Virgin River‘s Hope (Annette O’Toole) has been a recurring character since the show’s inception, and she returned as the main cast in Season 6. She is the town mayor and married to Dr. Vernon Mullins. While O’Toole has been a main cast for the show since Season 1, her character was limited in Seasons 3 and 4 because the actress couldn’t travel for filming because of the pandemic.
During that time, her character was said to be away for her aunt’s treatment, and throughout Virgin River Season 4, she recovered from her brain surgery. Hope played an important part in Season 6 as she was the one who turned Mel and Jack’s wedding lavish with flying doves and ice sculptures. The season also reveals the truth about her and Vernon’s marriage and why he cheated on her with Charmine’s mother.
In recent interviews, showrunner, Patrick Sean Smith, has revealed that Hope will have a major storyline in the upcoming season which will explore her family history and the McRae cabin. In addition, her ex-husband, Roland, will return in Season 7.
More on Hope’s storyline in Virgin River Season 7 in our story.
Hope’s ex-husband will return in Virgin River Season 7
Virgin River Season 6 introduced Hope’s ex-husband, a rancher, Roland, who will come back in Season 7, as teased by Smith in an interview with Deadline:
“Roland, yes, her ex-husband will come back in Season 7. A lot of what we’re doing in Season 7 that marries itself somewhat to the prequel is looking more in Hope’s history. From the beginning of the series, it was acknowledged that the McCrea cabin was something that people knew within 50 miles, and we’ve never really explored her family legacy to that area.”
Seeing her tumultuous relationship with Doc, where they reunited after twenty years, Roland might cause some problems. Season 6 saw the beef between Doc and Everett coming full circle when fans learned that Doc blames Everett for what happened to the boy, which caused him to cheat on Hope with Charmine’s mother.
Doc and Hope’s love story is also heartwarming on Virgin River, and it would be interesting to see how they will navigate next season when Hope’s ex-husband returns to their lives.
Hope’s character will be central in Virgin River Season 7
While Hope is a recurring main character in the Virgin River series, she had a minor role in the books and is not married to Doc. Her character is given more depth and plotline in the show, and according to Smith’s interview with ScreenRant, her story will be central in Season 7: ”Hope’s character is just filling out more of the history of Hope’s family, her relationship to the area.”
He added: ”In the pilot, she says the McRae cabin is a place that everybody within 50 miles knows, but we’ve never really explored her family legacy to that and what her relationship is with her family. In season 7, we’re really doing a bigger deep dive into Hope’s character and her past…”
One potential storyline that would deep dive into her past would be Roland’s return, and as established in Season 6, she will also help Muriel in her cancer treatment.
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