When Jack arrived at Charmaine’s ransacked home in Virgin River‘s sixth season finale, I immediately feared the worst for Lauren Hammersley‘s downtrodden character — and apparently I’m not the only one jumping to that conclusion.

Hammersley on Friday shared a recent text exchange with Virgin River showrunner Patrick Sean Smith in which she presses him for answers about Charmaine’s fate in the Netflix drama’s upcoming seventh season.

“Am I dead?” she asks in the first slide of the Instagram post. “It’s okay if I’m dead I just need to know if I should start putting resumes out at Wendy’s or something.”

And if Charmaine was in fact touched by the cold, bony hand of the Grim Reaper, Hammersley has a humble request: “So… IF Charmaine dies this year, could you please drown her in the river?” she texts in the second slide. “I think that would be EPIC.”

Virgin River Season 7: Everything We Know

Virgin River dropped its sixth season in December 2024, ending on a haunting shot of Jack seeing something unsettling in Charmaine’s nursery. I recently shared my personal theories, most of which involve some form of Calvin kidnapping Charmaine or their twins.

Charmaine being dead is technically a possibility, but it doesn’t feel like something this show would do. Sure, Virgin River has taken us down dark roads before — from Lily’s cancer battle to Mel’s multiple miscarriages — but my gut tells me that Charmaine will make it out of this ordeal alive. Unscathed? No. But definitely alive.

Of course, Charmaine’s fate is just one of many questions on viewers’ minds ahead of Virgin River Season 7. Are Mel and Jack really adopting Marley’s baby? Will Brady catch Lark and get his money back? Will Brie and Mike finally end their farce of a relationship, especially now that he knows she cheated on him? And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

We’re also waiting for an update on the spinoff currently in development at Netflix, which would chronicle Mel’s parents’ love story in 1960s Virgin River. Callum Kerr and Jessica Rothe, already introduced via flashbacks in Season 6, would reprise their roles as Everett and Sarah in the prequel series.

Let’s talk: Do you think Charmaine could be dead? Which other storylines are you eager to see play out in Season 7? And are you hoping that Netflix moves forward with its Everett and Sarah-centric spinoff?