‘Virgin River’ Season 5, Part 2 Ending Explained: What Secrets Are Lark, Jimmy, And Mel’s Dad Keeping?

Virgin River delivered a hefty dose of holiday cheer with Season 5, Part 2’s two seasonal episodes. But after the ice skating, Christmas tree decorating, and cozy celebrations, the series gifted viewers some more jaw-dropping cliffhangers.

While the whole of Season 5 explored loss, medical issues, pregnancy, a massive drug operation, wildfires, and much more small-town drama, the holiday episodes ushered a much-needed (albeit short-lived) sense of peace into Virgin River as Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge), Jack (Martin Henderson), family, and friends wholly embraced festive traditions and basked in the joy of togetherness.

The Season 5 finale welcomed fresh faces to Virgin River, took relationships to the next level, featured a rare Virgin River snowfall and musical, and finally introduced Mel to her father. But in its closing moments, the cheery, hopeful episode took a dark turn, foreshadowing relationship challenges, legal trouble, and concerning reveals to come — including that ominous final line spoken by Mel’s dad, which showrunner Patrick Sean Smith told Decider is “definitely a bit of a bombshell for their relationship” and “something that informs a lot of what’s happening in Season 6.”

Wondering how Virgin River Season 5, Part 2 ends? Decider’s Virgin River Season 5 finale recap has you covered. Just be mindful that spoilers lie ahead.

Virgin River Season 5, Part 2 Ending Explained:

Season 5, Episode 11, “The More the Merrier,” ended with news that Mel’s dad, Everett Reid, was still living in Virgin River. So Episode 12, aptly titled “Father Christmas,” finds Mel and Jack pulling up to his house on Christmas Eve.

Despite a “No Solicitors” sign, Mel knocks on his door and a man appears, asking who’s looking for Everett Reid. “His daughter,” Mel says. “I found love letters addressed to my mother, Sarah Jenson.” The man claims he’s not the guy she’s looking for and doesn’t know where to find him. But when he runs to the kitchen to turn off a timer, Mel sees Everett’s trophy from the 1976 Lumberjack Games on his shelf and assumes he simply doesn’t want to know her.

When Mel gets back to the car she tells Jack that the mystery man is her dad, but he wants absolutely nothing to do with her. She’s upset, but ultimately happy she got clarity. And before she has time to process the rejection, a very pregnant Charmaine calls to say she’s finally (at long last!) having contractions.

Mel meets Char at the clinic to deliver the twins, and to her surprise, their father Calvin is there. After seeing the stress he’s causing Char, Mel banishes him from the clinic with a new understanding of why she lied about Jack being the dad. (Turns out the FBI dropped all the charges against Calvin and put him in witness protection for his help busting Melissa. As for how the two got together, Char said she was drunk, sad, and mad at Jack.) Knowing Calvin’s history in town, Mel agrees to keep the baby daddy news to herself. But if he’s back for good, we imagine it won’t be secret for long…

Elsewhere in Virgin River, Brie and Jack are disappointed in their parents, who seem incapable of spending the holidays together. Post-cold plunge, Preacher tells Kaia he loves her, but she can’t promise anything to anyone just yet. And Lizzie’s mom vows to support her during her pregnancy. Speaking of Lizzie and Denny’s baby-to-be, they decided not to get married quite yet, since Denny knows marriage means Lizzie is signing up to care for him as well. All this wedding talk reminds Doc that prior to Hope’s accident and his diagnosis, the two were planning to renew their vows. But no time to think about that! Like Mel, Doc has twins to deliver!

Once in labor, Charmaine’s blood pressure skyrockets, and Mel and Doc fear she has preeclampsia. They hook her up to an IV and successfully deliver the twins, marking the end of a Virgin River era. After the taxing delivery, Doc and Mel share a touching moment and he admits he feels like a proud father when they work together. Mel tells Doc her biological dad wants nothing to do with her and asks if he’ll walk her down the aisle when she marries Jack. Doc, overjoyed by the ask, says he hopes he can see the look on Jack’s face. Then he asks Mel to deliver his great-grandbaby in the spring.

Before the moment gets any cuter, Doc excuses himself to plan something special for Hope and the 44th Annual Virgin River Christmas Tree Decorating Competition kicks off. Cameron finally tells Muriel that his ex-fiancé showed up, revealed she’s sober, and wants to start a family with him. But he sent her away because he’s happy with his life and love in Virgin River. Aw! Preacher and Kaia exchange gifts early and she reveals she took a full-time fire chief job in Virgin River so they can be together. Double aw! And Lizzie and Denny share that they’re having a girl! Triple aw!

One duo we haven’t talked about yet this finale? Brady and Brie, who bump into each other and get their flirt on AGAIN in the finale. They’re seconds away from a mistletoe kiss when JACK interrupts for some sibling time, and despite the drama, the Sheridan family reconciles and spends Christmas together.

Before a delicious holiday feast at Jack’s bar, the town gathers for the Christmas tree unveiling, where Doc uses Hope’s Nutcracker-themed tree as a romantic vow renewal proposal. “While I still can, I want to look you in the eyes and marry you all over again,” he says. Obviously, Hope accepts! But unfortunately, Cameron and Muriel’s romance isn’t going as smoothly.

Despite Cam’s devotion to life in Virgin River, Muriel doesn’t want children and fears if they stay together he’ll resent her for never becoming a father. “Losing you now would break my heart, but knowing I was the reason you missed out on all those things you wanted would break it even more,” she says. Cam assures her he’s good with a family of two, but he agrees to give the decision some extra thought, so there’s a chance trouble’s ahead for Virgin River’s newest lovebirds.

A romantic montage of happy Virgin River residents shows Jack giving Mel a puppy for Christmas and Brady playing checkers with Hazel, but things take a turn when Lark excuses herself to take a phone call from —wait for it — JIMMY, who’s still in prison. “How’s our little girl doing? And how’s Brady?” he asks. “He doesn’t suspect a thing,” she says, teeing up an evil laugh.

“I was excited for Season 5 to feel a little bit like a redemption story for Brady after so many seasons of him just making wrong choices and kind of letting people down,” Smith told Decider. “And now that there’s this threat, it’s a question of how he’s going to react. Is he still going to continue to be the guy that’s on the up and up or is he going to go back to Shady Brady?”

But Brady isn’t the only one in trouble. Authorities finally identified the body in the woods, which means things are about to unravel for Preach and Kaia. Yikes!

After some serious stress, Virgin River sends Season 5 off on a hopeful, curious note when Mel’s dad shows up outside her house and admits she looks so much like her mom it broke his heart. “I didn’t lie. I’m not the man who wrote those letters, not anymore — not since your mom died…I don’t know what you wanted to say to me or what you wanted me to say back. I don’t know if you wanted me in your life or just wanted to ask me for a kidney or something,” he explains. “By the way, I am your father. And I’m here now.” He gives Mel a stack of love letters from her mom in case she wants to hear her voice again, and the season ends with him saying, “I’ve got something important I need to tell you.”

Just when we think one Virgin River mystery is solved, he utters the final line of the series, telling Mel, “I’ve got something important I need to tell you…” Is he dying? Does Mel have a half-sibling? Does he just want to brag about winning the Lumberjack contest some more? As Smith said, it’s “a bit of a bombshell for their relationship,” but we’ll have to wait until Season 6 to hear his secret. Classic Virgin River.