Virgin River just delivered one of its most intense and powerful episodes ever with Season 5 Episode 5. I know the show had some stellar writing, but who knew they had it in them to deliver something of that caliber?
Disclaimer — this review includes spoilers from the episode — proceed with caution.
The series proved that it’s so much more than romantic drama, bringing such tense situations to the forefront and throwing all of our favorite small-town residents in the line of fire, quite literally.
On top of that, we were dealing with Brie’s trial against Don, and Mel’s heartbreaking realization that the pregnancy was not viable. It was a lot—and quite frankly, felt like a season finale episode, though, I’m extremely glad it’s not.
While wildfires created plenty of uneasiness throughout the episode, it was also, unfortunately, a very surface-level look at the reality that many are going through in our world today, with the fires currently raging through Canada and recently ravaging Maui. Since some of Virgin River is filmed in Vancouver, it makes sense that the series would want to bring attention to the dangers and extremely heartbreaking realities that result from wildfires by showcasing the events through the fictional characters we care so much about.
The wildfires spread quickly, and before you know it, everyone was somehow impacted either physically or emotionally by worrying about a loved one potentially caught in the crosshairs.
Denny and Lizzie volunteered to go check on Bert, making sure that Lydie evacuated her home along the way, but before they could even make it to their destination, they found themselves surrounded by fire and downed trees that were blocking the road. It was an apocalyptic site, and a terrifying one, as they appeared trapped with no escape in sight. Truthfully, I have no idea how they are going to find their way out unless someone happens to be nearby, sees them, and lends them a hand or clears the road.
Hope was consumed by guilt as she initially allowed Denny and Lizzie to head into the dangerous area by following her Fire Evacuation plan that she created when she was Mayor. Nick only made her feel worse by hammering home that she was to blame, but I don’t really agree that things would’ve been different had she stayed by and allowed him to do things his way. Nick’s approach was passive, waiting to evacuate that part of town until the very last minute, which didn’t give anyone, particularly the sick and elderly, enough time to make their way out. You can’t wait until the situation hits the fan to do something about it. And if they’re already evacuating firefighters from that area, he basically gave the residents no chance to make it out alive. Hope was trying to do the right thing, so it’s not fair to say that this is proof that she’s no longer capable of being mayor. Did she overstep? Yes, but she had the best intentions, ones that likely ensured that Lydie made it out safely.
Preacher spent much of the episode worrying about Kaia after it was revealed that two firefighters were injured—one impaled by a tree. Thankfully, Kaia was not at the receiving end of the stump, but she was the other firefighter in the situation. I’m hoping she’ll be fine after being checked for smoke inhalation, and that this situation will bring her and Preacher even closer together.
Hope meddled and gave unsolicited advice, urging Preacher to tell Kaia that she’s “catching feelings,” which he did. It would be a shame if they put Preacher through any more loss, so I’m glad she was just in the field at the same time.
Doc and Cameron responded to the call to assist Kaia and the other firefighter, and while things seemed uncertain there for a minute, they pulled through with some quick thinking in the field. Unfortunately, after bringing Jay back to the clinic, his health began deteriorating and no one could figure out why. By the end of the episode, it seemed as though they lost him as he began to flatline.
Virgin River is definitely not equipped to handle such a tragedy with only two doctors and Mel volunteering. They were spread too thin as there were way too many patients for them to handle, mostly with burns and smoke inhalation.
Mel was in a tough spot as she found blood on the toilet paper right as she arrived at the clinic. Of course, she assumed the worst due to her previous experiences with miscarriages and stillbirths, and her greatest fears were soon confirmed by the lack of a fetal heartbeat on the ultrasound. My heart absolutely sank in this moment because, like Mel, I was hopeful that this time it would be a successful pregnancy; this would be the one.
She couldn’t even tell anyone or take more than a minute to mourn the loss, a scene that simply shows just how incredibly strong women have to be at any given time. She shed a few tears before pulling herself together and pouring herself into her patients, eventually leaving the clinic to go up to the farm to check on Ava and Chloe. As she made her way down, she saw flames everywhere and heard baby Chloe crying on the farm somewhere, which explains why they never made it to the clinic. It’s unclear if Ava inhaled too much smoke and passed out or if something else went down, but it seems that if it wasn’t for Mel, these two would’ve been victims of the fire. And still, we have no idea how this is going to pan out as Jack immediately made his way to the farm, informing Brady that Mel could be in danger.
With cell service town, it’s a miracle that her text got through to him in time, and it’s possible she wasn’t even aware that the area was being evacuated.
There was so much to digest within the episode, but like Mel, there was no time to stop and think about it or even take a moment and sit with it—the action happening was so fast.
Jack and Brady teamed up to head up to camp, at Doc’s request, to convince all the people living there to evacuate. Brady knew them all on a more personal level so he had a little more sway than Jack, but as embers began flying and shooting off ammunition, it was clear that they arrived just in time and no one could ignore the dangers for much longer.
Unfortunately, one of the campers’ 6-year-old daughter, Hazel, went missing in the woods, and both Brady and Jack vowed not to leave until they found her. It was incredibly brave of the two of them, who put aside their differences to work together. Even when Brady suggested that they split up, Jack immediately shut the idea down, fully committed to not repeating the same mistakes as he did in Iraq.
Together, they were able to look out for each other and swiftly found Hazel, before the situation became even more grim.
Their heroic efforts were only underscored by Brie’s moving speech about what constitutes a hero—the people who run toward danger instead of away from it, who risk it all for others, who go forth into the uncertainty, and who rely on their faith to guide them. The heroes are all of those making sacrifices for others, not the lawyer who was trying to help an abuser win his court case by painting the women testifying as unreliable victims, or, in Brie’s case, as an addict and scorned ex.
Brie was intimidated being on the stand at first, and being forced to relieve the events of the night of the sexual assault was hard, but she was determined to finally put an end to this and stop letting it control her life. She fought back at every turn, refusing to let herself be discredited, and with a little push from Mike—he was right, Sheridan does got this—she came back swinging with a poignant speech that even made the lawyer seemingly embarrassed to be defending Don amidst a flurry of accusations from multiple women. And Brie came with the facts on domestic abuse and rape cases; don’t ever say our girl wasn’t prepared to take back her power.
The fact that Don wanted to marry her and even made the suggestion that evening had no bearing on the case, and I’m guessing that what happened is Brie brushed it off as a joke, which made him feel mad and rejected so he forced himself onto her. Don, you lose, buddy.
Brie wanted to call Brady for moral support, but Mike just so happened to be there at the right place at the right time, and if I wasn’t shipping Brie and Brady, I’d totally throw all my love behind Mike, but I just can’t. Brady is trying to be a better man as evidenced by his decision to be a CI for Mike and how quickly he jumped in to help Jack save the campers with a second thought. Brady may have strayed off the path before, but he wants to turn his life around and seemingly can’t shake the control that Calvin, and now, Melissa have over him. He deserves Brie’s understanding and forgiveness.
I can’t in good faith support Mike when Brie already has a great man who loves her and would do anything for her, but I am fine with Brie and Mike simply being friends who are there for each other when the situation calls for it… if that’s even a possibility.
What did you think of the episode? Do you think everyone will survive the fire? Will it give everyone a new perspective on life? Did the writers really destroy Mel’s chances of having a child after everything that she’s gone through? And what does this mean for her and Jack’s future?