Virgin River Star Reacts To Season 4's Biggest Mel-Centric Twists, Including That Long-Awaited Surprise

Another season of Virgin River means another season of drama for Mel Monroe, and we wouldn't have it any other way. (Sorry Mel!)

But if you thought the Netflix drama would go easy on its leading lady now that she's with child, think again. From multiple near-fatal emergencies to a pair of jaw-dropping paternity twists, the show's 12-episode fourth season kept Mel plenty busy, for better or worse.

Of course, drama can also be a good thing, as evidenced by at least one wonderful (and incredibly long-awaited) moment featured on this list.

(Needless to say, if you haven't binged Virgin River Season 4 yet, you might want to turn around now. It's nothing but spoilers moving forward!)

Read on for star Alexandra Breckenridge's take on eight of the season's biggest Mel-centric twists, then drop a comment with your own thoughts, as well as your hopes for Season 5.

Virgin River kicked off its fourth season with a moment fans aren't soon to forget: Mel, Jack and Mark sharing a scene for the first time. It may have been just a dream, but considering Mark is dead, we'll take this awkward trio any way we can get it.

"Wasn't that funny?" Breckenridge tells TVLine of Mel's men meeting. "It was funny to film, too, because [Martin Henderson and Daniel Gillies] have known each other from years and years ago. But obviously they'd never worked together on the show."

(Fun fact: Henderson and Gillies previously played romantic rivals in the 2004 film Bride and Prejudice.)

After four episodes of drama, Mel surprised Jack with a romantic weekend getaway... only for their pilot to suffer a heart attack in the middle of their flight.

"When I read that, I was like, 'We're going to shoot that on the ground, though, right? I'm not going up in one of those planes!'" Breckenridge recalls with a laugh.

And even though the pilot's medical emergency was a surprise to Mel, Breckenridge was hardly surprised by her character's quick-thinking.

"Anytime there's something medical, Mel how she snaps into action," she says. "She's very professional in that way, and that's one of the things I love about playing Mel — she has this intense vulnerability, yet she's an extremely strong, capable nurse. She's very confident in her skills, so she really takes charge during medical situations when she needs to."

Season 4 was rough on Jack, who found himself turning to alcohol to cope with his increasingly complicated life. By extension, the season was also rough on the people closest to Jack, as his actions affected everyone around him — especially Mel.

"We'd played up some of the alcoholic tendencies in Season 1, and we as actors knew that that was in the script, but I'm not sure if some of it was taken out at the time," Breckenridge recalls. "The next couple seasons, we didn't really play the alcoholism so much. Martin and I had talked about that as a storyline that dropped off. But I think Charmaine's pregnancy and his PTSD sort of bubbled to the surface and exacerbated the drinking."

No one can blame new doc Cameron for catching feelings, but offering his unsolicited advice to Mel about how Jack wouldn't be a reliable father? Yeah, that was a bit much.

"For the amount of time they've known each other, he really oversteps when he gives his opinion about Jack," Breckenridge says. "It clearly comes from a place where he's developed a crush on Mel. She knows it, but she doesn't really want to admit it. We'll see where that takes them in Season 5."

Virgin River's waiting game extended to Mel and Jack's engagement, which was finally made official at the end of Episode 11.

"It was really sweet," Breckenridge says of the proposal scene. "Martin played it in such a kind, loving way. He got all misty eyed, so I got misty eyed. I don't know that he was expecting that. Sometimes you go into a scene seeing where it takes you. Over 41 episodes into filming, this back-and-forth for the two of us playing these characters, it was a really nice moment that they got to."

The introduction of the villainous Melissa (played by Barbara Pollard) in Virgin River's fourth season seemed like a Brady problem at first... until it was revealed that Melissa, who happens to be Nick's sister, could also very well become a thorn in Mel and Jack's side moving forward.

"Nick and Melissa getting involved in this glamping business may or may not become problematic for Jack," Breckenridge says. "I'm not sure what her intention is yet. She obviously doesn't have good intentions, and I'm not entirely clear if Nick is oblivious to what Melissa does, or if he knows. He seems like such a kind guy. I definitely don't think his wife has a damn clue. She would probably have told the entire town by now."

It may have been an agonizing wait, but we were relieved to learn in Episode 12 that Jack is the father of Mel's unborn child.

"Mel wants to have a child with Jack," Breckenridge says. "She doesn't want to live in the past. As much as having a part of Mark is significant in a lot of ways to her, she wants to move forward and have a family with Jack. She really doesn't want to have Mark's baby. She's moving forward and needs to leave that part of her life behind her." Breckenridge also shares in the fandom's collective relief. "I was gunning for that storyline," she says. "I was adamant that it shouldn't be Mark's baby."

As for the finale's other paternity twist, a panicked Charmaine revealed to Jack that he did not father her fast-approaching twins.

"I was also like, 'I think Charmaine having [Jack's] kids is absolutely bananas as well,'" Breckenridge says. "I got my wish at the end of the season, because that wasn't really the plan for a minute. I think they were planning to have them go the other direction. I was like, 'You're all insane!'"

While Breckenridge doesn't know if she's solely responsible for this turn of events, she was "definitely the squeaky wheel about it," she says. "Every chance I got, I was like, 'Are you sure we want to do this? I don't know if it's the right direction.'"