Virgin River: Why Kiwi Martin Henderson’s Netflix drama is the ultimate comfort watch – صحيفة الصوت

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REVIEW: While it’s more Netflix’s answer to Hart of Dixie, or a rural take on A Million Little Things than Yellowstone, it’s easy to see why Virgin River has gained an army of admirers over its three-season run.

The Northern California-set soap certainly doesn’t stint on drama, conflict or romance, as it breathlessly crash-bang-wallops from one crisis to another, teeing up the next one before you’ve had much time to process the last.

But for all its potential preposterousness, there’s something warm and comforting about watching the sometimes trivial, mostly life-upending trials and tribulations of the inhabitants of this small town. Need a few hours escape from crumbling democracies, Covid-ravaged society and climate change-fuelled chaos? Welcome to binge-watch friendly world of Virgin River, where “the internet is slow, but the gossip is fast”, where a racoon regularly haunts the local bar to steal the silverware and the arrival of a handsome new doctor causes the waiting room to be filled with virtually the entire over-40 female population.

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Yes, as season four of Sue Tenney’s (Good Witch, 7th Heaven) adaptation of Robyn Carr’s long-running literary series (more than 20 books since 2007) begins, Vernon Mullins’ (Tim Mathieson) medical practice is standing room only for Cameron Hayek’s (Mark Ghanimé) first day.

While revelling in the attention, getting used to the analogue systems is a little more tricky, but he’s heartened by the warm welcome he’s received from Mullins and nurse practitioner Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge). “When I first arrived, I was greeted with a shotgun and asked to leave the premises,” she laughs, much to Hayek’s horror.

While perhaps a little too much of a distraction, his arrival offers welcome relief for both Monroe and Mullins. The latter is still helping his beloved Hope (Annette O’Toole) come to terms with the fallout from a brain injury and the associated memory loss, while the former is now carrying twins, unsure if they are her late husband Mark’s (Daniel Gilles), or current beau Jack Sheridan’s (Martin Henderson).

“We like to keep things as complicated as possible,” Sheridan jokes to the obstetrician, as she outlines how Monroe’s “history” means additional screening, advanced testing and extensive monitoring are required.

He’s all for that, especially as it helps take his mind off his recent shooting and seeming betrayal by his fellow marine Dan Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth). “I just don’t feel Iike I can sit back and wait for something bad to happen,” Sheridan says, as he books a specialist appointment at a prestigious Californian facility. It’s a unilateral decision that doesn’t best please Monroe. “If I focus on the ‘what if’s’, I’m not going to function,” she chides.

Throw in a young man claiming to be Mullins’ grandson, Sheridan’s efforts to try and persuade his sister to stay in town, the bar’s chef’s son being kidnapped and Sheridan’s ex Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) also being in the family way – and you have plenty of potential for “the feels”, let alone the more-than-likely shock revelations and rapid reversals in fortune that are waiting in the wings (and believe me the scripts work very hard to sow the seeds of all manner of twists and turns in the first couple of episodes of this bumper 12-episode installment).

It’s not even remotely subtle, hardly intellectually stimulating, but thanks to its engaging ensemble, topped by the delightful, sparky Breckenridge (This is Us) and our own maturing gracefully heartthrob Henderson.

Sadly, Gilles character’s death means we don’t get a Kiwi smackdown a la The Boys, but the writers certainly try to engineer some conflict, even if it’s from beyond the grave.

Season 4 of Virgin River is now available to stream on Netflix.