'Virgin River' Learns Its Fate for Season 4 at Netflix

Fans won't have to worry about Virgin River leaving Netflix anytime soon. On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter shared that Netflix renewed Virgin River for two more seasons. The series stars Alexandra Breckenridge as Melinda Monroe, a woman who answers an ad to become a midwife and nurse practitioner in a remote Northern California town. 

With Netflix's renewal, Virgin River will continue to air on the streaming service through at least Season 5. This is major news for the series, particularly as it only just aired Season 3. But, due to the show's success, Netflix decided to move forward with renewing Virgin River for Seasons 4 and 5. According to THR, Virgin River was at the top of Nielsen's streaming rankings for both Season 2, which was released in November 2020, and Season 3, which was released this past July. For the week of July 12-18, it reportedly peaked with more than 2.1 billion minutes of viewing time. While Netflix has shared that there will be two additional seasons of Virgin River, they have not yet noted when they will premiere.

Virgin River originally premiered on Netflix in 2019. In addition to Breckenridge, the series also stars Martin Henderson, Annette O'Toole, Colin Lawrence, Lauren Hammersley, and Tim Matheson. The romantic drama is based on the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr. The first Virgin River novel was published in 2007. The series currently boasts 21 books in total with the latest, Return to Virgin River, being released in October 2020. 

Shortly after Season 2 was released, Breckenridge spoke to Huffington Post about the series. During her interview with the publication in December, she explained that she typically avoided shows such as Virgin River. Instead, she sought out "edgier" roles when she was first starting in the business. But, after becoming a mother in 2016 (she and her husband Casey Hooper welcomed son Jack in September 2016 and daughter Billie in December 2017), her viewpoint changed. She began, "Sometimes you don't want to watch something that's gonna really take you down some kind of analytical path. Sometimes you really want something that's just basic and cozy - a beautiful small town where people fall in love." Breckenridge added, "Emotions are heightened right now and this show provides the perfect sort of soft landing and entertainment for people dealing with loss or going through what they're going through [with the coronavirus pandemic]."