‘Virgin River’ Boss on Season 6 Cliffhangers, Who’s Not Returning and Why That Pool Table Scene Was Done Without an Intimacy Coordinator

WARNING: This post contains spoilers from Season 6 of “Virgin River,” now streaming on Netflix.

It’s officially wedding season in Virgin River. While the 10 new episodes, which began streaming on Dec. 19, focused on the planning of Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack’s (Martin Henderson) wedding, it also stayed true to the world of “Virgin River.” That means love triangles-turned-squares, shocking proposals, and a surprise baby.

Below, showrunner Patrick Sean Smith breaks all down all of the twists and cliffhangers and teases what’s to come in Season 7.

Before we get into the many cliffhangers, this season overall was a bit more steamy than past seasons. Was there a conversation ahead of time about that?

I think there was. It felt organic in all of the love that leads up to a wedding. It’s my second season on the show, and I was still learning every aspect of it. There are so many plates that you’re spinning from the character relationships, romance, crime, medical, now fire, to the multi-generational [themes]. So there was a lot going on, and we did lean a little bit more into the sexual relationship of some of our couples. I’m proud of all of them. The one that probably is most surprising was the sewing circle having a discussion about their sex lives, which I’m so incredibly proud of. It just felt real. It felt organic. It felt true to the characters.

Absolutely. There were many love scenes this season, including one on the pool table between Brady and Brie. Do you guys use an intimacy coordinator?

We always offer. In that instance, Ben and Zibby declined it, but a lot of thought and consideration went into it. We work with RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), and I had a meeting with them personally just to educate myself because we knew we wanted it to be physical, somewhat sensual, and in some ways, aggressive. That was the part that made me nervous, as far as how far that went. I was reminded that sexual assault and sexual violence are never about aggression as much as they are power domination. I think we were really respectful. I think Zibby and Ben both doing their research on it really brought a level of awareness into it, that they were kind of coordinating it themselves.

While we’re talking about Brady and Brie, let’s dive into the love square. While Brady and Mike (Marco Grazzini) made their feelings clear, is Brie with Mike because he’s a good person or because she believes he’s her person?

I think it’s probably more the former. I think she’s trying to make something work that, on every level, should be working. I think the thing that’s confounding to her is, why is it not? Also, given her experience and being a survivor of sexual assault from a partner, I think it’s brought some doubt deep down for her to trust herself in making the right choices. I think she’s making the obvious choice in Mike, and is trying to force it, and that’s where the struggle is.

Lark (Elise Gatien) obviously showed her true colors in the end but for a minute, it did seem like she actually was falling for Brady. Was that all a ruse?

We’ll unpack it all in Season 7, but in my mind, she did fall for him. I think she heard loud and clear that she would always be second to Brie, which is a bit of a contradiction. And Brady wasn’t at his best for lying to her when she confronted him about it. He withheld that truth, so I wanted to make sure that she felt as justified, because there’s one thing about conning somebody in cold blood, and there’s somebody conning somebody just out of emotional revenge that felt a little more interesting.

I read that Zibby said there were originally two alt endings for Brie. We saw Mike proposing, her revealing she slept with Brady, and him saying, “I know.” What was the other ending?

So when we shot it, we started playing with the notion of having him then say, “I know.” It felt interesting to me and I felt like I hadn’t seen that before. I was worried that it might feel like a hat on a hat. When we shot it, we watched it with the writing staff. They weren’t aware that we had added that line on the day. So when we got to that scene and he said that line, everybody screamed. I was like, “I think we’re going with that line.”

I definitely gasped! OK, we see the cliffhanger of Mel waking up after her wedding and possibly getting a baby. Can you talk at all about how Mel feels about that when we pick up in Season 7?

Yeah, the thing that I thought was interesting was waking up the next morning, after getting something that you wanted for so long, and then having this other thing put at your feet. Do you embrace that right away? The circumstances are complicated, in that Marley’s (Rachel Drance) her patient. She’s not sure where she’s operating from. So there’s a lot to unpack with that.

Will there be a time jump in Season 7?

We’ll pick up pretty much right where we left off — it’s about an hour later.

Got it! One of the other big cliffhangers is what happened to Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley). She wasn’t in this season much, which I assume was due to time commitments and her bigger role on “Sullivan’s Crossing.” Will she be back next season?

That’s the plan. Part of a shift creatively was trying to pull back on the crime stories that had been in the series before that started to overshadow [other things]and I think for some viewers, started to lean more dark. So in Season 6, it was our opportunity to make the crime element more personal, with Charmaine and Calvin’s relationship. So it was a little bit of an effect of that. But I love Lauren so much. She’s so incredibly talented. I know people have been divided about Charmaine, but I feel like she’s been a great villain. It was our intent to redeem her a little bit in Season 5, to understand why she did some of the things that she did. I feel like we still have a character that, even while she’s not in play in every episode, still resonates with the audience.

Cameron (Mark Ghanimé) returned briefly and was really there for Muriel (Teryl Rothery) but then headed back to San Diego. Will we see him next season?

Unfortunately, Cameron won’t be back as a series regular next season. I love Mark, and I loved Cameron. I think he’ll always be part of our “Virgin River” world and family. So if the story presents itself, I’d love to see him back.

I know you introduced the prequel cast earlier in the season, but do you have a vision for how long the flagship of “Virgin River” could go? Seven seasons is quite an accomplishment.

As long as the fans keep showing up and there’s still an appetite for it. I think it’s a show that’s about human experience, and it’s multi-generational. It would be a dream to continue to get to live with these characters and grow old with these characters. The show feels like the kind of show that can do it.

This interview has been edited and condensed.