Fans have taken issue with a new element introduced in Virgin River’s next season which could distract from Mel and Jack’s central romance.

Virgin River fans are already frustrated with two new characters introduced in the series, who will reportedly appear in a number of flashbacks and may possibly even get their own spin-off.

The beloved drama primarily follows Mel Monroe (played by Alexandra Breckenridge), a nurse practitioner who moves to the Northern California town and falls for local bar owner and former Marine Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson).

Season five threw a number of curveballs their way, not least of which was the jaw-dropping reveal of Mel’s biological father, Everett Reid (John Allen Nelson).

It’s since been confirmed that the story of how Everett met Mel’s late mother Sarah will feature in the new season, with Callum Kerr and Jessica Rothe stepping into the roles, and Virgin River’s producers are even lining up a spin-off show to expand their origin further.

Unfortunately, this news was not met with overwhelming positivity from the Virgin River fanbase, with many pre-emptively labeling the upcoming flashbacks as a “waste of time”.

Sharing their predictions for the sixth season, one fan posted on Reddit: “But, beyond the basic and expected: we know we’re going Mel/Jack romance, the whole perfect wedding, the story of Mel’s parents (totally unnecessary and a waste of screen time IMO), the triangle between Brie (Zibby Allen)/Mike (Marco Grazzini)/Brady (Ben Hollingsworth).”

Several other fans have taken to the site to criticize the prequel scenes, which are shaping up to be the most divisive part of the next season.

“I think I’m going to hate these purported flashbacks this season. Fast forwarding through that [poop emoji],” someone replied.

And another commented: “I agree. Nor, am I interested in a spin off focused on their story.”

Fans have been disgruntled by the flashbacks since it was also concerned that Everett and Sarah will be getting their own spin-off.

One Reddit succinctly summed up a recent article about the backlash: “It’s clear [the showrunners] want to make a claim on their very own show whilst riding on the series’ inherited popularity.

“Apparently that spin off hasn’t been green lit yet, they may need [to] wait to see the viewers’ reaction to the flashbacks introduced in S6 before getting the go.

Should Netflix have focused on a Doc and Hope prequel instead? 

“I tend to agree with the article that they may have missed a trick by not choosing already known and loved characters and exploring their backstories in the early days of Virgin River.”

Should Netflix have kept things local by perhaps exploring the backstory of Vernon ‘Doc’ Mullins (Tim Matheson) and Hope McCrea (Annette O’Toole) or another popular pairing?

Either way, the purported Virgin River spin-off is still hoped to be a smash-hit for the streamer, especially as it recently became its longest-running ongoing English-language series with the confirmation of a seventh season.

Virgin River season 6 is available to stream on Netflix.