Virgin River Season 1 Episode 6 Recap – Let’s Mingle

Mel checks up on Jack following the night terror incident. Mel tells him she had trouble sleeping because of what happened and that Jack seemed to have an issue sleeping. Jack dismissed Mel’s thoughts of him needing professional help. Hope barges in and asks Jack’s help to convince Preacher to make honey-baked hams instead of roasting a pig for the Moonlight Mingle. She asks Mel why she has ignored the invitation. Lost, Mel asks what the Mingle is. It turns out that the Moonlight Mingle is the premier social event of Virgin River, where everyone gets together for dinner and dancing. It’s a semi-formal event, and When the DJ says ‘Mingle!’ you’d have to switch partners. Mel refuses to go saying that she’s not much of a dancer. Joey pitches on the conversation to their surprise, saying that’s not true.

Jack brings Mel and Joey to the bar. Brady serves them drinks, and Jack introduces Ricky to Joey. Brady seems to be interested in Joey off the bat.

On their way out of the bar, Mel asks Joey for the real reason why she’s there. Joey tells her she wants to be sure Mel’s okay after the camp experience. Mel brings up Joey’s birthday the next day and asks why she’s spending it here instead of her family. Joey tells Mel that this is Bill’s gift to her, three days with no responsibilities.

Hope goes to Doc’s place, where he tells her that the divorce attorney can meet them later that afternoon. Hope argues that she’s busy because of the Mingle, but Doc tells her that it will be that afternoon or a month after because the lawyer is going on vacation. Hope had no choice but to agree. Doc reminds her to bring her checkbook for the meeting so they can split the cost of the divorce. Hope is disgusted and reminds Doc that he should pay the price because it was his fault they had to file for divorce, but agrees to bring her checkbook anyway.

At the Fitches’, Mel and Joey catch up with each other. Mel says that they should celebrate her birthday, but Joey refuses to do anything big, which is unlikely because she always goes big for her birthday. Mel accuses her of coming to convince her to leave and not to celebrate her birthday because of this. They argue a little more before Mel decides to walk out.

Mel heads to the bar and tells Jack that Joey can’t wrap her around why she’s in Virgin River. Jack sympathizes, saying that his family didn’t get it as well when he decided to move there. Mel tells him that maybe she should go back since her trial period with Doc is also almost up. Jack tells her that there’s real value in being independent. He also convinces her to apologize to Joey.

At Paige’s bakery truck, Preacher picks up Hope’s orders of Pecan Pie which was enough to feed an army. Paige tells him that she’s more than happy to eat whatever’s left of it after tonight because she loves everything Pecan. She says to him that her father grew up on a Pecan farm in Texas. Preacher says he thought Paige’s dad grew up in the northeast. He asks Paige to ride with him to the Mingle later that night, but Paige tells him she’s going straight from Clear River after running some errands.

Jack goes to the McCrea cabin and reminds Ricky and Brady that they should be done with the work in the cabin by the end of the week. Charmaine comes and kisses Jack, asking him if they should have dinner before or after the Mingle, and Jack tells her they should have it before.

Mel apologizes to Joey, and they make up and decide to go to the Mingle together.

Doc arrives at the Mingle and confronts Hope, with Connie and Lydie, for not showing up to their divorce meeting. Hope didn’t tell him she couldn’t make it, and he’s mad. Connie gives him a disapproving look.

Mel and Joey arrive at the Mingle, and Preacher greets them. Joey gives her phone to Mel because she forgot her clutch, and she heads to the bar. DJ says, ‘mingle,’ so Preacher and Mel dance. Mel takes the opportunity to ask Preacher about Jack’s night terrors, and Preacher tells her that she should leave that alone.

Mel accidentally reads a message from Bill on Joey’s phone saying he’s found an apartment. Mel was about to approach Joey talking to Brady when Ricky asked her to dance. Jack and Charmaine arrive. Charmaine goes to speak to the girls while Jack gets some drinks. Jack sees Brady and Joey getting close. It’s time to mingle again, and Mel finds herself with Doc.

Connie asks Hope why she’s getting a divorce now, and Hope tells her she wants to remind Doc that they’re not a couple anymore after what he did. Doc asks Mel if Joey came to convince her to leave, and Mel tells him she thinks the same. Right before another round of mingling, Bill calls Mel.

Christopher interrupts Hope and Preacher’s dance by telling him he should ask his mom to dance. Preacher obliges, and the two dance. Meanwhile, Hope sees Muriel dancing with Doc, and she does not seem happy. Charmaine finds Jack and brings him to the dance floor. While dancing, Jack sees Brady, and a flashback of them sending away Lonergan’s body comes to him. Jack blames himself for Lonergan’s death, so this bugs him.

Hope and Doc find themselves dancing after a round of mingling, and Doc tells her he’ll pay for the attorney. Hope tells him he acts like he’s doing her a favor.

Mel asks Joey, who seems to be feeling a little bit too cozy with Brady, to go home. Joey refuses to go until Mel tells her that she has talked to Bill. Joey gets mad at her for talking about her marriage. Mel tells her she’s being too sensitive, given that she has been all over Mel’s life. They argue again until Joey comes back dancing with Brady.

While Paige is dancing with Preacher, she panics because she thinks she saw her husband. She runs looking for Christopher, and when she finds him, they leave immediately.

Jack dances with Charmaine. He reminds her of their agreement to stay casual when they first met. Charmaine tells him she loves her and thought they had a future together, and Jack cannot say the same, and Charmaine leaves.

Jack sees Mel alone, and the two dance. After a while,  Mel sees Brady getting close to Joey physically, and she steps in to pull them apart. Jack follows suit and tells Brady to go home. When Brady attempts to bring Joey with him, Jack tells him not to because she’s a married woman. Brady quickly tells him that Mel is also married, but that doesn’t stop him from pursuing her. Jack throws a punch, landing on Brady’s face and putting him down upon hearing this.

Our Thoughts

We side with Mel when it comes to Jack’s night terror. Something like that shouldn’t be ignored because it’s bound to affect your relationship with other people. Speaking of asking for help, we’re seriously bothered about Paige and her secrets. Preacher cares for her, and, sadly, she won’t let him get close to them. Hope is getting annoying because we don’t seem to know what she likes. She asks for divorce but fails to attend the meeting? What’s her deal? Lastly, we feel for Charmaine, but we wouldn’t be hypocrites and say we were not happy for Jack here – he can finally be free to pursue Mel formally. This is something we’ve all been waiting for!