Virgin River season 6 wraps filming, but it's not coming to Netflix anytime soon

We have some excellent news about Virgin River season 6 to share with fans of the Netflix original series, but we also have some bad news to share, too!

Let's start with the good news! Production on Virgin River season 6 has reportedly wrapped. A few outlets have shared the news that the cast and crew finished filming in June 2024. Although the main stars Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson haven't posted much about the new season on Instagram, Martin Wood, director of episode 7 (and probably a few other episodes this season), shared on Instagram that production officially wrapped, as well. He captioned the pictures:

"Finally Done! Spent the last 3.5 months with Virgin River’s favourite Kiwi. If you like what he does in front of the camera wait until you see what he can do behind it! @virginriverseries @netflix"

Rich Keith, an executive producer of Virgin River, commented on Wood's post: "Such a fun block of episodes! Can’t wait for everyone to see them :)." Zibby Allen, who also stars in Virgin River, also liked the picture. So, you know it's real!

Over the last few weeks, Henderson, who is directing the eighth episode of Virgin River season 6, as well, had been sharing updates that production was winding down.

After getting renewed for season 6 in September 2023 before season 5 premiered, production on the new season started in February 2024. It was supposed to last through May, according to reports. It looks like they kept the new season on schedule for the most part.

That's the good news! The bad news is, well, let's get into it.

Virgin River season 6 release pushed to 2025

On Feb. 1, Netflix revealed its lineup of movies and shows slated for released throughout 2024, but Virgin River was noticeably absent from the shows list. Unfortunately, later that day, confirmation arrived that season 6 would no longer be eyed to release in 2024. Instead, the next season of the series will be released in 2025. When in 2025? Hopefully sooner rather than later!

While a number of other popular shows will still release on Netflix in 2024, there's a handful of shows that will miss the year altogether due to strike delays that pushed back production and post-production. It would be a Christmas miracle if season 6 was able to be released by the end of the year, but Netflix seems to have accepted a 2025 release.

On Nov. 10, 2023, The Viewer’s Perspective published an interview with Virgin River writer Ildiko Susany, who revealed the official episode count for season 6. While the previous two seasons contained 12 episodes, the sixth will go back to basics with a 10-episode season. It’s unclear whether Netflix had given the reduced episode count order to season 6 prior to the writers’ strike or if it’s a result of the strike.

Even though Virgin River fans had been hoping season 5 would follow suit with seasons 3 and 4 and release in July 2023, Netflix revealed that the release date had been pushed to fall. Virgin River season 5 part 1 began streaming on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. The first part consists of 10 new episodes full of romance, drama, and fire. But more episodes arrived that fall.

In addition to the release of season 5’s first 10 episodes on Sept. 7, the final two episodes of season 5’s 12-episode order released on Nov. 30. These two episodes are holiday-themed episodes. Fans have long wanted a Virgin River Christmas special, and season 5 finally delivered two episodes taking place during the holidays. We'll get into spoilers from the season and what they mean for season 6 a bit further down!

It's kind of wild that we have to wait until 2025 to watch Virgin River season 6. There's more than enough time to release the episodes this year, but it seems like Netflix has other plans.

Season 6 should be ready to go in early 2025, maybe sometime in the spring. It should be ready to roll by then! Netflix could even kick off the year with a New Year's Day release for Virgin River season 6 in 2025, but we'll just have to wait and see!

Release Prediction: Early 2025

Season 6 has finished filming

On Feb. 22, a lot of great Virgin River news was announced by Netflix. On top of news that a potential prequel spinoff is in the works (more on that below!), Deadline confirmed that season 6 officially kicked off filming in Vancouver. Production will likely continue through the spring and then go into post-production. Netflix has already confirmed the season will release in 2025.

See Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson in the all-smiles filming announcement below!

During an Instagram live with Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson revealed that the sixth season would likely begin filming in early 2024. He also let it slip that cameras could begin rolling around February or March, meaning the season could wrap filming sometime in the summer for an eventual release in 2025. That's exactly what's happening!

As much as Virgin River fans will wanted season 6 to start filming immediately after season 5, the writers were still hard at work at crafting the season. The showrunner Patrick Sean Smith revealed to Glamour that prior to the writers’ strike, they had completed half of the episodes. On Oct. 9, 2023 the show’s official account revealed that the writers had excitedly returned to work on the remainder of season 6 following the resolution of the strike.

In her interview with The Viewer’s Perspective, Susany revealed that the writers would be completing work on the back half of season 6 “in a little over a month,” which means the writing on the season finished before the end of 2023. The writing process on season 6 began in spring 2023 before the strikes took place, but the writers were still working on scripts as of November 2023.

Production lasted about three and half months, according to Wood's caption from his Instagram post. It wrapped in late May or early June. We don't have the official date that production ended, but it was sometime in the late spring of 2024.

WARNING: Spoilers from Virgin River season 5 from this point forward!

Virgin River season 5 part 1 ending cliffhangers

Ahead of the holiday episodes, Virgin River season 5 episode 10 ends with a tease of what’s to come. Mel receives a phone call from her sister and learns that their mother had been having an affair with a man in Virgin River years ago. The love letters Joey found leads her to believe that this man could be Mel’s real father. 

Elsewhere in the lead up to part 2, Lizzie tells Denny that she thinks she’s pregnant, which could surely throw a wrench in his plans to return to college. Doc signs on for a clinical trial for his macular degeneration, and it’s set to begin after the new year. He’s willing to take the risk on getting his vision back in the trial.

Brie and Mike begin a relationship, as do Cameron and Muriel (and gossip surely spread swiftly). Less romantically, Kaia tells Preacher that body has been discovered in the fire wreckage, and that has him worried for obvious reasons related to Wes. And finally, we learned that Calvin is the father of Charmaine’s baby, who still have yet to be born. But she does finally give birth in the Christmas episodes!

We're going to meet Mel's parents in the past

Along with the news that Netflix has been developing a Virgin River prequel series based on Mel's parents, Deadline revealed that before the spinoff gets the official green light, viewers will be able to get a glimpse into potential prequel in season 6. The upcoming season will feature flashbacks to Mel's mother Sarah and her birth father Everett, setting up the prequel. Virgin River's new showrunner Patrick Sean Smith will be writing and developing the prequel.

According to Deadline, they're still in the process of casting the younger versions of Sarah and Everett, who would then likely reprise their roles in the prequel spinoff should it be ordered to series. The potential prequel doesn't appear to be a limited series by way of Bridgerton's prequel spinoff Queen Charlotte, which means there's potential fans could see all sorts of drama go down in Virgin River in the past. Does this mean we'd get a young Doc, Hope, and more, too?!

What could happen in season 6?

Prior to the release of episodes 11 and 12, which marks the official conclusion of the fifth season, it was tough to predict exactly would could happen in season 6. However, some pieces of the puzzle had been teased toward the end of season 5, such as Lizzie’s pregnancy, Doc’s clinical trial, and Mel and Jack’s intention to buy Lilly’s farm.

Mel and Jack see buying the farm as an opportunity to grow their family, in whichever way works best for them. Jack also suggests that the farm could be a great place to get married. Being so, there could be a wedding in the works for season 6. Obviously, there will be plenty more ups and downs for each character to endure separately and as a community.

Season 5 part 2 contained a lot of answers to our questions, namely the identity of Mel's biological father. She and Jack embark on a holiday scavenger hunt around town to find him, and they finally do: Everett Reid. (No, we didn't know him prior to this season.) Elsewhere, Lizzie's pregnancy is confirmed, Cameron and Muriel seemingly hit a rough patch, the truth about Wes' body closes in on Preacher, and Lark might not be who we (or Brady) think she is.

After the holiday episodes, Smith revealed that Doc's trial will be successful, so that's a cliffhanger we don't have to lose sleep over. The showrunner also offered a number of teases about the upcoming season, including a continued focus on Mel and Jack, Mel continuing to get to know Everett (and learning what he has to tell her!), Brady and Brie still having a shot at love, and so many other juicy tidbits to look forward to in season 6. Check out all of the teases here!

Susany teased season 6 as much as she could to The Viewer’s Perspective, sharing this small tidbit on the trajectory of the forthcoming episodes:

"I’m not sure how much I can give away for season six, but I will say we are very excited to focus on Mel and Jack, but we will still have everyone’s stories as well. We are definitely thrilled about Mel and Jack’s journey in season 6."

- Ildiko Susany

Stay tuned for more Virgin River news and updates from Netflix Life!