Virgin River season 5 part 1 ending explained: Who is Mel's real Dad?

Virgin River season 5 part 1 spoilers follow – including episode 10's ending.

Netflix's Virgin River is more dramatic than ever in season five, and that's saying something.

Part one starts off innocently enough as Mel and Jack prepare for the arrival of their first baby together. It's a high-risk pregnancy though, so Mel is thinking about leaving the clinic behind to concentrate on her own well-being. Meanwhile, Jack is dealing with the fallout of Charmaine's meddling from the last episode of season four.

However, that all pales in comparison to the wildfire that takes the townsfolk by surprise around the midway point. The ramifications of that, not mention all the other hijinks going on, end up playing a huge role in the final episode of season five's first half.

'Labor Day' begins with a confrontation between Jack and Brady who tries to explain himself but is cut short when Melissa Montgomery and her henchmen kidnap him at gunpoint and shove a bag over his head.

In a remote warehouse, Melissa interrogates Brady with the knowledge that he's been spying on them as an undercover agent this entire time. Jack follows the SUV and, on the way, he calls Mike for backup, but Mike tells him to not get involved and stay safe.

Jack's gonna Jack though, so he rushes in to stop Brady being tortured. Together, they then fend off Melissa's forces. She escapes in the chaos, but Mike and his fellow officers catch Melissa before she can sneak away completely.

Just when it looks like everyone's going to be OK, Gene, Melissa's right hand man, jumps out of nowhere and shoots Mike who falls to the ground after getting off a shot of his own.

At the hospital, we discover that Mike's now in a coma brought on by the gunshot and resulting lack of blood. While Brie waits by his bedside, the FBI questions Brady, and that's a problem because the only reliable person who can vouch for him is Mike, but Mike's been put out of action.

Meanwhile, the rest of Virgin River, blissfully unaware of all this, start preparing for the Labor Day Carnival that's been organised by Lizzie and Hope.

Mel returns to the clinic where she's welcomed with cupcakes and beaming smiles. She suggests that they could potentially start a birthing centre there using her own experiences to draw on. That could be a huge boost for Virgin River.

Muriel's having a pretty great day too. Not only is she promoted to the role of office manager, but Doc also gives her permission to date Cameron, as long as their relationship out of the office doesn't affect anything that goes on inside the office.

Jumping back to the hospital, Brie tells Brady she can no longer be with him, although she is grateful for everything he's done. Humbled, Brady apologises to Jack, and then they head to the glamping site together which has now been taken over by the FBI.

There, they discover that all of the tenants are being forced out as the area needs to be cordoned off indefinitely. With Jack's glamping dreams now in the dirt, he asks Nick if the tenants can temporarily stay at his B&B.

Mike finally wakes up to questions from the FBI, which is kind of stressful, but then Brie surprises him with an adorable first date right there in the hospital bed while he's recovering.

Romance is in the air elsewhere too as Kaia returns to surprise Preacher. She was going to leave originally, but she couldn't bear the idea of being apart from him, so Kaia's found a job nearby. Jay's not happy, but Jay will just have to deal with that we guess.

Ava has news for Mel at the festival; she's decided to have a hysterectomy, but will freeze some eggs on the side just in case. On top of that, Ava's also going to sell her farmland to build a golf course. Virgin River's getting fancy now, it seems.

In other news, Muriel and Cameron finally make things official with some PDA and Doc reveals to Hope that he's managed to nab a spot in a clinical trial to try and save his eyesight. And when Denny asks Lizzie to go off travelling together, she reveals to him that she's pregnant.

Pretty dramatic, right? Now that must be it, surely?

If you thought that was a lot of drama, you've clearly never watched Virgin River, because there's plenty more where that came from.

Towards the end, Kaia discovers that her brigade has found a body in the forest, and Preacher's mind instantly goes to Wes who he buried there some time ago.

Calvin pops up too, as if he's returned from the dead, and he wants to become a proper father to Charmaine's twins. Yep, he's the Dad! Urgh, we know.

Mel, who's full of ideas recently, drops her biggest one yet on Jack when they take a surprise trip to Lilly's farm. There, she suggests that they buy the land and build a home for themselves there. Jack's surprised but he's into it, going so far as to suggest they should hold their wedding there too.

A time jump then takes us to Christmas where the second part of season five will take place in full.

There, Jack and Mel are having fun decorating when a call comes from Joey who reveals that she's found surprise love letters addressed to their mother. The kicker is they're from someone who lived in Virgin River. That means their Mum was having an affair, and the secret guy could even turn out to be Mel's father.

The credits then roll, leaving us with open mouths and one big open question: who is Mel's Dad?

Now, there's no proof yet that the man Mel always believed to be her father isn't still her Dad. But this being Virgin River, you can bet that the second part of season five will lean heavily into this mystery.

If we had to guess, we reckon Mel's Dad will turn out to be a major character who we've known all along. Why else introduce such a big, jaw-dropping moment if you're not going to make the most of it?

That makes Doc of all people a very likely candidate. He's already a father figure to the town, and it would certainly complicate his ever-evolving relationship with Mel. Saying that though, Doc already found out that he had a secret child and grandchild last season, so that could be a bit repetitive if he ends up entangled in another arc like that again.

Who else does that leave then? Nick, Bert, and Charlie are all possible candidates, but for now, we're as much in the dark as Mel is.

Hopefully, more clues will come our way when the rest of season five drops on November 30. There's no better time for family drama than the holiday season, although something tells us Virgin River might stretch this one out even longer into season six.

Virgin River seasons 1-4 are streaming now on Netflix. Season 5 Part 1 is out now and Part 2 will arrive on November 30.