What’s wrong with Denny on Virgin River? (Virgin River spoilers)

From the moment we first met Denny in the season 3 finale of Virgin River, we had a feeling he’d play a large role in Virgin River season 4. After all, you don’t tease a character’s arrival in the closing moments of the season unless they’re about to play a major role and shake things up. And this definitely proved to be the case with Denny.

Across the fourth season of Virgin River, Denny quickly emerged as a key player in the show with his introduction creating a lot of mystery within the town of Virgin River.

In the season 3 finale, it’s revealed that Denny is Doc’s grandson — a revelation that left many surprised as Doc has made it clear that he never had any kids. Well, as we find out in season 4, Doc actually did have a son but he was never made aware of his existence until Denny’s arrival.

As Denny tells Doc, his grandmother Rose found out she was pregnant with his father just as Doc was set to begin medical school. Out of fear that the news could derail his future, Rose broke things off with Doc via a letter and never told him about the son she had.

Sadly, Doc’s son passed away a month before Denny came to Virgin River and his death was actually what brought him to town as it made him realize how precious life is and that he wanted to be able to meet his grandpa before it was too late.

What’s wrong with Denny in Virgin River?

While Denny’s initial intentions for coming to town seem innocent, his motives are quickly called into question as we see him make a series of questionable actions across the season.

He was caught trying to break into the medication cabinet at the clinic and two episodes later Lizzie discovered a prescription for Klonopin hidden away in his room. We then find him looking through clinic documents and then making a trip to the bank where he transfers funds to an unspecified account.

It turned out that Denny went to the bank to use the payout he received from his dad’s insurance to help pay off the clinic’s death as a way to honor his dad, but when Doc confronted him about attempting to break into the medication cabinet he beat around the bush telling Doc he would look at him differently if he knew the truth.

At first, Denny says the medications found are for anxiety; however after he passes out in the penultimate episode of season 4, it becomes clear that there was something seriously wrong with Denny.

After dancing around the topic all season long, we finally learned in the season 4 finale that Denny has Huntington’s disease.

It was a shocking revelation to close out his storyline in season 4, but one that explained why Denny was so secretive. He simply wanted to try to keep his illness a secret and get to spend time with Doc before his health started to decline. It’s also why he pulled back and tried not to get too close to Lizzie, out of fear of knowing he doesn’t have a future and was trying to protect his heart.

Knowing that he has Huntington’s disease has altered Denny’s look on life and continues to play a key role in his storylines in the show as expected.

Virgin River is streaming now on Netflix.