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Virgin River season seven has already proven fans wrong

Posted on by Bobb
Virgin River season seven has already proven fans wrong

Hooray! You could almost hear the cheers from moms around the world when Virgin River Season 7 was announced. Yes, it’s twee, but Netflix’s winning format demolishes one constant criticism: “it’s too contrived.”

If you had to guess what show Netflix would break records, but probably won’t Virgin River. Despite this, the cozy small-town drama has become the streaming service’s longest-running original series thanks to a seventh season being greenlit.

“But who even watches this?” I heard you ask. The answer is almost every woman over 45, and sometimes their daughters (yes, this is from personal experience). It’s a simple premise: a big city woman becomes the victim of a personal tragedy and moves to a picturesque, remote town to start over. Of course, while she’s there, she meets a handsome but troubled lover.

Lizzie and Denny in Virgin RiverNetflix

Over the course of six seasons, this “simple premise” has had one criticism…why does it sound so much like a soap opera? Back in the first season we had a good old romance about a guy and a girl in a beautiful setting! We had formulaic drama that we could followdamn it.

Nowadays all sorts of nonsense is tolerated in Virgin River. Resident Charmaine was ignominiously pregnant for five seasons before giving birth to her twins. Daddy Calvin came back from the dead in episode 10. At the same time, Brady is stuck in the middle of a drug cartel operating in the area.

According to the creators, all six seasons of Virgin River don’t even add up to a year in real time, which is frankly mind-boggling. However, the release of the seventh season in my eyes means only one thing: fans don’t just like the contrived soap drama: they prosper on this.

No matter what side of the pond you grew up on, you’re probably familiar with tasteless television. The slap heard around the world on telenovela, Susan Lucci somehow barely ages in All My Children, Kat Slater tells June Whitfield – who for some reason played the role of a nun – what a slag she has become in 20 years.

Whether we like it or not, the soap opera is a part of all of us. It’s often a holistic introduction to how we understand stories on television, and frankly, it’s the only format left in which anything perhaps on the small screen. No format, no structure, no rules. As long as there is drama and people tune in, no one cares.

We roughly know where Virgin River Season 6 is moving – down a slightly quieter path with Mel and Jack’s wedding – but things could get really exciting in season seven. Certainly, binge TV show could follow in the footsteps Original novel series by Robin Carrbut he stopped following the rules a long time ago (sorry).

Lark talks to Brady in Virgin River.Netflix

Result? Mel and Jack could start a new business on the moon if they wanted. All the characters could suddenly start speaking Spanish, or become geeks and devote a random episode entirely to musical theater. Hell, they could even try the Riverdale method and introduce time travel and supernatural powers.

Okay, some of this stuff goes way beyond the typical soap dynamic, but the point remains. The level of soapiness achieved by Virgin River works, despite a few disgruntled comments from those who prefer what they had before (who doesn’t?). The problem is not with these shows, but with us.

In the privacy of our living rooms we spend time with the most ridiculous plots. Charmaine’s pregnancy it was something you couldn’t take your eyes off, both because it was insanely fun to wonder when she might burst, and because it was pure disbelief that she wasn’t having her own Alien moment. We’ve been caught off guard by Calvin’s return and are now on edge about Preacher’s upcoming trial.

It’s very hard to admit this publicly when enjoying something so superficial (even though I’d argue it’s not) is extremely uncool. If life was like the “Dive” episode of Black Mirror, people would rate us 1 star for enjoying this kind of nonsense. So what should we do? Get on the hater train and read too much into the meaning of television.

Season seven is not only a chance for the Virgin River story to reach new heights, but also a chance for us to apologize to the Netflix gods, give in, and enjoy the madness. The show is breaking records for a reason, so let’s be sure to see it.

Virgin River season six premieres streaming service December 19. The release date for season 7 has not yet been announced. In the meantime, find out more about Season 6 storylinesif there is time jumpAnd more shows to watch if you like Virgin River.