Virgin River Is a Show About Nothing - So Why Can't We Stop Watching?
The TV shows we love to watch largely depend on the mood we’re in. Sometimes, we just want a silly sitcom to keep us entertained. Other times, we want a bit of mystery or action, which only a gritty crime thriller can offer.
However, one of the most important vibes a series can have is to be a nice, easy comfort watch. When you can’t be bothered to think too hard and just want a healthy balance of low-stakes drama and happy endings, there are lots of shows you could turn to.
Right now, though, there’s one relative newcomer that rules the roost in this department. Virgin River is an absolute phenomenon, even though its success doesn’t really make any sense.
What Is Virgin River About?
Virgin River is a relentless machine, first and foremost. Since it first aired in 2019, Netflix has produced a new season of the quaint soap opera-esque drama series every single year. Season 7 landed on the platform in March, which takes us to 74 episodes in total.
Over the course of those 74 episodes, we’ve followed Mel Monroe as she starts a new life in the remote Northern California town of, you guessed it, Virgin River. While she intends to put her traumatic past behind her and get over the death of her husband and child, drama has a funny way of finding her wherever she goes.
She’s fallen in love again, cared for most of the town in her role as nurse practitioner and midwife, and is now a vital member of the community. Mel has also found her biological father, had a miscarriage while saving people from a wildfire outbreak, and has now adopted a set of twin babies after their mother went missing.
Suffice it to say, plenty is going on in Mel’s life, but it usually all works out in the end.
People Love Virgin River Because It’s Risk-Free Television
Most of the time, Virgin River is a fairly calm and cosy TV show. It helps that there’s a stunning backdrop of countryside vistas to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, while the ensemble of relatable and stereotypical characters helps us to connect with the series like it’s an old friend we see once a year.
Like any good soap opera, though, there are always new storylines emerging to keep viewers engaged. Each one is more shocking and scandalous than the last, but they’re never really all that bad.
Throughout the series, there have been bodies turning up in the woods, Mel’s new lover was shot in his bar, a car crash nearly killed the town’s Mayor, as well as pregnancies and life-threatening illnesses aplenty. We’ve even seen the town falling foul of a drug cartel.
However, all of these storylines tend to twist and turn for a few episodes before finding a resolution one way or another. Naturally, some characters fall by the wayside. But, by and large, the main cast remain, and they soon go about their lives, with the writers finding new, juicy storylines to sink their teeth into next.
Viewers can invest their time into this show knowing that they’re guaranteed to get a few thrills without ever really needing to exert themselves mentally or even worry too much about the consequences of what plays out. Soap operas are a bit like comic books in that way; we see characters in moments of peril and dealing with tough situations, but we know they’ll come out the other side and do it all again next week.
This is the kind of television we all need sometimes. Escaping the stress of your own life by watching fictional characters going through their own mess can be really cathartic, especially if you just sit on your sofa with a nice hot drink and some snacks to see it all unfold.
Other Comfort Watch TV Shows Worth Checking Out
Personally, I’d say new episodes of Virgin River are reason enough to make a Netflix subscription worth the money. But there are plenty of other shows out there if you’ve already binged every single episode of Mel Monroe’s gently dramatic life.
You’ll also find Gilmore Girls on Netflix, which captures those small-town vibes and has similar themes of familial bonds, romantic drama, and first-world problems. It’s far less scandalous and tense than Virgin River, so if you’re really feeling delicate, this is the way to go.
Or, if you really want to lean harder into rom-com tropes, Emily in Paris has all the ingredients you need: A young woman uproots her life to move to a new place and falls in love. It’s formulaic, but we all know it’s a formula that works!
Meanwhile, on Apple TV, you’ve got Ted Lasso. Don’t worry, you don’t have to care about football at all, or even understand the rules of the beautiful game. This is a great mix of gentle comedy, sweet character development, and pretty predictable plot twists.
Finally, I’d throw a hat in the ring for Yellowstone as a comfort watch. Like Virgin River, there are deaths, intense romances, family drama, and a bit of crime and corruption in this Taylor Sheridan show. But there are also plenty of montages of horses roaming in fields, lovely sunsets, and it's all set to catchy country and western tunes. John Dutton’s life may surround him with violence most of the time, but deep down, he’s not so different to Mel Monroe.
