Carry On is the first episode of the first season of Virgin River and the first episode of the show overall.
Summary[]
When nurse practitioner Mel moves to a remote town in Northern California looking for a new life, she’s startled by the welcome she receives.
Plot Summary[]
Melinda Monroe drives along the road into Virgin River, but is accidentally driven off the road into a ditch when a large truck tries to overtake her. She remembers a moment from her past when she was being examined by a doctor. Out in the middle of the woods, she is approached by an old man who offers her a ride into Virgin River after she struggles to find cell service. He tells her that Bert, the local tow truck driver, will collect her car as soon as possible. Unaware of her surroundings, Melinda is reluctant to take the ride but has no other option other than to accompany the man into town.
During the car journey, Melinda attempts to make conversation but it is mundane. When they arrive at the McCrea cabin, where Melinda is meant to live, the man laughs at the state of it, given it looks nothing like the photograph advertised online. Melinda reveals that she is the new nurse practitioner hired by the mayor to aid an ageing Dr. Mullins. As Melinda leaves, she introduces herself, and he reveals that he is the Dr. Mullins in question, but becomes agitated and annoyed at her remark about his age.
Inside the cabin, Mel is horrified by the state of the furniture and the sheer amount of debris. Moments later, she meets the mayor of the town, Hope McCrea. Mel questions Hope on the year long accomodation she was promised when she applied for the job, remarking that she cannot live in the cabin, but the mayor dismisses her, remarking that she will have it fixed up promptly. Hope suggests that Mel grab a bite to eat at Jack's Bar whilst the cabin is cleaned.
At the bar, Mel meets it’s owner, Jack Sheridan, and the chef, Preacher. The two begin talking, with Jack remarking that he sees Mel as a city girl rather than a small town girl; he jokes that he is impressed by her ability to stomach whiskey. Afterwards, Jack walks Mel back to the McCrea cabin, and she reveals that she sold her house and quit her job to move to Virgin River. After the two bid goodnight, Melinda is plagued with flashbacks of the first night spent in her previous house with her husband, Mark (the doctor shown previously) but it is not made clear what happened between the two.
The following morning, Preacher and Jack discuss his flirtation with Mel the previous night. Both had noticed Mel’s wedding ring and, because of that, Jack decides that he will not pursue her. Meanwhile, Mel arrives at Vernon's practice to apologise for the rude remarks she had previously made about his age. Vernon is rude once again to Mel, and it becomes clear that he is both sexist and too proud to accept the apology, even going as far as to threaten to shoot her. Having heard of the encounter between Vernon and Mel, Hope arrives and angrily confronts him.
Mel, having become increasingly annoyed by Dr Mullins, leaves the practice and calls her sister, Joey during the car journey home. Mel becomes upset, and Joey pleads with her to return back home and stop punishing herself for what happened between her and Mark. Mel, however, brushes Joey off, remarking that she will be fine soon enough.
Stopping off at Jack's bar for something to eat, Mel encounters the town's baker, Paige Lassiter, who invites her to stop by sometime and sample her baking. At the clinic, Hope tries to convince Vernon to at least give Mel a chance. Vernon expresses his doubt regarding her abilities, but Hope rebukes him, citing that she has excellent references and prior experience. He questions why she would leave that all behind, to which Hope replies that she may have been looking for a change. Hope is finally able to convince Vernon to a one-month probationary period, but makes it clear that if Mel should fail, Hope keeps her nose out of his business.
At the bar, Hope reveals the news to Mel, but she refuses to stay at the McCrea cabin until it is fixed up, citing that she is free to leave Virgin River at any time due to a void in their contract given she hasn't been provided with adequate housing. Hope finds herself in a tough spot but Jack convinces her to rent Mel a room at the inn whilst he himself fixes up the cabin, to which Hope agrees.
The following day, Mel arrives at work, ready to look over any patients. She finds that Vernon is unwilling to allow her to see patients until he can confirm her competency. Mel questions how he will confirm if she cannot see patients, but Vernon brushes her off. Mel leaves the practice and arrives at the inn, where she meets Jo Ellen.
The next morning, Jack is awake at the bar when he hears a noise coming from the office. Suspecting a burglary, he grabs a gun and heads towards the door. However, going inside he realises it is an old friend, Dan Brady, a fellow Marine. Jack later shows Mel some of the sights that Virgin River has to offer. She becomes a little annoyed when Jack reveals that he cleared her work schedule for the day, but she gets over it once she is exposed to the scenery. The two reminisce on their lives, with Jack talking about his time in the Marines. Afterwards, Mel arrives at the surgery to find it empty and Vernon out of sight. A heavily pregnant woman enters looking for the doctor. Mel offers to look her over but the woman hesitates, preferring to wait. However, after experiencing a contraction, she agrees to Mel examining her.
At the bar, Jack and Preacher are logging the expenses of the bar and looking over them. Preacher mentions that he noticed the money wasn’t adding up to which Jack responds that he may have forgotten to log an advance he gave Ricky. At that moment, Brady comes downstairs and is coldly greeted by Preacher, who presumes that he may have something to do with the missing money. After Brady leaves, Jack reminds Preacher of his continuous commitment to helping people, even now as a civilian and Preacher, whilst accepting, warns him about Brady.
Mel looks over the patient but is interrupted when Vernon arrives back at the surgery. Mel dismisses Vernon, and afterwards, the two have a heated conversation over her intervention and his lack of organisation in the practice. Following this, Mel leaves the surgery and gives Hope her resignation, telling her that she needs to find a new nurse, but will stay on until she does so. That evening, Mel contemplates her life and has a flashback of holding Joey’s baby and talking to Mark about starting a family, which leads to her breaking down in tears.
The next morning, Mel is out on a run and arrives at the clinic where she runs into Jack, who is standing on the doorstep where an abandoned baby has been left.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Alexandra Breckenridge as Melinda Monroe
- Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan
- Colin Lawrence as John Middleton
- Jenny Cooper as Joey Barnes
- Lauren Hammersley as Charmaine Roberts
- Annette O'Toole as Hope McCrea
- Tim Matheson as Vernon Mullins
- Benjamin Hollingsworth as Dan Brady
- Daniel Gillies as Mark Monroe
Guest Starring[]
- Grayson Maxwell Gurnsey as Ricky
- Lexa Doig as Paige Lassiter
- Gwynyth Walsh as Jo Ellen
- Kate Williamson as Polly
- Julien Durant as Guy
Co-Starring[]
Trivia[]
- This episode contains a blooper: the exterior of the front door of Doc Mullins's office is solid wood but the interior has leaded glass panels with light shining through them.