Serious As A…
Episode 4 of Virgin River Season 4 begins with Mel arriving at the clinic, with Cameron thanking her for a good night. Mel is still concerned about Jack and decides they should get some time away, just the two of them. She keeps it a secret though and makes the excuse of car problems so he’s unaware of what he has planned. Speaking of good nights, Brie makes Brady some coffee after their eventful night, but under his sink she finds stacks of cash in a duffel bag. Brady notices and realizes that he’s intending to make a break for it and run. He’s running from Calvin but after learning that he threatened Brie several episodes back, Brady changes his mind. Brie encourages him to work with her and set a trap for Calvin. They need to go about this smarter. Elsewhere, Denny and Ricky both meet each other at the bar, where Ricky takes the high-road and decides to cover Lizzie so she can hang out with Denny. After all, he could do with the extra hours before going to boot camp. Lizzie and Denny go for a hike together, where Lizzie admits she used to date Ricky. Lizzie is clearly not cut out for hiking but the pair end up going across a large bridge, where Lizzie encourages Denny to get involved in the Renaissance Fair. It’s not his thing and he eventually walks away. Charmaine shows up at Jack’s Bar, wanting some help with preschool. However, she also drops the bombshell that she’s having boys too, which Jack is upset about. He’s especially annoyed when he finds out Jo Ellen and a few other people have learned the truth before him. At the clinic, Tara ends up feeling faint while being checked out with Chloe. Mel decides to let her have a bit of a sleep while she and Cameron look after her kid. Meanwhile, Brie speaks to Mike and brings up her concerns over the Emerald Lumber case. It all feels a bit too convenient and he tells Mike that there’s something fishy about all this. Mike though, refuses to help, pointing out the case is out of his hands now. Hope and Vernon head out to the gardens together, where the latter decides Denny should come and stay at the house. Hope isn’t sure and points out that she needs time. Time to find herself after what happened with Lily. Hope needs to be on her own and having Denny in the house is not going to help. Vernon blames himself and brings these concerns to Mel, worried that this could be the new normal. Still, the afternoon wears on and as a result, Preacher organizes traffic allowing Jack and Mel to head out on their date. Unfortunately, their pilot, Brad, ends up having a heart attack while they’re flying to the island, leaving things on a big cliffhanger.
The Episode Review
I don’t mean to be funny but how convenient and contrived was that cliffhanger at the end? It’s almost like the writers wanted a big, dramatic ending and the only thing they could think of was giving a pilot a heart attack. Who else wants to bet he’ll be absolutely fine 10 minutes into the next episode? Not only that but given how worried Jack has been about the pregnancy, can we honestly believe that he’s absolutely fine with Mel flying but running is a big no-no? Surely he should have expressed some worry over flying before Mel convinced him it’s okay? This just feels like a bit of a contrivance, given what we’ve seen from Jack this year. Beyond that, the episode continues to show Hope struggling with her condition while the whole Denny/Lizzie match-up takes a turn for the worst when Ricky enters the scene. There’s also some drama involving Tara and Preacher’s new love interest, which all feel like pretty formulaic at this point. However, there’s certainly enough here to keep watching, including the Emerald Lumber case, which is developing slowly over this season.
