameron’s not a part of our world forever,” he added. “I would love to bring him back, and bring his character back when the story presents itself.”
The screenwriter didn’t have as much to say about Charmaine, teasing, “Charmaine has found herself in the middle of a mess, which is a place where she tends to reside and it pulls our character into it. Not just Jack and Mel, but there are some other characters that find themselves pulled into it as well.”
At the time, Smith kept Us’ hopes up with promises of more flashbacks after season 6 introduced Everett’s (John Allen Nelson) love story with Mel’s mom, Sarah, who died when she was 11 years old.
“[It would] expand Sarah and Everett’s story more while also expanding and learning more about the history of Virgin River,” Smith told Us. “One reference that was made in the pilot that had never really been explored before was Hope says that the McCrae 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 went on to say that the Sarah and Everett flashbacks are just the beginning of “expanding the Virgin River-verse.”
“When we committed to the idea of introducing Everett, it felt like a great opportunity as somebody who we know has resided in the area but has kind of removed and isolated himself from the community to have this history and have this relationship to this town and to this area,” Smith explained, adding that it “felt like an opportunity that we could introduce a new couple, which the show has done fairly consistently over the course of the seasons, and not inherit another couple that we have to keep servicing in the present.”
Virgin River is currently streaming on Netflix and has already been renewed for season 7.
