What's Virgin River About?

Nurse-midwife Mel Monroe has found a new life, and love, in a rustic NoCal town. Life in Virgin River — the creation of novelist Robyn Carr — is easygoing yet oddly dramatic, as sinister outside elements and plain old human-to-human friction constantly threaten the peace in this sleepy rustic refuge. As Season 4 starts, Mel is pregnant, but she doesn't know if the father is her late husband (she recently underwent IVF) or Jack, the ruggedly handsome barkeeper she's sleeping with.

Who's involved?

• Alexandra Breckenridge (The Walking Dead) is Mel, an L.A. transplant whose caring bedside manner and flinty demeanor has won over the citizens of Virgin River. Mel's character is able to move easily from the foreground to the background, but she is unquestionably the straw that stirs the drink on this show.
• As Jack, Kiwi actor Martin Henderson (Grey's Anatomy) has arguably a bigger emotional lift: He's not only the ultra-competent owner of Virgin River's watering hole, but also an Afghanistan war veteran with PTSD. Some of his army buddies are in trouble, and if that's not enough, Jack has to navigate potential paternity with two different women in town while not coming off as a total creep.
• Tim Matheson (yes, Otter from Animal House) has gone from being the grumpy town doctor who was giving Mel a hard time to the lovable family physician who's battling vision loss and has stopped being a pain in the patootie to his wife, Hope.
• Hope is played by Annette O'Toole (yes, Lana Lang in Superman III and Clark's mom in Smallville). She has suffered a traumatic brain injury and, as viewers will see in Season 4, it has changed her personality a bit.
• Colin Lawrence (Riverdale) plays Preacher, an army buddy of Jack's who is a ninja in the kitchen.
• Zibby Allen plays Brie, Jack's sister, who moved to Virgin River in Season 3.

Why (and to whom) do we recommend it?

What is the point of jumping into a show in its fourth season? To whom are we recommending Virgin River, other than the obvious committed fans who have already followed Mel, Doc, Jack, Hope and the rest of the gang through 30 melodramatic hours?

Well, if you're looking for a new comfort watch, it's hard to beat Virgin River, which has more emotionally nuanced character development than most other shows of its kind. While other series overplay their soapier storylines, Virgin River handles them with maturity and even grace, like Jack's relationship with his father or the revelation that someone in town has the gene for a devastating hereditary disease. Also, the stakes are reasonably low; does it really matter whether Jack is the father of Mel's baby? Will the new handsome doc in town find a woman to settle down with? (Chances are good he's not a secret serial killer.)

You don't need to play catch-up — jump right in, the water's fine. And don't worry about its future on Netflix, which already ordered Season 5 and has upped the episode count to 12 per season.

Pairs well with

• Friday Night Lights: Small town, low stakes, great characters — time for a rewatch of NBC's beloved drama about high school football? (Streams on Peacock and Netflix)
• Outlander: Oddly enough, Starz's time-travel romance hits many of the same emotional notes as Virgin River. (Also streams on Netflix)
• Atypical: Netflix's dramedy about a teenager on the spectrum offers heart and depth.