Virgin River remains one of Netflix’s successful series. Season 5 Part 1 drew in great viewership numbers for Season 5 Part 1, despite returning on September 7 during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike.
Last May, during the very first Netflix upfronts, the show was renewed for a sixth season.
Recently, we had the privilege of interviewing Ildiko Susany.
Ildiko Susany is an actress, writer, and filmmaker. She produced, wrote, directed, and starred in her debut indie feature film, Marley, Someone. The film won the Audience Choice Award at the Sydney Lift-Off Film Festival in 2022.
We wanted to conduct an interview with Susany, particularly because she was able to advance professionally within the series. Susany joined Virgin River as a script and clearance coordinator in Season 4. In Season 5, while still in her initial role, she also joined the writers’ room and wrote Episode 9, “Angel’s Peak”. For season 6, she has been promoted to staff writer.
Susany provided us with an overview of Season 5 Part 1, where we discussed Mel and Jack’s relationship, analyzed their conversation in the woods, their kiss in the rain, and Jack’s emotional confession to Mel. We also discussed what we can expect from the upcoming Christmas episodes coming on November 30th and got a glimpse into Season 6.
THE VIEWER: You joined season 4 as a script and clearance coordinator. It’s a role you hold for season five, and I’m guessing even season six?
Ildiko Susany: Well, actually, in season six, I got promoted to staff writer. So, I’m very, very happy.
Congratulations! Can you explain what your job as script and clearance coordinator entails for seasons four and five?
It can change a bit, depending on the production, but essentially, as the script coordinator, I am reading all the drafts, all the story areas, the outlines, the scripts that come in, and I make sure that spelling, grammar, and formatting are correct.
I also talk with the writers a bit, I flag any notes or anything that they might want to take a look at before they send it through. Then, once that’s all approved by the showrunner, I send it out to the cast, the crew, and whoever needs that distribution.
As the clearance coordinator, I work with the Netflix clearance department to just make sure that everything that’s shown on screen is clear to be there, any sort of artwork or business names, character names, and things like that, just to make sure we’re allowed to put that on screen.
I’ve been very lucky and feel very grateful for this show because I’ve been given so much support and responsibility. They had me go on all the production and prep meetings and tech surveys in season 4, and then I got to write an episode in season 5. So yeah, I feel like I’m very well supported. That really helped me to move up.
Virgin River is always praised for how accurately it portrays its medical plots, for example, in season 4, Hope’s TBI, and Doc’s macular degeneration. With season five, you go even further; you don’t shy away with the writing and how these crucial, emotional, and, at times, raw scenes are portrayed on screen. This could be attributed to Patrick Sean Smith taking over as showrunner and executive producer, along with the nearly full overhaul of the writing team. When you started drafting season 5, what were your goals, and what did you hope to achieve?
I think for everyone coming into season five, there were so many great things that were set up from season one through to four, and we know that there’s a great fan base. I think everything for season five was about how we can continue to develop the characters. How do we keep them on their journey? Where do we want them to go? And just keep finding ways to explore that, go deeper, and find something fresh and new for season five.
Patrick Sean Smith was also very interested in including a wildfire. This season, it was the big event that happened, which I think was very topical for that area as well. I think it really helped to bring the Virgin River community together, which was really, really nice.
One of the most prominent plotlines for season 5 involves Mel and Jack’s tragic loss of their baby girl. Executive and co-executive producers Patrick Sean Smith and Richard Keith explained that they wanted to give the couple something very dramatic to overcome, which would ultimately make them even stronger. Before you mentioned that the series has a large and vocal fan base, were you concerned about how viewers would perceive this particular storyline?
I think, in some ways, we always do consider the fans. When we write something, we are just trying to find what’s the most dramatic or emotional way to move our characters forward. And I think this was a really important experience for Mel and Jack to share together because I know obviously it’s very devastating. It’s a very sad thing to experience, but it was something that they could overcome together. I think that’s why episode nine, for me as a writer, was very important.
I did a lot of research on women and couples who have experienced miscarriage and stillbirth, and I listened to a lot of firsthand accounts in podcasts and documentaries. We really wanted to make sure that we were really honoring that experience and reflecting it on screen. That’s why it was important to really show that and give Mel and Jack that storyline, but, at the same time, give them the hope that they can still move through it together.
The episode “Angel’s Peak” is a turning point for many characters in season 5, especially for Mel and Jack, highlighting their growth since season 1. Jack, in particular, was a man who listened more than he talked, as Mel declared during season 2. He realizes that drinking is not a reliable coping mechanism and decides to seek therapy. He genuinely wants to communicate and understand Mel’s perspective, as well as explore what their future could entail.
What was your goal for episode nine, and what emotions and memories did you hope to evoke in the audience?
We really wanted the audience to go on this journey with Mel and Jack. I knew the miscarriage was going to be very devastating, so I wanted to give Mel and Jack and the audience a bit of hope and just to really see how this experience, while tragic, has made them stronger. It was important for Jack to understand where Mel was at, she had suffered multiple miscarriages and a stillbirth. She went through these problems with Mark, and it almost sort of broke their relationship before he passed away. Jack needed to understand where she was at, whether she really doesn’t want to try again, which is what she tells him at the end of eight.
When he takes her up to that mountain to get a new perspective, he’s showing that he’s grown as a character because he can now actually, in some way, express his emotion, express how he’s feeling to her.
The couple is having a heated and crucial conversation, but they are not fighting. Mel, in her angry grieving phase, says at one point that she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. Jack is not in any way pushing her to try again.
What Jack wants is to just really get to the heart of where she’s at because she’s in such pain and grief she has shut down a little bit. He’s just trying to get her to open up because I think deep down in his heart, he is hoping that she wants to try again, but he doesn’t want to sway her in any way. He just wants to understand what she really wants and help her get to that decision for herself.
Jack shares one of the darkest times in his life to try and find a way to connect to their shared experience of this loss and give them hope that they can move forward in the future.
I think Mel realizes she does want to have a family, which is her dream. It just might not look how she thought it would.
Did you have conversations with Martin and Alex? Can you share something about those days on set?
Yeah, I speak to them a little bit, but I also trust their process. They’ve lived in these characters for so long. I write the script, and then I see how they interpret it and what they bring to it, something with weight and emotion. I also follow the leadership of our showrunner, Patrick Sean Smith, and our director, Andy Mikita. It’s a team effort, and I thought Alex and Martin brought something really beautiful to the episode.
I was just very happy to see the script come to life.
Let’s move on to the rain scene. A classic kiss in the rain brings back the romantic element into the show after a lot of pain and drama. For Mel and Jack, this particular scene is between two crucial moments: the hiking and Jack’s emotional confession.
Mel and Jack are not the only ones kissing in the rain; Brie and Mike share their first kiss. How did you envision the scene?
I love those scenes. I do love the romance of them. I think having the rainfall at that pivotal time for Mel when she’s coming to a breaking point really broke that tension and let them really see each other and be there with each other, which I think was really beautiful. Pairing it with the Mike and Brie kiss in the rain felt like peak romance to me. I was just very happy to have that in the episode for Virgin River. It’s always a team effort in the writer’s room. We all build those ideas together.
Throughout the seasons, there often appears to be a parallel between the love story of Hope and Doc and that of Mel and Jack. We can find it in episode nine as well.
Mel shares that when she initially arrived in town, she was running from LA, but that running ultimately led her to Jack. Doc then tells Hope that when he was younger, he had two paths to choose from, but only one led him to Hope.
Do you and the writers consider Hope and Doc to be role models for Mel and Jack?
I’ll start with episode 9 in particular. I think there was definitely a thematic parallel between those two couples with the question of how can you reconcile the past, which you can’t change, in order to move forward into your future and be grateful for the path that you’ve been given and that you’re walking on.
For Mel and Jack, it was about how they could reconcile the miscarriage and find a path forward to the family they want together. While Doc realized that, while it was devastating for him that he didn’t know he had a son and he missed out on that opportunity, that’s something he can’t change now. But it did bring him to Hope, who’s the love of his life; also, he got that second chance to get to know Denny. He realizes that he can be grateful for that, even though he can still be devastated by what he’s lost. So there’s definitely the thematic parallel there.
And across the whole series, Hope has always considered Jack family. Doc and Mel didn’t quite get along in season one, but they’ve developed a really beautiful relationship, and in some ways, he’s kind of a father figure to her.
I think for Doc and Hope, as they’re getting older and they have experienced certain health issues, it is important for them to be sort of the guiding light for the next generation. They feel that about Mel and Jack and about Lizzie and Deny as well.
Without any spoilers, what can you tell me about Brie and Mike’s relationship and their journey in season 5?
Brie really loves or loved, Brady; they had a very passionate relationship, but it had a lot of complications. After her assault trial, she’s coming to a place where she feels like she needs that dependability, and I think Mike really represents that for her. He’s a standup guy, he’s dependable, he’s perfect on paper. At this point, she’s trying to follow the safe and secure route, and she’s hoping it’s going to be what she needs.
When it comes to original scripted series on Netflix, they typically don’t go beyond season 7.
I’m curious to know if, while the writers were drafting season 5 or 6, they discussed the endgame for each character or the series as a whole. Did they plan out the story over the course of several seasons, or is it a matter of writing each season without knowing where the story will end up?
I think for any show, it is a bit of a relay race. We don’t have a set finish line, but every season, we’re going, well, maybe we bring the characters here, and maybe in the future they go there. But there’s always all these possibilities, so nothing’s ever really completely set in stone or we don’t have an immediate finish line, we’re just going to keep these characters on their journey, for now.
As far as I see it, it still feels like that open-ended journey.
It must feel great to be back in the writer’s room after 148 days. I believe creativity never goes on strike. According to Production Weekly, filming for season six was scheduled to commence on July 24th, and by September 7th, the premiere of season 5, it would have been in its third block. This year, the show has gathered both positive and negative feedback. Did you make any changes to the first half of the season, which was already written before the strike when the writers’ room reconvened?
We’re always rewriting the story. The whole process is always about how we keep improving the story. As we are writing the second part, we continue to think about the first half just to make sure it all really builds nicely.
We do sometimes look at what the fans are saying and what their response is, but at the end of the day, everything that we’re doing is trying to make the best story that we can. It’s all in service of that.
The writers’ room came together after the strike ended a month ago. How much progress has been made so far?
I think we’ll be finished in the writer’s room in a little over a month. We’re getting to the final episodes.
How many episodes will season 6 have?
For season 6, we’ll have ten episodes.
Can you give me a hint if season 6 of Virgin River will follow a similar structure to season 5? Compared to other seasons, season 5 looked more like an ensemble series. The story of Mel and Jack is one among many people living in the small town. Will season 6 also have a similar structure, or will it focus more on Mel and Jack’s story?
I’m not sure how much I can give away for season six, but I will say we are very excited to focus on Mel and Jack, but we will still have everyone’s stories as well. We are definitely thrilled about Mel and Jack’s journey in season 6.
What can we expect from the upcoming Christmas episodes?
I don’t want to give too much away, but they will be very heartwarming and fun holiday episodes, with a little bit of romance, and a little bit of an adventure for Mel and Jack.
Still drama?
Oh, always. Still drama and still a few cliffhangers for sure.