Sticky Feet
Episode 2 of Virgin River Season 3 begins with Mel and Jack reflecting on the burnt house incident. Mel is worried that Jack could have PTSD given his time in Iraq. Jack however, finds himself conflicted over whether to stay at Mel’s or not. Given it’s only a small house, he doesn’t want to get on her nerves. However, the pair soon learn that the fire was a result of faulty wiring and not arson thankfully. Meanwhile, Doc rings Hope and leaves a voicemail for her, warning about the Category 3 hurricane ready to sweep in to Port Royal Island. Doc is understandably worried, especially as he’s unable to get through to his wife. On top of that, Doc finds himself at logger heads with Julia who warns about the trials and tribulations of hiring his replacement. As Doc starts interviewing, the potential replacements go from bad to worse. Meanwhile, problems up at the logging company sees Dan grappling with the possibility of running into financial difficulties. Dan decides to try and keep this quiet for the time being, but he’s very clearly worried. Elsewhere, Ricky manages to get some alone time with Lizzie, who’s absolutely dying to get into his pants. As they head up to the lodge together for their romantic getaway, Ricky is too busy thinking about Connie. That is, until Lizzie stats undoing her shirt. This seems to miraculously do the job, stopping him worrying. Compounding to Jack’s stress around his living arrangements is Char. Given her rapid engagement after 3 weeks, she’s also intending to move over to Clear River with Todd. She nonchalantly mentions how he could come and visit with an “open door” policy but it throws his plans for the twins completely out the window. Speaking of which, Mel heads up to visit Doc and play cards. While there, Doc finds himself worried sick and trying not to let it consume him. Mel tells him to “have hope” in a completely unexpected but pretty funny pun. It’s a really touching dialogue and easily the best bit of this episode. Elsewhere, Preacher receives a letter telling him to be careful. If that wasn’t enough drama, Lilly heads over to see Mel, dropping the bombshell reveal that she has cancer.
The Episode Review
Virgin River returns with another chapter, this time leaning into Jack’s living arrangements and where he’s going to stay. While this is going on, there’s an equal amount of emphasis on Doc and his continued worries for Hope as she’s potentially on course for a rough ride with this fast approaching hurricane. Given Doc’s looking for a replacement, how many of you want to guess that it’s going to be Mel put up as a replacement? It seems orchestrated from the beginning but we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out for now. The other subplots continue to tick along too, with Dan and Calvin’s story pushed to the sidelines as all our other characters continue with their day to day endeavours. However, Lilly revealing that she has cancer right at the death of this episode certainly throws a spanner in the works, leaving many question marks over how bad this could be going forward. We’ll have to wait and see of course, but for now that does look like it’s going to be a significant plot point for the future.
