Virgin River.

Hello everyone and welcome back to another Friday’s Choice.

Last week I talked about Ten Crime Dramas That I Binged Watched, you should go and check that out if you haven’t already.

Today’s #fridayschoice is also tv related. If you follow me on Instagram (@katelovesliterature), then you will have seen from my stories that I started watching Virgin River on Netflix.

I have now finished all three seasons of this show and I am hoping that it will get picked up for a fourth season because there are too many questions that can’t remain unanswered.

This series follows Mel Monroe, a nurse practitioner from Los Angeles as she moves to the small town of Virgin River for a fresh start. As the series goes on, we learn from flashbacks about Mel’s past and what lead up to her needing a whole new start.

In Virgin River Mel meets an ensemble of great characters. There is Jack, the handsome barman who quickly becomes her closest friend. There is Doc, the gruff and stubborn doctor who Mel must learn to work with which is difficult until she begins to see the kind, caring man behind the gruff exterior. There is Hope, the self-appointed leader of Virgin River. Hope is funny, feisty, witty, independent, and stubborn. She has a habit of meddling in other people’s business but it is hard to be too annoyed with her when her heart is always in the right place.

There are many other brilliant characters. My favourite characters are Paige, Christopher and Preacher. I think their storyline is the most interesting and intense one in the show – no spoilers here though. If you want to see what I mean then you should check it out for yourself.

While there are a lot of characters, the core four are Mel, Jack, Doc, and Hope. There are a lot of storylines happening at once but even with so many moving pieces, the plot does not feel overwhelming.

There are some beautiful scenic shots because the setting of Virgin River is simply stunning and so it is a very visually pleasing show to watch. I also think the soundtrack is fantastic. There have been many times when I have been so impressed by the music choices because the songs feel tailor made to the scenes they are accompanying.

The cast is great. I think they really captured the small-town sense of community that a place like Virgin River is bound to have. The characters are imperfect but they are endearing. Everyone knows everyone and everyone looks after each other. It is quite an emotional show. I found myself tearing up on more than one occasion as the show covers some very emotional and poignant topics.

This series has been a nice change from my usual watches because while crime dramas are my favourite genre, this is the first series I have watched in a while that is not a crime drama. It is hard to say which genre Virgin River fits into. It is not a crime drama although season three has raised the stakes and there is some illegal activity going on which I imagine will continue if the show gets picked up for season four. As I said above, our main protagonist Mel is a nurse practitioner so I suppose I could call this show a lighthearted medical drama and I would say there are elements of a romantic comedy in it too.

It is a really good watch and I would recommend it.

Up until now I have been primarily writing about movies, books, and theory on Katelovesliterature.com and I have written quite a bit about theatre too in my theatre throwbacks but I also really do love getting invested in a good tv series and so going forward I will be writing more about different tv shows too.

I really love exploring different mediums of expression because I think it is fascinating to look at how many different ways a story can be told. I think that certain mediums work better for certain stories. When you are working with a tv format, the story and the characters can continuously grow and evolve but when you are watching a movie, the story and character arcs must fit into two hours and some stories simply need more time. Some stories need the cinematic scope while others will work better in serial format and so that is why as much as I am a movie lover, I also really do enjoy watching tv.

Going forward I will be talking about more tv shows, more poems, more plays, and more short stories. There is so much to come and I am looking forward to every moment.

We are approaching the end of August which means that August’s #bookofthemonth discussion all about Michael Connelly’s City Of Bones will be published soon. Keep an eye on my Instagram for updates.

We are also approaching my favourite time of the year, autumn and winter, and I am very excited for all that is to come.

Have you seen Virgin River? Let me know what you thought of it and if anyone has any tv suggestions for me, please drop them in the comments below. This has been Friday’s Choice. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Kate xo.