All roads lead to "Virgin River." Netflix is cooking up a "Virgin River" prequel series about Mel's parents, Sarah Monroe and Everett Reid, which will likely be set in the late-1980s or early-1990s, prior to Mel's birth.
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The still-untitled project will explore Sarah and Everett's mysterious love story, Deadline reported on Feb. 22. In the bombshell fifth season, Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) learned from a stash of secret love letters that her late mother had an affair with a man from the quaint northern California town she now calls home.
Last year's Christmas special saw Jack (Martin Henderson) and Mel track down her biological father Everett Reid, played by TV veteran John Allen Nelson ("24") in the present-day. By the end of the special, Everett, who lives in a cabin deep in the woods of Virgin River, decided he wants to be part of Mel's life, after all.
The prequel series is currently in the development stage, with "Virgin River" showrunner Patrick Sean Smith penning the script. Before the couple get their own throwback love story, a young Everett and Sarah will appear in flashbacks in Season 6, slated for a 2025 release.
Back in Nov. 2023, Smith hinted that fans would learn more about Everett and Sarah's romance in the upcoming installment:
"What we're exploring more in Season 6 is who Everett Reid is, what his backstory is, what his connection to Virgin River was when he met her mom and then also what it is today," Smith told Deadline at the time, adding that Season 6 will focus on the "relationship of Everett with the town as well as Everett and Mel."
How Sarah met Everett remains a mystery, but we know that Sarah had Mel's sister Joey (Jenny Cooper) with her husband prior to the affair.
Casting is currently underway for the young Everett and Sarah to appear in Season 6. The plan is for those guest actors to headline the "Virgin River" prequel series.
Netflix had better hurry. Season 6 has begun filming in Vancouver, with Breckenridge and Henderson sharing the adorable first set photo, taken in Mel's cabin, on Instagram:
Netflix's "Virgin River" via Instagram
