Doc Revealed as Mel's Real Father Would Be Virgin River's Biggest Fail
Netflix's romantic hit series seems to have written itself into a corner.
Virgin River Season 5 Part 1 ended on a surprising note: the show's protagonist, Mel Monroe, found out that her biological father might be alive and a resident of the same town she moved to less than a year ago. A shocker, right?
It sounds like a pretty nonsensical plot twist. How on earth could Mel have randomly picked a place where her late mother's lover lives? Was it the call of blood or something?
But let's put aside the outlandishness of this cliffhanger and look at the story from a different perspective: the narrative. After all, you can't deny that this mystery made you want to see more.
Most Obvious Fan Favorite Candidate
Who could be Mel's father? While there are a few possibilities, Vernon 'Doc' Mullins would be the most obvious candidate.
Since Mel and Doc have a long history going back five seasons and have gone through a rollercoaster of an emotional journey together, from initial feuding to a deep bond, many viewers certainly consider Doc the best option for the position of Mel's father.
But that would also be the worst decision the Virgin River writers could make. And here's why.
Virgin River Repeats Itself
If we look at the past storylines in the show, we will notice that many of the central themes revolve around pregnancy, children, and parenting. At this point, Virgin River has gone overboard with the father mysteries.
The 'who's the father' trope featured prominently in the previous two seasons, and now it's back. But even for Virgin River, making Doc Mel's father is a cliché too far.
You see, Doc already has a secret child and a grandchild, for that matter. When Danny first came to town with the news that Doc's college girlfriend had given birth to a son, it was an exciting development. The problem is that rehashing this same plot device not only makes for sloppy writing but also ruins Season 4's arc.
If Mel turns out to be Doc's illegitimate child, like Danny, it will have people wondering how many more of Doc's kids are out there. And if Doc isn't Mel's child, fans will be disappointed because no one else is a better fit. So, it looks like the Virgin River writers may have written themselves into a corner.
We'll see how they deal with this dilemma in the holiday specials, which hit Netflix on November 30.