Virgin River season 5 recap guide: All 12 episodes explained

Season 5 episode 10 recap: Labor Day

Picking up where we left off in the previous episode, Brady insists to Jack that it isn’t what it looks like. Don’t you know that’s what they all say, Brady?! Jack doesn’t believe him, saying that it looks like he’s selling drugs out of his trailer and threatens to call the cops. As Melissa drives up outside, Brady has to give Jack a quick explanation about the situation in order to not escalate anything. From inside the trailer, Jack watches as Melissa holds Brady at gunpoint and her minions throw a bag over his head and toss him into the back of the car.

Immediately, Jack calls Mike to tell him what’s going on. Well, as much as what he know is going on. Because he’s Jack, he’s following Melissa’s SUV to the warehouse Brady followed them to before. Mike instructs him not to engage, but when he watches Brady being tortured (over the surveillance footage of him sneaking into the warehouse), Jack stealthily creates a distraction. When does Jack every listen to what he’s told? Once Melissa drives off, Brady and Jack work together to fight off her footmen.

Thankfully, the police arrive in time to arrest Melissa and save Brady and Jack. However, one of the footmen from inside the warehouse emerges at the door. Mike shoots him, but Mike is shot as well, right by his heart.

On a less intense note, Preacher catches Kaia trying to sneak out in the morning because she doesn’t like goodbyes. They agree not to make a big deal when she ships out and leave it on an “I’ll see you when I see you” note. Later, Kaia returns to the bar to surprise Preacher with the news that she turned down the Alaska team lead position to be with him and work the post-fire cleanup in Virgin River.

Meanwhile, everyone congregates at the hospital. Mike isn’t dead, but he lost a lot of blood and remains unconscious. He’s not out of the woods yet. Brady’s being interrogated by the FBI, and without Mike awake to corroborate his story, he’s facing an uphill battle. Preacher and Mel both leave the hospital, but Brie and Jack have each other.

In spite of the continued craziness happening, the town still prepares for the Labor Day carnival. Lizzie’s busy running around to make sure everything’s running smoothly, giving her no time to catch up with Denny. But they both have things they need to talk to each other about and plan to get together later during the carnival to talk.

The full staff of the clinic — Doc, Cameron, Mel, and Muriel — have their first staff meeting. Muriel receives the title of office manager, Cameron proposes a telehealth initiative to help broaden their reach to patients in rural areas, and Mel suggests opening a birthing center. Looks like the clinic is working like a well-oiled, forward-thinking machine. Later in the episode, Muriel talks to Doc about her relationship with Cameron, and he gives them his blessing. During the carnival, Cameron and Muriel kiss and Jo Ellen spreads word around town.

Brady leaves questioning and catches Brie holding Mike’s hand at his bedside. They talk in the hallway, and Brie expresses that she wished he had told her that he was acting as a confidential informant. But he believed that the less she knew, the better for her safety. She tells him that she appreciates what he’s done for her and she will love him forever (her exact words!), but the circumstances of her feelings have changed. She can’t go backward just because the dangerous situation is over.

Ava asks Mel to help her come up with a list of questions for her doctor for the hysterectomy consultation, in the event that she spaces and forgets what to ask. Mel offers a list of wise and vital questions, and Ava quips about her question surrounding potential regret of not having children. But Mel counters with what she and Jack have been discussing lately, that becoming a parent isn’t solely about how you became one. Later, Ava decides to go through with the hysterectomy, but opts to freeze some of her eggs before the surgery.

Brady and Jack rush to the glamping site as the FBI arrive on the scene, where Jack learns that the site and its assets are now property of the FBI for the investigation. The investigation could potentially tie up Jack’s plans for years, but the tenants (a.k.a. evacuees) have to be out of the trailers by the end of the day. Jack and Nick plan to move some of the evacuees to the rooms of the bed and breakfast that are still usable. Lark finds out Brady knew what was going on the whole time, but doesn’t hold it against him for not telling her. They plan for a date at the carnival.

Mike finally wakes up, and Brie’s right by his side to greet him. Although the authorities are quickly on hand to take his statement, he and Brie later have milkshakes and have their first date. Since Jack was feeling sorry for himself about losing the land, Mel decides to take him to the carnival to lift their spirits. Before working his shift at the beer garden, he’s surprised to learn Brie and Mike have gotten super close. While talking with Ava, Mel learns about the plans to sell the farm to a company turning it into a golf course. When she hears that the tree swing survived, she gets an idea.

Doc receives a phone call about the clinical trials for his macular degeneration, and at the carnival, he talks with Hope about his decision to go through with the trial. She questions his decision, since there’s a chance it won’t work and he could go blind, but he’s willing to roll the dice since he will eventually lose his vision anyway. Doc also catches up with a very still pregnant Charmaine, who’s doing well. But she encounters Calvin in the parking lot. He’s alive and reveals that he’s the father of her twins.

Lizzie and Denny finally have a chance to sneak away for a talk during the carnival, and he admits to her what Rose told him about making a mistake staying in Virgin River and leaving the med school track. He disagreed with his grandmother at first, but he decided to bet on his future and ask Lizzie to come with him to college. In that same moment, Lizzie tells him that she thinks she’s pregnant.

After having a cute moment on the ferris wheel, Mel and Jack run into Preacher and Kaia, who receives a phone call from her brigade. They were busy doing cleanup near a service road and found a body in the wreckage. There were no casualties in the fire, meaning the body had been buried and been there for a while. Preacher has a memory of burying Wes’ body. Uh oh!

Mel takes Jack to Lilly’s farm and shows him the tree swing that’s still standing. She reminds him of the first time they came to the farm and bonded at the tree swing, sharing her dream of having a farmhouse and filling it with kids. They plan to buy the farm and make it their home and their future for their family. In a time jump to the holidays, Mel talks on the phone with Joey, who tells her she found love letters her mother wrote to someone she was having an affair with in Virgin River. Joey believes this man could be Mel’s real father.

Written by Reed Gaudens