This article includes mentions of murder, and it has MAJOR SPOILERS for Virgin River season 6!

Virgin River season 7 could include a dark and tragic fate for Charmaine if one fan theory is correct, ending a 3-year story for Mel at the same time. The romantic drama is Netflix’s current longest-running scripted TV show still releasing, with six seasons out and Virgin River season 7 on the way. Because Netflix renewed the next season before the previous one released, Virgin River season 6 could end on a big cliffhanger, knowing viewers would get a resolution.

The big mystery surrounds Charmaine, Jack’s lover-turned-enemy-turned-friend. Though she’s had a contentious relationship with Jack and Mel, the duo get closer to her in Virgin River season 6. Jack helps her get a restraining order against the twins’ father, Calvin, and Charmaine offers to do Mel’s hair for the wedding. However, she misses the wedding, so Jack goes to check on her. It’s unclear what’s in her apartment, but whatever he finds shakes up Jack, the most unflappable character on Virgin River. One theory about the cliffhanger would further Mel’s story, if true, but could be too dark.

Charmaine Dies & Mel & Jack Raise Her Twins – Virgin River Season 7 Theory Explained

Mel And Jack Could Take Charmaine’s Twins After She Dies And Calvin Goes To Jail

After the shocking cliffhanger at the end of Virgin River season 6, fans started speculating about what really happened to Charmaine. One dark theory by Reddit user u/HauntsFromMyPast suggests that Charmaine is actually dead. They predict that after taking out a restraining order in Virgin River season 6, the twins’ father, Calvin, murdered her. If the theory is correct, the justice system will send Calvin to prison, and Mel and Jack will raise the twins. While it’s disturbing to think about a semi-lovable main character getting murdered, this theory isn’t entirely baseless.

Calvin has shown himself to be a violent man who exerts his will. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for him to murder someone. Additionally, in Virgin River season 1, Mel explains that she could take temporary custody of baby Chloe because she’s a medical provider. Theoretically, she and Jack could take in the twins as foster parents, and this could transition into adopting the children. Typically, reunification is the primary goal of foster care, but in this case, the state wouldn’t have the opportunity to bring the babies back together with their parents.

Mel Raising Charmaine’s Kids Would Likely End Her Pregnancy Storyline That Began In Season 4

Mel And Jack Would Have The Children They Dreamed Of If They Took In Charmaine’s Babies

Mel’s journey through infertility started long before the start of Virgin River, but it becomes increasingly important to her character arc over time. Before the show began, she experienced a stillbirth and then struggled to conceive again with her first husband, Mark. However, the emotional impact of her experience becomes integral to her story in season 4 when Mel gets pregnant with Jack’s child. The two are unbelievably excited at the prospect of having children. Unfortunately, halfway through Virgin River season 5, she loses the baby.

Mel and Jack go back and forth about the idea of trying to have a child again, with Jack wanting to work towards conceiving naturally while Mel wants to stop. Eventually, they decide that adoption is the right choice for them. If they adopt Charmaine’s twins, it would seemingly bring to a close their story of trying to have a baby. Instead, their storyline would transition into navigating parenthood together.

Virgin River Season 6’s Twist With Mel’s Patient Makes The Charmaine Theory Less Likely

Mel And Jack Will Most Likely Take Mel’s Patient’s Child Instead Of Charmaine’s Twins

While the Charmaine theory is interesting, the ending of Virgin River season 6 makes the likelihood minuscule. Throughout the season, Mel helps with prenatal care for a young woman who is planning to give her baby to a family that lives in the town of Virgin River. However, in the last moments of the finale, the young woman tells Mel that the adoptive parents have pulled out, and she wants Mel and Jack to take the baby instead.

Jack might have felt prepared for twins, but three newborn babies at once might be more than they’re ready to take on.

When speaking with Tudum about the adoption storyline in Virgin River season 6, showrunner Patrick Sean Smith hinted that Mel’s patient’s biological child would become her baby. He said this:

“Looking at alternative forms of becoming parents is important. I feel like I’ve always only seen adoption as this very simple transaction of ‘she wants a baby, and you don’t want your baby.’ But it’s much more complex than that. So I want to see a really special journey between Mel and Jack as they come to discover the baby that was meant for only them.”

Based on this description, it seems Mel and Jack might navigate the adoption journey with the young woman who Mel has taken care of throughout Virgin River season 6. If they take in her baby, the likelihood of them also raising Charmaine’s twins is low. Jack might have felt prepared for twins, but three newborn babies at once might be more than they’re ready to take on.

Luckily, the couple taking on the twins might not even be necessary based on Charmaine’s fate in the Virgin River books. She doesn’t die in the Robyn Carr novels. Additionally, Charmaine dying at the hands of an abusive ex is exceptionally dark — more so than anything Virgin River has done thus far. It seems more likely that Charmaine will be alive to raise her own twins.