The intensity of episode 5 carried over into Virgin River Season 5 Episode 6 as the wildfires raged on bringing destruction and devastation to the beloved town. 

Disclaimer — this review includes spoilers from the episode — proceed with caution.

But one thing remained true—heroes rise to the occasion, and we saw all of Virgin River’s residents step up and take charge, fighting for their town and their home. 

Instead of running away from danger, they ran straight into the fire, quite literally, as Mel found Ava unconscious on the floor of the barn as Chloe cried out for help. It’s a good thing she made the choice to check on them because if it hadn’t been for her, these two likely wouldn’t have made it out alive. 

Thankfully, Jack also arrived in the knick of time so that Mel could focus on Chloe, who inhaled a lot of smoke, while he carried out Ava as she regained consciousness before going to help the animals before Lilly’s entire farmhouse burned down.

I was worried that something would happen to Jack when he went back to the barn, but he made it out safe and sound, which was a good thing because he played a key role in “Operation Save Virgin River.”

As the fire hopped the river and began to spread near Jack’s bar, everyone was forced to evacuate to another zone to stay out of harm’s way. 

Knowing that if they stood by and did nothing, the bar would be completely destroyed, they began to wet down the bar, as Jack urged Preacher to listen to Brady’s suggestion to build a backfire. 

Preacher might not trust Brady (again, Brady being forced to prove that he’s not the same person he once was), but in a life-or-death situation, personal feelings and opinions don’t carry much weight. They were united in a common goal with the enemy being the fire, not each other, as Jack emphasized. And it was Brady’s quick thinking that proved to be the most effective with Kaia even praising him for the idea as it bought them time and prevented the flames from destroying Jack’s. It would be a huge loss and blow to the community if Jack’s was destroyed, so I’m glad they were able to protect it. 

Hope and Nick decided that working together would yield better results, especially because Nick was in way over his head while Hope had some experience in crisis management, but she also proved to be on top of her game despite the TBI, and even if she might not ever be 100%, she’s very clearly still in control of her life. 

Instead of waiting for emergency services to send help, she took it upon herself to motivate Charlie (who had a massive crush on her!) to lend them their duster plane so they could start putting out the fires. It was an ambitious plan, but one that Jack co-signed, even volunteering as a pilot in order to get the job done. Did it seem like too easy of a solution in the grand scheme of things? Absolutely, especially as we see wildfires burn for weeks on end in certain parts of the country, but for the sake of the series, I’m glad they were able to get a handle on things before things became even worse.

Jack’s hero moment quickly fizzled out when he arrived at the designated fire safe zone and found a distraught Mel, who simply apologized to him before she broke down crying. 

The loss happened during such a busy moment that she wasn’t allowed to sit with her feelings, nor was the audience, but now that everything is settling down, she has to come to terms with it, grieve, and find a way to move on. This is definitely not the outcome I wanted for their storyline, but it’s a reality that happens far too often to women and isn’t talked about as much as it needs to be. I hate that this happened, but the reality is that given Mel’s history, it was a huge possibility.

It wasn’t just Mel who suffered the loss as Jack went from expecting three children to none, and that’s bound to take a toll on a person. He was dreaming up his family’s future, so he’s going to have to mourn that in his own way, and hopefully, it won’t destroy him or cause him to spiral, all while being a source of comfort for Mel. 

And hopefully, they can also take comfort in knowing that their journey to starting a family doesn’t have to end—they can adopt, foster, or even get a surrogate. There are options that can be explored to make them feel complete as a unit, options that benefit from being told and explored on a large-scale TV series. 

As for Mel, the poor girl has been through hell and back during the wildfires, not just because of the miscarriage, but trying to ensure that baby Chloe makes it out alive after all the smoke inhalation and helping out at the clinic. It’s a lot for one person to handle and by the end, you could see the tiredness and exasperation settling in. She needs a hot bath and a good night’s rest. 

Doc and Cameron needed to rely on each other, even though there was plenty of tension there as Cameron was upset that Doc didn’t tell him about his macular degeneration. When Doc decided to stay behind with critical patient Jay and wait for the Medevac team, Cameron did as well, underscoring his distrust of the doctor. It definitely was a fair reaction as he felt blindsided, but it was also judgemental as he didn’t take into account what Doc was going through. Mel proved to be more understanding (which makes sense because she knows him well and built up a great relationship with him), making it clear that the diagnosis did not define Doc nor did it make him less of a skilled doctor. She also reminded him that Virgin River needed him right now, especially—and she wasn’t wrong. Doc dedicated his whole life to this town and this practice, and he didn’t want to let anyone down, including himself.

We’re all flawed humans; Doc was simply doing what he thought was best until he realized he could no longer go on pretending that nothing was wrong.  The moment his vision became impaired, he took a step back, so in his mind, he was never putting anyone in danger, though I can see how a partner would want to be made aware of a situation, especially when he’s the only one at the clinic who seemingly didn’t know anything was amiss. 

Preacher also had quite a day trying to keep everyone at Jack’s fed while worrying about Kaia, the firefighter he clearly developed feelings for who was out there on the front lines. And when he finally asked someone about her, he found out that she was being medevacked with her husband, Jay, the man who was impaled while out in the field. I wish you all could’ve seen the way my jaw dropped in this moment because, Kaia, girl!

Before I pass any judgment, I will give her the benefit of the doubt because she did seem genuine in her feelings for Preacher and because she didn’t seem to want to keep it a secret that she was seeing him. Hope put two and two together pretty quickly, so if Kaia was trying to sneak around, I think she’d be a little more discreet with the flirting in such a tiny town that thrived on gossip, even in the most dire of times. I’m going to assume that she’s either separated or in the process of divorcing her husband and didn’t feel the need (or comfortable enough) to say anything just yet as things with Preacher initially started as nothing more than a hook-up. Maybe she was worried that if he knew she had a complicated past, she’d scare him away? Clearly, she doesn’t know Preacher because his loyalty is unmatched.

So, while finding out that the woman you’re falling for has a husband, it might not be what we think it is… at least, I hope it isn’t. I’ve said this in every review, but Preacher has truly had his heart broken enough and I will not let him get hurt again. 

Not being able to communicate with anyone since the phone lines were down made things difficult to check in on loved ones, and it kept Brie and her mother, Amelia, on the edge of their seats at home, glued to the TV and waiting any news about the fate of Virgin River.

Mike was on hand to give them updates from a friend, which was helpful in curbing anxieties, but while I wanted to believe he was coming from a good place, I can’t help but think he’s using Brady’s absence (and the fact that he knows they are on the outs because of Brady’s situation) to his advantage and to get closer to Brie. 

I know there’s no bro-code at play because he’s no longer friends with Brady, but he cares about Brie, so the decent thing to do would be to be a friend to Brie without trying to pursue something more. 

I’m glad he was there because she needed the support, and also a person to help her navigate her tricky dynamics with her mother, but she doesn’t need someone to replace Brady.

It was slightly frustrating that she didn’t seem more concerned about Brady’s safety because Mike was there. Brady made one mistake, but he came clean about it, and she seems to have crossed him off the list. And that happens a lot to this poor guy—he can’t seem to escape the past and no one gives him enough credit, even when he’s trying to change. 

He turned to Mike for help getting out from under Melissa’s grasp, and I hope that it doesn’t mean Mike will help him while also stealing his girl.

As for Brie and her mother, I genuinely loved their honest heart-to-heart. Jack may be the strong one, as evidenced by his heroics diring the fire, but that’s not always necessarily a good thing, and it’s definitely not an indication that someone is okay. Strong people break, and it’s often a lot worse as they’ve been taught to put up walls and repress emotions in order to keep up the strong appearance, which we’ve seen with Jack. It’s incredibly strong to be vulnerable and be able to let other people in—Brie is just as strong as Jack, just in different ways. 

Finally, Denny, who thought he accepted death because of his diagnosis, was ashamed of how he acted in the face of death during the fires, but honestly, I don’t think anyone who has anything worth living for is every simply content with the idea of dying. And the fear of it is absolutley not a reason to feel humiliated, even if you do freeze up in the moment. He and Lizzie found themselves in a very scary situation, unexpectedly, and if it wasn’t for Bret and his truck, they probably wouldn’t have made it out alive.

The person they went to save saved them, which just goes to show that during an emergency, everyone has to look out for and rely on one another. One moment doesn’t define you, and Denny proved himself by leaping into action later and running to Doc’s to warn them about the evacuation. 

I think both Denny and Lizzie are starting to realize that they’ve fallen harder than they ever expected, with so much falling into place and perspectie for Denny. He now has a reason to stay and live—a woman he loves that he has a future with. If anything good came out of the fire, it’s finding love in a hopeless place. 

What did you think of the episode?