Virgin River – Season 4 Episode 5 “Mayday” Recap & Review

Mayday

Episode 5 of Virgin River Season 4 begins with Jack taking control of the plane while Mel gives Brad some aspirin to stop his blood clotting.

With the island 3 miles out, Jack lands the plane after calling in a Mayday. And as predicted, they land the plane, and Mel gets checked out by a doctor where they learn the baby is absolutely fine. Jack reassures Mel that everything is okay, as they decide to go home and get some rest instead of going camping.

At the bar, Jack busies himself with work, where he learns that Preacher has a date set up with Julia, the aikido teacher.

Vernon convinces Hope to visit the neurologist, where she begrudgingly agrees to go. She promises to speak to Jo Ellen about it but when Vernon leaves, she cancels the appointment.

Meanwhile, Ricky encourages Lizzie to team up and do the Romeo & Juliet performance together. He tells her that if things get too weird they can stop but given he already remembers all the lines, he sees this as a good thing. Besides, they can’t just cancel the Renaissance Fair.

Vernon speaks to Denny and encourages him to move in at the clinic, sleeping upstairs. He’s a bit reluctant to do it but his grandfather convinces him this is a positive step forward.

Mel is a little suspicious of his grandson too though, and wonders aloud why he suddenly showed up without bothering to call or email on advance. Even Jo is concerned, pointing out that Denny could be there as a scam artist and may be after his money.

Brie meets Mike and encourages him to try and find out who posted Brady’s bail. Given the gunman who shot Jack is still out there, Brie pleads with Mike to help, offering to buy him lunch. Eventually he concedes but urges him to leave the police work up to them in the future.

Jack shows up at the lumber yard to talk to Brady. He wants Brady’s help but after being shanked, he isn’t exactly in a talkative mood.

Still, he does admit that he arrived in the bar that night to tell Jack there was going to be a raid at Calvin’s. When he showed up at Calvin’s place though, it was already over and Mike was there as he set the whole thing up.

Despite the timeline having Brady and Jack’s shooter cross paths, Brady can’t remember anything out the ordinary, frustrating Jack.

When Jack heads home, Mel is there and she wants to find out who the father of her baby is going to be. Jack wants to be kept in the dark, believing that if Mark is the real father of the baby, it may change the way he feels. Mel is frustrated that he never mentioned this before, deciding to go for a walk and clear her head.

That night at the clinic, following Vernon finding out about Hope’s lies, Denny sneaks downstairs. He takes a key and looks set to open the fridge… but he’s caught red-handed by Mel. “What are you doing?!” She asks incredulously.

The Episode Review

As we reach the halfway point of the season, this definitely didn’t need to be 12 episodes. The series has been spreading its story thinly while peppering in the familiar bites of drama that are resolved as quickly as they’re brought up.

What’s the point in the old man having a heart attack and Brad the pilot being unfit to fly? These just feel completely pointless in the grand scheme of things.

Not only that, but the whole Brady situation is another point of contention. He’s not just out of prison, but now back at the lumber yard and seemingly able to do everything despite being stabbed in the stomach.

Now, I appreciate that the authorities acted quickly to get Brady patched up and knife wounds can heal quickly, but surely he wouldn’t be able to get back to heavy lifting and manual labour so quickly?

Meanwhile, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Denny is more deceptive than we initially thought while Lizzie/Denny/Ricky continues to pad out the run-time with melodrama.