Virgin River, one of Netflix's most beloved romantic drama series, is returning for a fifth season this Fall, and we have a bunch of information about the upcoming season, with production having wrapped in late 2022.
Based on the Virgin River novels by Robyn Carr (first published in 2007), the series first debuted on Netflix with 10 episodes in December 2019, and its story follows Mel Monroe, a nurse practitioner looking to escape her past, as she embarks on a new era of her life in the remote Northern California town of Virgin River. The romantic drama has been one of the streamer's sleeper hits, with fans around the world enjoying the series starring Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Jenny Cooper, and Colin Lawrence.
Now, let's get into the details of everything we know so far about Virgin River Season 5, including its Fall 2023 release date, new cast members, episode titles, and the latest updates.
When did Netflix renew Virgin River for Season 5?
On September 20, 2021, Netflix officially renewed Virgin River for a fourth and fifth season. Two-season orders are pretty rare, but it's easy to see why there's a huge demand for new seasons of the show. The romantic drama has a huge global fanbase.
This is a great indication that Virgin River continues to beat all the internal goals. According to Netflix's Head of Drama, Jinny Howe, the series “has some of the most attractive economics for a TV series with a very high return on investment as it costs a lot less to make than special effect-heavy productions.”
Virgin River Season 5 Release Dates
Since debuting in December 2019, Virgin River has aired one season per year. The third season premiered in July 2021 as well as the fourth season, so a July 2023 release for the fifth season would have made sense.
Virgin River Season 4 was released on Netflix on July 20, 2022, and filming on Season 5 wrapped in November 2022.
In February 2023, Alexandra Breckenridge shared in a cameo video to a fan that she expects the new season to be released in “maybe July again.” She noted that she hasn't received an update on when Season 5 will arrive on Netflix.
In May 2023, Breckenridge shared a photo on Instagram with the caption: “Flashback to VR season 5. No you didn’t miss anything. It’s not out just yet….”
It looks like fans will have to wait a little longer as Season 5 has not been released yet.
Earlier this year, Deadline reported that Virgin River Season 5 is scheduled to release in Fall 2023, not July like what many fans believed.
According to Tudum, Virgin River Season 5 is scheduled to release on Netflix on September 7.
On July 26, Netflix confirmed that Virgin River Season 5 will be split into two parts, with Part One releasing on September 7, 2023, and Part Two, which will consist of two special holiday episodes, will be released just in time for the holidays on November 30.
When did Virgin River Season 5 wrap filming?
Virgin River Season 5 wrapped filming on November 21, 2022, according to the announcement in the official Instagram account of the series. The announcement came with a video of the cast celebrating and dancing to the tune of We Are Family by Sister Sledge.
Even though filming for Season 5 has wrapped, the work for the upcoming season isn't done yet. The new episodes will go into post-production for up to six months, and that includes sound-mixing, editing, and more behind-the-scene magic needed to make the episodes ready for the audience to binge-watch.
The production on the fifth season of Virgin River officially started in July 2022. The Instagram account of the romantic drama posted a screenshot of a virtual table read with the cast, revealing that Season 5 is coming. It was also revealed that there's a new showrunner for the latest season, introducing the audience to Patrick Sean Smith, who's known for shows like Chasing life, Greek, and Supernatural.
Check out the Instagram post from July 18, 2022 below:
Virgin River Season 5 Episode Count
The first three seasons of Virgin River contained 10 episodes each, but the new season will have more. We already know that Virgin River Season 4 has 12 episodes, and Season 5 will have the same amount.
Deadline reported that Virgin River Season 5 will have a total of 12 episodes.
According to What's on Netflix, each episode of Virgin River Season 5 will have a budget of between $3 million and $5 million, meaning that the new season could cost Netflix up to $60 million total.
Virgin River Season 5 Episode Titles
What's on Netflix first reported the episode titles of all 12 episodes of Virgin River Season 5. Note that these episode titles are not in the correct order.
Songbird (Expected to be Episode 2)
Calculated Risk (Expected to be Episode 3)
Never Gonna Be the Same (Expected to be Episode 4)
The More the Merrier
From the Ashes
Full Moon
A Second Chance
Angel’s Peak
Father Christmas
Heroes Rise
Labor Day
Trial by Fire
It's worth pointing out that one of the rumored episode titles is "Angel's Peak," which is also the title of one of the novels in Robyn Carr's Virgin River book series.
What's on Netflix also shared a list of writers who will pen each episode of Virgin River Season 5.
Episode 501 – Written by Patrick S. Smith
Episode 502 – Song Bird – Written by Jackson Sinder
Episode 503 – Calculated Risk – Written by Talia Gonzalez
Episode 504 – Never Gonna Be the Same – Written by Tesia Joy Walker
Episode 505 – Written by Erin Cardillo & Richard Keith
Episode 506 – Written by Thomas Ian Griffith & Mary Page Keller
Episode 507 – Written by Talia Gonzalez and Erin Cardillo & Richard Keith
Episode 508 – Written by John Lowe
Episode 509 – Written by Ildiko Susany
Episode 510 – Written by Jackson Sinder & Tesia Joy Walker
Episode 511 – Written by Erin Cardillo & Richard Keith
Episode 512 – Written by Erin Cardillo & Richard Keith
Virgin River Season 5 Cast
Here's a list of the confirmed cast members for Virgin River Season 5:
Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel Monroe
Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan
Annette O’Toole as Hope McCrea
Tim Matheson as Dr. Vernon Mullins
Benjamin Hollingsworth as Dan Brady
Zibby Allen as Brie Sheridan
Gwynyth Walsh as Jo Ellen
Colin Lawrence as John ‘Preacher’ Middleton
Sarah Dugdale as Lizzie
Jenny Cooper as Joey Barnes
Nicola Cavendish as Connie
Chase Petriw as Christopher
Kai Bradbury as Denny Cutler
Marco Grazzini as Mike Valenzuela
According to What's on Netflix, the new cast members of Virgin River Season 5 include:
Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica)
Susan Hogan (Legends of Tomorrow)
Elise Gatien (Supernatural)
Paolo Maiolo (Supernatural)
“There’s some new characters coming to Virgin River this season that will mix things up a bit,” said executive writer and writer Richard Keith to Tudum (via Comic Book).
Virgin River Season 5 Trailer
On August 9, Netflix released the first trailer for Virgin River Season 5, which teased more romantic drama and a raging wildfire.
What will Virgin River Season 5 be about?
At the end of Virgin River Season 4, Charmaine is in a difficult situation as she's scared of losing her twins. She confessed to Jack and Mel that the father of the two boys is not Jack. Of course, fans want to know who fathered her twins, so hopefully, we'll find out and get to see her give birth in Season 5 after waiting for a long time.
Many fans are speculating the true father to be either Brady, Mike, or Dr. Cameron.
Alexandra Breckenridge teased that the fifth season is going to be "pretty heavy". Speaking to New Beauty, she teased:
“I think this season has started out well and we’re getting into a few episodes soon that are pretty heavy. They’re really intense and I think that they’re some of the best episodes we’ve ever done. I never say that either! I think that there’s a high sense of drama that starts to come up this season that it’s going to leave people on the edge of their seats. At least, I hope. I’m excited to get into that.”
In October 2022, a behind-the-scenes photo suggests that Mel and Jack will be celebrating in one of the episodes of Virgin River Season 5, so it's likely that we're getting a festive episode.
Season 5 could also develop the relationships between Lizzie and Denny, Brie and Brady, and Julia and Preacher, but at this point, it's unclear what will happen to these couples in the future. There's also a ramping tension with Jack's new business plan, so it looks like he's going to have a tough time in the fifth season.
Annette O’Toole teased the plot while speaking with Hello: “There is a big thing that happens right in the middle of the season that brings the community together in a very big way and it’s a kind of timely topic that’s happening in our country and I’m really glad that they’re going there.”
In July 2023, Netflix released a bunch of first-look photos teasing the events of Virgin River Season 5.
Virgin River Season 5 will have new and returning characters
Netflix's head of drama, Jinny Howe, talked to Deadline about how the romantic drama will change going into the Season 5:
“I think what’s going to be interesting is to see this universe continue to grow and expand and to see new characters, other characters return. A lot of that was set up in the Season 4 finale but it’s going to be really exciting to see all of that come to a head in Season 5. And some of the soap that’s going to come out of these new complex tensions and triangles.”
Is Virgin River Season 6 confirmed by Netflix?
We have good news for you, Virgin River fans: Yes, there will be Virgin River Season 6. The update of the renewal was announced at Netflix’s first-ever Upfront event on May 17, 2023.
In the same interview with Netflix's Head of Drama, Howe told Deadline that we'll “definitely see more longevity and growth with the show,” saying:
“As long as the audience asks for it and shows up — and I think we see with Season 4 that the fandom is very strong and growing in many places as well — it feels like based on what we’re seeing with Season 4 and the anticipation for Season 5 that there is a lot more storytelling to offer us. It will be exciting to see which characters continue to break out and audiences crave more of; we’re paying very close attention, understanding that this is a really rich universe of characters and that people can’t seem to get enough, myself included. So I think as long as that continues to be the case — which we’re very hopeful for — you can rest assured that there will be more Virgin River.”
However, fans will have to wait as Netflix hasn't revealed any new information about Virgin River Season 6, and with the ongoing writers' strike, it's still unclear if the sixth season will begin production anytime soon, but we will update you with the latest information here, so stay tuned and follow Netflix Reporter on Twitter for the latest updates.
