Mel & Jack Can’t Catch a Break on Virgin River — And It’s Getting Ridiculous

Virgin River is officially the longest-running drama on Netflix.

And that’s certainly worth the celebration, but as much as many of us love following the love story between Mel and Jack, in an effort to keep the wheels rolling, it’s as if the series cannot stop throwing every obstacle under the sun their way.

Seriously, why can’t Mel and Jack just be happy for an extended period of time?

Spoilers for Virgin River Season 7 are ahead. If you haven’t watched it yet, please heed the warning.

For seven seasons now, we’ve watched Virgin River throw obstacles at Mel and Jack from every direction.

It felt like it took forever for the pair to have a healthy romantic relationship that didn’t come attached with a bunch of drama.

Initially, we had the Charmaine situation, with her jealousy rearing its head and always threatening to keep them apart.

And then we had the paternity of the twins in question and how that affected Mel, especially as a woman who wanted her own children.

The pair also had to battle things like Jack’s mental health issues and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Post Traumatic Injury.

Remember when Jack got stabbed and almost died? And, oh yeah, there’s the fact that he was battling alcoholism, too.

And then, of course, there was the absolutely devastating miscarriage, as we watched their opportunity to be parents slip through their fingertips.

It was devastating enough when Jack had to reconcile with the fact that the twins he had made space in his heart for and devoted so much time and effort to weren’t his.

Also, Mel’s attachment to various babies over the course of the series has been particularly tough to watch because we’ve always known that they wouldn’t be meant for her in the end.

But Virgin River Season 5 delivered its worst blow yet when Mel had a miscarriage. The pure devastation of two people who kept having every good thing but one another snatched from them over and over again was downright infuriating.

It’s not to say that a woman struggling with fertility issues and experiencing a miscarriage isn’t a great story arc in its own right. For so many women who have battled similar things, that representation is important to them — vital even.

And many series still shy away from the topic, let alone handling it with any sort of delicacy and care.

The primary issue is that, when it comes to Mel and Jack, Virgin River rarely allows them to have anything good for too long. Mel’s fertility issue and that particular struggle could be compelling in its own right if that were all we had to focus on.

But when it’s just lumped into the mix with a host of other issues, Virgin River treats its primary couple as if they can’t exist onscreen without drowning in an infinite sea of trauma.

For a bit, it felt like Virgin River Season 7 could finally deliver on Jack and Mel being in a healthier and happier place. Maybe the real conflict for them would be helping other people navigate their problems.

And to its credit, the season does deliver on that. We saw Mel be a supportive force and truly step up as Doc navigated the Grace Valley Hospital arc, with his medical license on the line.

Meanwhile, Jack mostly had to grapple with what his bar would look like if Preacher actually did part ways with him in pursuit of his own dreams.

They had a few conflicts and tensions you’d expect from newlyweds, but we got a happy couple, transitioning to their new home and figuring out how to start their new life together.

But, of course, that also meant Virgin River dangling another baby over their heads like a shiny new toy for a toddler on Christmas morning.

The pregnant Marley enters the picture, and Mel helps her navigate pregnancy after the couple planning to adopt her baby backed out.

And the moment she even mentioned that she wanted Mel to be the mother of her child, we already knew they were setting Mel and Jack up for more freaking heartbreak.

The entire episode was just a series of obstacles and conflicts for this arc.

Is Marley really shady? Will she back out because she morally opposes Jack’s veteran status?

They run the full gamut. Marley’s ex-boyfriend showing up was as predictable as one could expect with Virgin River playing into the usual tropes regarding this topic.

It’s not that the adoption process isn’t layered or that it doesn’t come with a lot of waffling and edge-of-your-seat tension, because it does, and aspects of that are realistic.

But it’s also frustrating that Marley apparently went through most of her pregnancy for another couple, not even bringing up the fact that the baby’s father hadn’t officially signed off, too.

Late in the game, it becomes an arc specifically designed to maximize tension and exploit Mel and Jack’s already fraught state with this.

And as magical as their Mexican honeymoon was, it was hard to enjoy those glimpses of real happiness because we knew reality would hit. It’s the Virgin River way.

That said, we didn’t need their tension and fraught emotional state maximized. There’s already been more than enough.

They spend the entire season dragging on the possibility that at any moment, Marley could back out of this arrangement, and they have Mel and Jack doing the responsible thing of giving Marley all the chances for an out and encouraging her to really think about her choice, even if it hurts them.

But it’s all so complicated, with Mel serving as her midwife and Marley staying at their home, essentially taking care of her.

But then, just as we overcome the biggest hurdle, and it’s clear after EVERYTHING Mel and Jack have gone through, specifically in their journey toward having children for seven seasons, they’d finally get their child, they throw us for another loop.

They have their son, but he has a severe heart condition and needs surgery.

We can barely take a moment to just celebrate the fact that Mel and Jack are finally getting this win after so many years, before they manipulate more emotions out of us by placing him in peril.

There’s not enough time or space to simply breathe, bask in the warm moments and triumphs — the small victories.

Virgin River thinks we can’t appreciate those victories unless we have heaps of trauma and pain that come with them. But the constant state of anxiety isn’t compelling; it’s exhausting.

It’s getting harder and harder to simply praise and admire Mel and Jack’s resilience when it feels like the show puts them through the mill just for kicks.

It stops feeling like bravery and resilience and more like a glorification of trauma and pain.

Sure, placing the baby in a precarious health position makes for a big cliffhanger that will leave some reeling until the series returns. Dramatic cliffhangers are the name of the game.

The baby will likely be fine. He may or may not have long-term health effects that will make great fodder for Mel and Jack to stress over in the future.

It’d be a narrative gift that keeps on giving for a show that seems to pride itself in lobbing as much stress, trauma, and conflict at Mel and Jack as it can muster.

And to sweeten the deal, because Virgin River can never just stop at one bit, they’ve introduced Mel’s ex-boyfriend as well.

Eli’s serving as the brilliant surgeon who will save Mel’s baby, as well as the man who inspired her and with whom she still hasn’t fully shaken a history, is just the right amount of tension to throw into the mix, too.

Especially with Charmaine a non-factor and permanently gone.

Yes, Virgin River sustains itself on never-ending drama. But it would be nice if they took their foot off the gas with Mel and Jack sometimes.

Because by now, Virgin River’s habit of moving the goal post on Mel and Jack’s happy ending isn’t narratively satisfying; it’s exhausting.

Over to you, Virgin River Fanatics. Are you tired of the constant stream of tragedy, trauma, and drama surrounding Mel and Jack?

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