Virgin River (Netflix)

[VanyaHargreeves]

I have been watching this cheesy, schmaltzy nonsense on Netflix

Nurse moves to the sticks to escape her past

Encounters good looking over helpful barman and busybody locals

Just teetering on the edge of being utterly dreadful

A bit like a soap. Lighthearted froth.

Recommended.

Actually, I just realised Jack reminds me of Paul Hollywood and it’s spoilt the whole show for me.

I struggled through this second series. We're supposed to be thinking Jack is a cross between Jamie Fraser and Mr Darcy but actually he's just some average sleazy bloke who knocked up his girlfriend whilst chasing a vulnerable widow, and only stopped shagging the girlfriend when he thought he had a chance with the widow.

At no point does Mel say "you know what, perhaps I shouldn't write this birth plan given I've just shagged the father of the babies" or "I have concerns about being a stepmother to those newborn twins I'm going to deliver, especially after my own stillbirth" or "you know what Jack, perhaps I should back off while you make your mind up" or even "if you really wanted to be with me, Jack, why were you sleeping with Charmaine?" - nope, doesn't even cross her mind. Why make her such a needy, weedy character?

Perhaps he'll die, Charmaine will discover some self respect and go to Portland and find some decent antenatal care, Mel will live happily ever after in her cabin being a kick ass nurse, and Preacher will take over the bar and run it properly and sack Ricky.

@IsFinnRogersDead Exactly why I couldn’t get through it.

Its a cheesy schmaltzy love story. It really would be the end if thr main characters said bye. It’s not real life. It doesn’t need to mimic it either. 😂

Equally it’s the end of the characters behave out of character...

It's easy watching and I binged both series quickly but I've read the thread from the start and am appalled by the comparisons to Northern Exposure and Gilmore Girls. WTF?!
Both shows are on an entirely different level to Virgin River in the writing and the humour.
Don't get me wrong, I lapped up Chesapeake Shores and Everwood when it was on but it's not high quality tv.

Tim Matheson was hot in his younger days. He was in a 70s Western tv series with Kurt Russell, The Quest I think it was called.

Are you getting old when Tim Matheson seems more attractive than Martin Henderson

Jack was cheating on his girlfriend and that's supposed to be a love story - him trying to get with the newly widowed Mel while his girlfriend is pregnant with twins, who Mel is also midwife for? It's not naice, is it?

Tim Matheson played exactly the same doctor character in Hart of Dixie - with a remarkably similar plot as well. No twins though.

OK, so I have finished season 2.

I am a little disappointed I will be honest.

How long until season 3 though

Jack never considered Charmaine his girlfriend, just someone he was shagging (for 6 years!!). He'd been clear with her over the years, she just wanted more. If ever there's a case of believing someone when they show you who they are, it's Charmaine for believing Jack as he clearly only wanted sex!

BenoneBeauty

Yes I must admit I went off Jack in this 2nd serious because of his attitude to Charmaine who clearly loves him, and for 6 years he's basically used her as a sex toy - not real love making. That scenario would be a big red flag in real life. But in this show he appears to know what real love is and to really love Mel.

I think he's done Charmaine wrong - despite her being portrayed unsympathetically. I'd like to think that if this was real life Mel would take off and settle down in a new town.

I agree - he's completely done wrong by Charmaine and it should be a big red flag for Mel (who's very vulnerable). However, to be fair to him, he never pretended to Charmaine & has always been honest with her, she just thought she could change him!

Meh, charmaine is a grown up. He wasn’t abusing her, it wasn’t just sex, but the relationship wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t tell her he loved her, and never led her to believe he was in love with her. She even stated she knew he wasn’t.

After six years if she was still hanging around hoping he’d suddenly fall in love, then she would need to take some personal responsibility. He never led her on.

I really dislike this attitude that women have no personal responsibility and it’s all about the man and his choices. It’s not.

And secondly if he met someone else he preferred he was perfectly entitled to end the relationship. Which he did.

No red flags for me there. He was clear on what it was, and ended it when he met someone he preferred.

Yes definitely there's responsibility on both sides and Charmaine could have walked away when she knew he didn't love her. I'm looking at it as if in Mel's shoes . He is very gorgeous, but I'd be bothered he'd had regular sex for 6 years with someone he didn't love and whilst knowing Charmaine loved him. Something a bit off there - but now he says he loves Mel, does he really or is it lust. Anyway - Mel seems cool about it and handling things well

I watched this while trying to sleep after nights over the last month, I think I must have slept through a couple of episodes, did anything happen when Mel left?

He never told charmine he loved her, the character said that, she was hoping he would. He told the character Mel he loved her, it’s very different.

Personally I don’t think folks need to be in love to have sex. And I also don’t think someone shouldn’t have sex with someone else who does love them, if they are clear the feelings aren’t reciprocated.

Sorry for me, he was clear with charmaine, she knew the score. He was clear it wasn’t love and he didn’t feel that way for her.

I do agree @Bluntness100 but I also agree with @Inkanta - I do think there are red flags for Mel as he wasn't honest with her when they first met and she is very vulnerable.

Yeah. But who spills with someone you just met..

Plus let’s face it, his character is fairly fucked up too. He’s got ptsd.

Yes I get all points of view on this situation at Virgin River! I'm hoping they don't kill off Charmaine to make things easier for the loved up couple.

Me too @Inkanta - it seems the kind of show that would kill her off in childbirth to give Mel and Jack a clear run with the babies!

Yes, I’m wondering if they will do that.

I reckon though as said, charmaine is going to threaten to actually move away unless he marries her, and he will to see the kids.

I had the misfortune of getting a kidney infection last week, and Virgin River was the perfect thing to watch on the sofa. Such cheese and shmaltz.... can't wait for the next season. It's really made me want to go to Vancouver....... such gorgeous scenery. I had to google where it was all filmed.

I couldn't work out where I recognised Martin Henderson from, then remembered Bride & Prejudice and I'm fairly sure he was in Grey's Anatomy for a bit..............

I remember Martin in Shortland Street when I was a student (90s NZ soap opera).

I used to love Shortland Street - I didn't know he was in it or that he was from NZ.

Shortland Street's also responsible for Boba Fett from Star Wars

Six years, though - Charmaine was good enough for a relationship for six years. The old "I told her I wasn't happy and I didn't love her" stinks of The Script. No one forced him to be in a relationship for six years with someone he didn't like.