Virgin River's Alexandra Breckenridge On Jack And Mel's Baby Plans
An unexpected "Virgin River" cliffhanger has fans of the Netflix series wondering if Mel Monroe's dreams of becoming a mother are about to come true.
Throughout the series, Mel (played by Alexandra Breckenridge) has made it known that she wants a child, but her path to parenthood has been unsuccessful thus far.
After a stillbirth and multiple miscarriages in her first marriage, Mel experienced another miscarriage in Season 5 while pregnant with her boyfriend Jack's (Martin Henderson) child.
As the couple prepared to get married in Season 5, they agreed that parenthood was in their future and decided that they may end up welcoming a child through adoption one day.
In the Season 6 finale, Mel meets with a young woman named Marley (Rachel Drance) who was supposed to give her unborn child to a local couple in Virgin River. Marley first met Mel at the nurse's new birthing center.
On the morning after her wedding, Mel gets a call from Marley, who explains that she's worried the other couple may be backing out of the adoption. Marley says she wants Mel and Jack to adopt her unborn child.
Are Mel and Jack finally getting their happy ending? Speaking to TODAY.com, Breckenridge says yes — but with a catch.
“Mel and Jack are definitely going to end up having a child at some point. We don’t know when it’s going to be. They’re moving towards that direction. It might be a bumpy road," she tells TODAY.com
The Season 6 finale is full of jaw-dropping scenes that have viewers excited for Season 7. From the uncertain fate of Doc's (Tim Matheson) clinic to Mike's (Marco Grazzini) surprise proposal to Brie (Zibby Allen) and Charmaine's (Lauren Hammersley) disappearance, there's a lot to resolve next season.
What storylines have Breckenridge on the edge of her seat and what does Mel's journey to motherhood look like moving forward? We sat down with the "Virgin River" star ahead of its Season 6 premiere to find out.
Martin Henderson as Jack and Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel in "Virgin River."Netflix Mel's journey to motherhoodMel has dreamed of becoming a mother for so long. In the finale, she gets a call from a local girl named Marley, who says she wants to give her unborn child to Mel and Jack. What are your hopes for that storyline and how do you think Mel will respond?If the situation with Marley works out for their family, that would be really miraculous. For a lot of families that have fertility issues and move to adoption, it can be a very long road. It can be really heartbreaking.
There’s validity in showing that for our show, showing what that process is and mirroring that for the people watching. I don’t know what’s going to happen necessarily. I have a vague idea, but things change. Storylines change and they’ve definitely changed throughout the seasons of "Virgin River."
I think that the road to having a family for Mel and Jack is definitely going to be a big point of Season 7.
What kind of mom do you think Mel will be when that time comes?My response is always, “A better mom than I am.” And it’s not that I’m a bad mom. I’m actually a really lovely mother. I’m very caring. But Mel is more type A than I am.
I’m more of an artist. I am an actress and I’m an artist in general. So I’m not very regimented in terms of timing and social activities and signing my kids up for stuff. I think that Mel is going to be more of that kind of mom.
Mel and Jack's weddingThe Virgin River community gathered together to celebrate Mel and Jack's nuptials.Netflix At the beginning of the finale, we see Mel and Jack riding on horseback away from their wedding. Take us into Mel’s mindset in that moment. Why do you think she needed to get away?I think Mel really wanted to move into her marriage without her past and I think that she just got flustered. She got into a moment that she wasn’t expecting. A lot had taken place the night before. She definitely needed a moment.
Jack really sees her and is there for her and is so supportive. I don’t think she wanted to get on a horse necessarily, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world because I think that they were able to really reconnect and ground each other.
Jack and Mel finally say "I do" in the Season 6 finale.Netflix It's been a wild journey to the altar for Mel and Jack. What was it like to finally watch your character marry the love of her life?I knew it was something that fans were really looking forward to. I’ve seen it and it’s just beautiful. It’s gorgeous and it’s not cheesy. It’s just really sweet.
The whole town and the community all care for each other and love each other and they’re celebrating this beautiful love, this romance. It was really lovely to film. It was a little chilly, but gosh, it was just so beautiful.
Mel and her biological father Everett (John Allen Nelson) share an emotional moment at the wedding when he surprises her by playing the song he wrote for her mother. What do you think that moment meant to Mel and Everett?It was really important for Everett because he was really stuck in the past and he was stuck on his grief. He wasn’t able to move on for a very long time. And the relationship with Mel was a point in which he was able to find a way to open up to her, find a way to move on from his grief and finish this beautiful song that he had written for her mother.
Now Mel gets to have a new family member, a new parent in her life. And I’m really curious to see how that develops in Season 7.
Season 6 cliffhangers and highlightsThere were several cliffhangers at the end of Season 6 with Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) going missing, Mike proposing to Brie and admitting he knows she slept with Brady, and Marley offering Mel her child. Which of these storylines are you most looking forward to seeing more of in Season 7?I’m on the edge of my seat wondering what Mike and Brie are going to do. To be honest with you, that’s the cliffhanger that I’m most excited to know about. Hopefully Charmaine’s OK. I’m assuming she’s OK somewhere. I’m hoping.
But Mike and Brie, I love the choice they made with that one. Oh, it’s just so good. I just thought it gave him as a character and a person so much more ... I don’t know if depth is the right word. But it’s just like, “Who would do that?” There must be so much complexity going on behind his character for him to say that. It’s really interesting. It was such a good scene.
Marco Grazzini as Mike and Zibby Allen as Brie.Netflix What other storylines are you interested to see pan out in Season 7?Doc’s cliffhanger is really scary. The threat to the clinic is terrifying and I don’t really know how we’re going to approach that. I don’t know if the birthing center is going to be affected by that. I would imagine it might not be because Mel’s a midwife and I think she can still run the birthing center if a clinic closes. But I mean, you can’t close the clinic.
I’m looking forward to watching how Lizzie (Sarah Dugdale) and Denny (Kai Bradbury) deal with being parents at such a young age. I live in the South and people get married here at like, 20, 21 22, 23, 24, 25 and they have kids. It’s very common. I’m personally very happy that I waited until I was 34 to have kids. But I see all these young mothers and they’re just crushing it.
What was the hardest scene to shoot in the finale?The conversation between Mel and Doc at the hospital after Everett has a heart attack was particularly heart-wrenching, so that was a hard scene to shoot just on an emotional level.
Season 7 of 'Virgin River'What are your hopes for Mel and Jack in Season 7 and beyond?I hope to watch them explore becoming parents and what that looks like for them — the ups and downs of that journey. I found it to be a really interesting journey myself, becoming a parent. I hope that Mel starts cooking more and gets into farming a little bit. I like that for her. Maybe not so much riding the horse but like having a little garden, some chickens, a little kid running around.
Making it to seven seasons on a Netflix series is a milestone. Why do you think 'Virgin River' has been so successful?But I think that there’s something about the storyline between Jack and Mel that’s really intriguing. I definitely think that Martin and I had this electric chemistry we really stumbled into. We’re so lucky that we had it because we didn’t chemistry read or anything. We just both got cast and met and there it was. We just were really lucky.
I could go on about it. I think there are a lot of different things at play as to why "Virgin River" has gone on. But it’s gorgeous, it’s comforting, people’s storylines are personal and they touch upon things that people are going through. They inspire people. This is what I get from fans when they come up and talk to me about the show.
I’m a big fan of sci-fi, so I always want to be on the sci-fi show. I'm watching "Silo" and "Dune" right now and I can’t wait to watch "Dune" later today because it comes out on Sundays. But there’s nothing’s inspiring me about "Dune." But people get inspired by our show and I think that that’s really special.
Chrissy Callahan
Chrissy Callahan covers a range of topics for TODAY.com, including fashion, beauty, pop culture and food. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, watching bad reality TV and consuming copious amounts of cookie dough.