What's Wrong With Mel Finding Her Bio Dad Arc?
It's simply nonsensical if you think about it.
Summary
- Virgin River's Christmas episodes were released a few days ago, much to the fans' delight.
- Many viewers think Melinda found her father too quickly.
- The actress' explanation makes the whole storyline illogical.
It's only been a few days since Virgin River's Christmas specials premiered, but it's fair to say that every fan has already watched them. Released on November 30th, the two episodes in question opened this year's festive season with a sprinkling of snow and holiday cheer.
Needless to say, the specials were quite eventful, with a number of highly anticipated revelations. For instance, Charmaine finally gave birth to her twins. Hope and Doc got engaged. Lark played Dan Brady. But arguably the main event was Mel finding her biological father, Everett. While it was exciting to see the fan-favorite character get a living parent, the moment was also quite disturbing because it raised many questions.
How Come Mel Found Him So Fast?
Given the notoriously slow pace of Virgin River, fans are taken aback by how quickly Melinda was able to find her real father. It took her a couple of months since the first part of Season 5, when she decided to search for the man, and a day-long Christmas treasure hunt to finally track him down. This seems like a big deus-ex-machina moment, much to the chagrin of fans.
But there's a reasonable justification for it. Alexandra Breckenridge, who portrays Mel on the show, recently spoke out in defense of the Christmas special's bio-dad hunt.
'It didn't happen that fast. I mean, Virgin River is a small town, everybody knows everybody. And he still lives in Virgin River, the likelihood of finding him is pretty high. I get it, if you are in a city or if you're in a suburb that was a little more sprawling, then it might seem like it happened too fast. But given the parameters of Virgin River and how small the community is, I thought that it made sense,' the actress said in an interview.
How Come Nobody's Ever Seen Him Before?
If we take Breckenridge's point of view, it's completely illogical that we've never seen Everett on the show before. Given that he's supposed to be a regular resident of Virgin River, we should have encountered him at least once during the show's five-season run. Yet we haven't, and it doesn't seem like any of the characters have.
Sure, it's a lot more intriguing to add a new character to Virgin River – it gives the show some zest and vigor – but it's done in a rather sloppy manner. As exciting as the revelation of Mel's father's identity is, it remains the weakest link in the entire show so far.
Source: Deadline.