Brie talks to Jack in Virgin River Season 6

Our next visit to Virgin River makes it Netflix‘s longest-running original series of all time. But now there’s doubt the smash hit will make it past Season 7… and it’s all one person’s fault.

Virgin River Season 7 hasn’t even started filming yet, but it’s already got a lot of work to do. The Season 6 ending threw out a bunch of new cliffhangers we didn’t see coming, from Doc potentially losing the clinic to Mike asking Brie to marry him.

In a nutshell, there’s still plenty more mileage when it comes to story. This should be a given regardless, seeing as there’s 22 novels (and counting) making up the original Virgin River book series.

But could the small-town drama’s future be over before it began? Some fans are concerned Season 7 is the final farewell, and that’s all down to one person.

Fans think Martin Henderson is likely to leave Virgin River

Season 6 saw Martin Henderson, who plays Jack in the binge-worthy TV show, take on the role of director for Episode 8. Now, fans think Henderson could get cold feet and leave the show altogether, causing it to collapse.

Jack in Virgin River

“Do you believe there will be more seasons to come or is Season 7 gonna be the last one to be filmed? Does anyone have a feeling that Martin Henderson is looking for other acting opportunities as his character gets flat and he gets bored?” one fan posted on Reddit.

A second agreed, “Jack is starting to look very old. They’re not being realistic with the timeline. Since season 1 months passed, but the actor looks nearly a decade older. It’s very odd. They should wrap it up so they can all explore other opportunities before it’s too late.”

“Not sure if they plan on going past 7 but if they didn’t add a bunch of side drama they could’ve totally ended the show with Mel and Jack galloping away on the horse after marrying, I feel like that could’ve been a real nice ending,” a third weighed in. “I had to double-check what episode I was on cause I honestly thought that was the end.”

Of course, Virgin River’s charm – and success – comes down to focusing on the small things. For a long time, this has focused on Mel and Jack’s wedding and their journey to parenthood. If the Season 6 ending is correct and they adopt a surrogate child, is there more of the story left to tell?

There could still be some hope left yet, though. As one fan points out, “I think Season 8 is a 100% certainty because VR is a fairly cheap show to make and Netflix knows that it will get an audience year after year. It’s also 1 of the few shows on a streaming service Netflix or otherwise that produces a new season every calendar year.”

Henderson has made no comment on leaving Virgin River at any point in the future.

Virgin River Season 6 is on Netflix now. Check out our series recap and ending explained, what Ricky’s return means for Lizzie’s pregnancy, and what Everett had to tell Mel.