Every Cliffhanger Explained As Virgin River Season 4 Begins

"Virgin River" has become one of the most popular Netflix original shows on the streaming site. The series, which is based on Robyn Carr's book series, follows Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge) as she leaves her life behind in the big city and moves to the small town of Virgin River, California.

Mel has plenty of adjusting to do as she begins her life in the community-based town and starts a job as a nurse practitioner alongside Virgin River's beloved and well-respected doctor, Vernon "Doc" Mullins, per Collider.

Fans learn that Mel moved to Virgin River for a fresh start after dealing with the death of her husband. She quickly befriends many of the people in town, including the mayor Hope McCrae (Annette O'Toole) and Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson), who owns the local bar in town. Mel and Jack immediately have sparks between them, but they both have a lot of baggage, which includes Jack's PTSD (via Movie Guide) and Mel's guilt over her husband's death, per The U.S. Sun.

Each season of "Virgin River" has offered some swoon-worthy love stories and entertaining drama. However, fans usually get caught up in the show's cliffhangers, which have been a jaw-dropping at times.

"Virgin River" Season 1 ended with a big reveal. Just as Mel Monroe and Jack Sheridan are finally allowing themselves to jump into a relationship together and go on their first date, they're immediately hit with drama, per The Cinemaholic. After the date, Jack returns home to find a letter that his ex-girlfriend Charmaine Roberts (Lauren Hammersly) had written to him, revealing that she is pregnant.

Jack immediately goes to see Charmaine and tells her that he will be involved with the baby's life and offers support to both her and the unborn child. However, Charmaine has other plans and she tells Jack that she's still in love with him, which makes things even more difficult for him. Later, Hope tells Mel about the pregnancy, and she is hurt and stunned by the news. Of course, fans later found out that Charmaine was pregnant with twins (via Republic World).

Meanwhile, Paige Lassiter makes a big confession to John "Preacher" Middleton, telling him that her ex-husband is an abusive police officer who used his position of power to get sole custody of their son, Christopher — so, she took the boy and ran off (via TVLine). Preacher then vows to keep Paige and Christopher safe. Later, Paige is revealed to have killed her ex-husband when he came looking for her and asks Preacher to help her cover it up (via Netflix Life).

Season 2 of "Virgin River" ramped up the drama with news that Jack Sheridan and Charmaine Roberts were expecting twins. More questions of course arose about Jack's relationship with Mel Monroe, but their time together also had some happy moments as well. During the Season 2 finale, Hope McCrae and Doc Mullins renew their vows, and Jack and Mel finally seem happy and at peace with their romance (via TVLine). Meanwhile, John "Preacher" Middleton is also moving on and has even accepted a job in San Francisco to be a chef. However, the finale puts a damper on his plans when Paige Lassiter's son, Christopher, shows up and asks if he can stay with Preacher. Of course, Preacher couldn't say no, especially since the twin brother of Paige's ex-husband has come to town looking for answers.

However, the most shocking cliffhanger moment comes when Mel enters Jack's bar to meet him for a romantic dinner and finds him lying on the floor bleeding (via Ready Steady Cut). Someone shot Jack with the intent to kill him and Mel begins to panic and tries to help the man she loves. Of course, Mel is still traumatized from the death of her husband, Mark Monroe, and can't imagine losing another person she loves.

It seems that Jack was shot due to his involvement with trying to bring down a local drug empire, but his shooter still hasn't been identified, per EW. 

Season 3 of "Virgin River" may have been the most dramatic yet. The show brought fans storylines about breakups, house fires, custody battles, car accidents, hurricanes, and more, per The Pioneer Woman. However, many fans were stunned when they watched the events of the finale unfold. During Season 3, John "Preacher" Middleton had been raising Paige Lassiter's son, Christopher, and working hard to protect him from his father's twin brother. However, at the end of the season, Preacher was drugged and led to the woods, where he was left. Meanwhile, Christopher's uncle was seen waiting for him at Preacher's house.

While Hope McCrae's life hung in the balance due to a car accident, Doc Mullins also had to deal with a huge bombshell. A young adult man came to town claiming to be Doc's grandson.

Of course, the biggest bombshell came in the final moments of Season 3 when Mel told Jack that she was pregnant, but didn't know who the father of the baby was, per Decider. After a split with Jack, Mel decided to use the embryos that she and her late husband had left to try IVF. Now, she's unclear if Jack is the father, or her dead husband, Mark Monroe.

Hopefully, the answer to the paternity question will be given during the 12 new episodes of "Virgin River" Season 4, which begins streaming on Netflix on July 20.