4 Main Reasons Why Virgin River Christmas Specials Were a Letdown

After almost three months of waiting, fans were treated to Virgin River's Christmas episodes exactly a week ago. But apparently the audience is divided on the specials, as some people think they're the best episode of VR's fifth season, while others find them frustrating, if not terrible.

Here are four main reasons why viewers were upset with Virgin River's Christmas episodes.

Uneventful

Despite the enormous anticipation for the Christmas specials, Virgin River fans were left completely unimpressed by the second part of Season 5. First and foremost, viewers didn't enjoy the first festive episode, which seemed to be a quick recap of the rest of the season. Given that Season 5 of VR is arguably the most eventful of all, it was a tall order to cram all the events into one episode – and it proved to be a total failure.

As a result, the second Christmas episode contained all the festive events. But this time there were too many to follow.

Hallmark-esque Ambience

As the first specials in Virgin River's five-year run, the Christmas episodes were very different from the rest of the show. While they were truly festive and exciting, they were too reminiscent of corny Hallmark productions. Sure, the Netflix show isn't the most serious series in its own right, but the two specials made it seem like the epitome of triviality, something fans didn't appreciate.

Sudsy

Another problem, albeit a very similar one, was that the two Christmas episodes seemed to turn Virgin River into a full-blown soap opera. Charmaine's dramatic pregnancy arc, Lizzie and Denny's suddenly rekindled romance and family planning, Doc and Hope's saccharine re-engagement, the whole Mel-finding-her-biological-father storyline – VR seems to be spinning drama for drama's sake. It's just not exciting anymore.

Unsatisfying Mel and Jack Dynamics

Let's be honest! We love Virgin River for its central romance. While Part 1 of Season 5 featured enough of Mel and Jack and explored their relationship under different lights – the proposal, Jack's property arrest, Mel's miscarriage – the Christmas specials veered away from them and focused on the side characters, like Cameron and Muriel, Lizzie and Denny, Brady and Lark, and so on. As much as it was exciting to see Jack's family for the first time, the lack of his interaction with Melinda left the audience unsatisfied.