Virgin River Season 1 Episode 8 Recap – Into the Light

Mel suffers from a nightmare where she’s supposedly bringing her husband to the hospital, but she sees Jack’s face when she looks at him. Mel wakes up and learns that there is a storm and that there is no power supply at the Fitches’. Jo Ellen comes to check on her and tells her that the whole town goes to Jack’s bar whenever there is a power outage. Jo Ellen asks Mel to go with them to Jack’s, but Mel insists on staying.

Jack’s bar is a full house once again. Doc and Hope are playing cards in a booth. Hope gives Connie and the ladies from the Canasta game a look of disgust. She also tells Doc she finds Muriel St. Claire a pretentious name.

Mel receives a call from Joey, who tells her she saw the weather forecast in Virgin River, and it looks terrible. Mel tells her the power’s out, and it’s freezing, but she can’t go to Jack’s because she doesn’t want to drive while it’s raining. She also tells her she told Jack about Mark and that even though it happened a year before, she still hasn’t moved on. She decides to walk to Jack’s as per Joey’s suggestion.

While walking in the storm, Mel remembers a time when she was at the hospital, and the doctor told her that Mark had died. She arrived at the bar soaking wet, and Jack offered her some clothes to change to while waiting for her clothes to dry.

Preacher contemplates researching Paige while holding on to the driver’s license he saw in Paige’s car. When nothing showed up for Paige Lassiter, she searched for Michelle Logan, and he saw a fugitive search and a kidnapping case against her. Jack walks into the office and sees Preacher on the computer. He asks for help in the kitchen.

Connie walks up to Hope and Doc’s table, and talks Hope into joining them in making a quilt for Chloe. She obliges and asks Doc to come with her.

When Jack comes back to the counter, Mel asks him about Charmaine. Jack tells him that she doesn’t want to see him anymore. Bert walks in, and Jack offers him a beer. Mel talks to Bert and notices that his hand is swollen. Bert tells her it’s going to be fine, but she insists on looking at it. Doc sees what’s going on and checks his hand as well. He agrees with Mel when she says that Bert needs to get to the hospital for an X-ray. Bert refuses because he has no health insurance. Doc says he thinks he can help him so he won’t have to go to the hospital, but they need to go to the clinic.

Seeing that Doc’s had two glasses of whiskey already, Jack convinces him to stay at the bar and let Mel take care of Bert instead. Mel didn’t bring her car, so Jack offered to drive. Arriving at the clinic, Mel gives Bert a shot for the pain before the procedure. Bert tells them he’s sorry for not being there in time when Mel and Jack get taken to the pot camp. They tell him it’s okay, but Bert seems so guilty about what happened.

Back at the bar, Ricky comes up to Hope to tell her that someone outside the bar wants to see her. Hope goes out and sees that it’s Charmaine. She asks Hope to give Jack back a box with his stuff and a letter.

A man from the camps walks into the bar, and Preacher tells him he shouldn’t be there. The man tells him the road’s dangerous. He sits at the counter, and Brady gives him a drink. Brady notices that he has a lot of money as he pays for his drink and tells Preacher about it. Preacher tells him it’s dirty money.

Mel finishes the procedure in Bert’s hand and gives him some medications for the pain. He leaves, and Jack takes the opportunity to ask Mel to go with him somewhere. Mel says she’s not comfortable driving in the rain, but Jack assures her that she’s safe with him.

Doc talks Hope into telling him who met her outside. She asks Vernon to come with her inside Jack’s office as they bring the box in. Hope tells him she’ll read the letter, and Doc disagrees with her. She reads the letter anyway, and she seems to be so bothered about what she reads. Doc asks her about the contents of the letter, but she chooses not to share. Instead, she insists on fixing whatever it is she read.

While on their way to Jack’s surprise, Mel had flashbacks of her and Mark arguing about another round of IVF while driving in the storm. She opens up to Jack about still feeling sad about her husband’s death.

At the bar, the man from the camps gives Brady yet another tip and tells him that he should hit him up if he wants to earn real money. He leaves his number and goes. Preacher is back on his research on Paige, and he sees a mugshot and learns that Paige is wanted for assault and destruction of property on top of kidnapping.

Paige comes into the bar asking if she can store her pies in the bar’s refrigerator to preserve them amidst the blackout.

Mel and Jack arrive at the place, and Mel is so surprised that Jack has transformed the McCrea cabin into a cozy farmhouse. Mel is ecstatic about the renovation and realizes that Jack has done that for her. Jack tells her he hopes she’ll stay around. Mel gives him a passionate kiss, and Jack asks her if she’s sure that it’s what she wants. Instead of answering the question, Mel kisses him again.

Our Thoughts

Now, we officially know that Paige is not Paige, but the reason behind her hiding is still not clear. We are dying to know what she’s running away from. Truth to be told, she seems nice and protective of her son, so we cannot think of why she’ll be wanted for kidnapping. That letter from Charmaine is something, and even though we think we know what it says, we don’t want to jump to conclusions. However, we don’t get why Hope thought it was okay to read the letter. That’s just crossed the line, at least for us. Lastly, we finally understand why Mel was afraid of letting Jack in – she’s worried he’s going to wind up dead too and leave her in a mess again. But oh, the feeling when Mel and Jack kissed was so intense! We can’t get enough. More, please!