Your guide to the Virgin River Christmas episodes

Virgin River’s fifth season has now officially come to an end with two extra-special small-town Christmas episodes to round it all out.

It is that time of year again. And while we are all busy getting our Christmas trees all set up, the lights hung, the cookies baked and the presents wrapped, the residents of Virgin River are also readying themselves to spread the seasonal joy.

The first ten episodes of Virgin River’s fifth season covered everything from the devastating break-ups to the heartfelt reconciliations and the nail-biting mysteries that fans have come to expect from this hit Canadian romcom.

It even featured a devastating wildfire which tore through this beloved quaint town. But perhaps the most exciting thing about the show’s most recent season is that fact that it has now drawn to an end with two extra-special holiday episodes.

Virgin River season five: part two

If you have not  gotten around to the ‘relaxing in front of your television screen’ part of the year just yet, there do not fret.  We have the roundup of just about everything that you need to know about Virgin River’s Christmas specials right here.

For a start, you can rest assured that these two season five episodes of Virgin River absolutely ooze all of the small-town-Christmas spirit that you can imagine.

And between all of the snowflakes, lights, ice-skating, family functions, scavenger hunts, cozy fires, Christmas tree light competitions, romance, and possibly even a few pregnancies, we suspect that most fans will need more than a single watch-through to take it all in, anyway.

So, once you have made all of your lists (and you have checked them twice), grab your popcorn, hot cocoa, eggnog or whatever other festive treats your heart desires and get ready for some of the merriest Virgin River episodes in a long time.

Virgin River season five in a (chest)nut shell

Season five of Virgin River is the very first season of the series to be released in two separate parts.

The first ten episodes were officially released on the Netflix platform on September 7, 2023 (as the first part of the season), whereas the so-called Christmas episodes were only released over a month later on November 30, 2023, as follows:

What to expect from the Virgin River Christmas episodes

The Christmas, slash finale, episodes were both written by Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith, and directed by Gail Harvey – and as a result, they are both absolutely jam-packed with tons of Christmas cheer, but also many new developments for our favorite Virgin River characters.

Without giving away too much, you can expect a fabulous Monroe-Sheridan Christmas celebration and get-together (which comes with its fair share of just-beneath-the-surface tension, of course), as well as surprising new development in Mel’s search for her father.

And a few Christmas light- and medical emergencies are thrown in for good measure.

Why Nicola Cavendish is missing from these episodes

Unfortunately, though the Christmas episodes do wrap up Virgin River’s fifth season quite nicely, you will notice that a few characters are inexplicitly missing from these last two episodes.

This includes Marco Grazzini’d Mike, who was written off suddenly due to his real-life COVID scare.

It also includes Nicola Cavendish’s Connie, who does not appear in these episodes at all, since she is “taking care of her cousin.”

Fortunately, Cavendish had no real-life health scares and the Virgin River showrunner, Patrick Sean Smith, has already confirmed that fans will see much more of Connie and Lizzie next season.

What lies ahead for the new year

The Virgin River writer, Ildiko Susany, recently revealed in an interview with The Viewer’s Perspective that the upcoming sixth season will once again return to its previous 10-episode format.

But although the show’s writers and producers will have less screen time to work with next season, it does not seem like they intend to leave anything out.

And as for what lies ahead for all of our favorite characters when the series does return, the people behind Virgin River have already let a few details slip about the possible Mel and Jack wedding that should be happening sometime soon.

As well as the possibility that the cliff-hanger meeting between Mel and her father could have something to do with a mystery illness of some kind.