Virgin River has never disappointed when it comes to romance, small town shenanigans or dramatic developments (remember when Jack got shot and we didn’t find out who did it for like two whole seasons?), but Season 6 really did set the bar even higher. Mel and Jack were finally on their way down the aisle, and made their love official in the finale, but they had a number of trials big and small to get there. These included a misplaced male stripper, growing tensions between Mike and Brady that nearly ruined Jack’s bachelor party, and, of course, Everett almost dying literally the night before the wedding.

We also got Hope overstepping her bounds as officiant and planning a super-big wedding that Mel and Jack didn’t really want, Preacher finally being freed after his part in Wes’ death, shocks in Muriel’s breast cancer diagnosis, Brie cheating on Mike with Brady (and Mike proposing to her even though he knew about the cheating), and Charmaine’s disappearance or death (depending on the Season 7 result of that cliffhanger.)

Basically, everyone and everything hit just right this season, but there was one character who came out on top to me, and that’s none other than Hope’s new(ish) chief of staff.

denny and lizzie before mel and jack’s wedding on virgin river season 6
denny and lizzie before mel and jack’s wedding on virgin river season 6
But Lizzie Is the MVP Of Season 6 For Me
Lizzie (played by Sarah Dugdale) had a lot to deal with in Season 6. Not only was she helping Hope coordinate Mel and Jack’s massive, dove-filled, two-chocolate fountain wedding and reception to fit the whole town into the festivities, but she’s also now hugely pregnant, and she and Denny were dealing with some pretty heavy stuff concerning their unborn daughter and Denny’s Huntington’s disease.

But! It turns out that all of the pressure of adulting in such a major and pretty sudden way is likely what helped make Lizzie such a game-changer this season. She’s always been at least kinda spicy (which I’ll get into more in a bit), but because she was pregnant, stressed and understandably emotional about the potential of outliving both her partner and their baby g