Virgin River Season 2 Episode 9 Recap – Hazards Ahead

Jack calls Preacher from his truck at dawn to say he’ll be in by lunch. He was surprised by a wounded man who suddenly appeared in front of his truck.

Jack arrives at Doc’s clinic and tells Mel that the patient is Adrian, who appears to have his arm busted. Mel asks Jack why he was in Pine Ridge early in the morning. Jack tells her he was on his way to see Spencer because he’s agreed to testify against Calvin, but he suddenly disappeared. Mel tells him to stop going after Calvin. Since Mel has to treat Adrian, she asks Jack to meet her for lunch so they can continue talking.

Hope sees Doc at Connie’s store and bugs him about Charmaine’s secret. Doc tells her that the best move would be to find someone else to tell Jack about the secret so Hope wouldn’t be involved. He leaves in a hurry to catch a flight to Seattle for a medical conference.

Preacher comes by the bakery truck to pick up some pies. Connie rants about Lizzie and reminds Preacher to come by her house later that night to work on their alibi. He tells her it’s too late because the sheriff has already asked him to come by the station. Preacher insists that Connie just let him deal with what happened to Wes by himself.

While Jack is looking for Spencer, he gets a call from Carlos, who tells him that if he wants to buy the house, he should move quickly because the seller wants a 15-day escrow. Jack tells him he’ll move forward and get the paperwork done by that night.

Lizzie asks Ricky to come over to her house because she’s freaked out about something she thought she heard. Ricky tells Preacher he has to go in the middle of his shift. Preacher agrees, and he leaves. Mel comes to the bar looking for Jack, as they agreed to have lunch. Preacher tells her Jack is out.

Hope sees Mel trying to call somend just blurts out that Charmaine is considering moving to Oregon and that Jack doesn’t know about it yet. Hope tells Mel that she should tell Jack about it because she doesn’t want to be involved.

Hope meets the ladies inside the bar and learns that Muriel is in Seattle, just like Doc. Hope gets suspicious about their being together when Jo Ellen tells her that Muriel was so excited about the trip and bought an entire wardrobe.

Mel looks for Jack at Charmaine’s. She tells Charmaine that she thinks something is wrong because she suspects Jack is doing something related to Calvin and the poisoning at the bar. She also says she wants to drive up to the pot farm but doesn’t remember how to get there. Charmaine tells her it’s not safe for her to be going there alone, so she offers to go with her. Mel tells her she’s not bringing a pregnant woman to the camps. Charmaine convinces her to let her come to the bar where they can get directions to the camp.

Jack gets to Spencer’s and fails to find Spencer. Jimmy and Brady arrive. Jimmy excuses himself to take a leak, so Brady’s alone when he gets confronted by Jack about Spencer. Jimmy gives Jack a blow at the back of his head, and they carry him to the truck because Jimmy says Calvin will want to talk to him.

Hope brings Lilly to Doc’s to act as a witness while she snoops around and investigates Doc’s whereabouts. She calls Doc’s voicemail. While visibly shaken by what she heard, she tells Lilly they should go because there is nothing to find out.

In Seattle, Doc goes out to lunch with Muriel, and they toast about new beginnings.

Ricky arrives at Connie’s to see what Lizzie’s all freaked out about. They head upstairs and find nothing, but Lizzie persuades him to stay.

Charmaine tells Mel about Oregon and how she needs to ensure that she and her babies are secure no matter what Jack decides to do in the future. Mel tells her that Jack would be hurt if she took the babies away and that Jack would never abandon them. Charmaine tells her that she cannot afford that faith because she isn’t rich like Mel.

The sheriff asks Preacher about the license plate he asked to trace previously. As it turns out, the driver was involved in a hit-and-run in Shelter Cove, and Preacher should come in to describe the driver. Preacher takes the opportunity to ask about the abandoned vehicle. He tells him it is registered to Wes Logan, a detective from Florida, who was initially reported as a missing person but now has a warrant out for his arrest. He says they don’t have a lot of resources to launch a manhunt, so there’s not much they can do about Wes.

Jamie walks in and asks about the food poisoning. Preacher tells her it was deliberate and that he doesn’t have all the details because Jack’s the one handling it. Jamie says that if it were her, she’d go crazy not having control over the kitchen because, in her world, the chefs have the power. He tells her that Jack and he are like partners, but she tells him that it’s not the same. She tells Preacher that her former mentor has offered him a job in San Francisco based on her recommendation, but if he wants it, he needs to confirm within the next 24 hours.

After much hesitation, Mel and Charmaine manage to get directions to the camp from Bea, the bar owner whose brother works for Calvin.

Jimmy and Brady arrive at the camp and bring Jack to Calvin. Jack asks him if Spencer is dead, and Calvin tells him that Brady did the job. Calvin lets Jack walk after he threatens to get rid of him the next time he pokes his nose around his business again.

Lizzie and Ricky enjoy some fun time together and end up having sex in Connie’s house.

Mel brings Charmaine back to her house and makes her promise that she’ll talk to Jack about Oregon. Charmaine agrees and tells her that she thinks that it’s okay for her and Jack not to be together because she doesn’t want to be with a man who doesn’t love her.

After having sex, Lizzie asks Ricky to fetch her a drink downstairs. While getting the drink, Connie catches him half-naked.

Preacher gets a follow-up message from Jamie about the offer and sees someone who looks like Wes talking to Bart at the bar.

Doc surprises Hope with a proposal after he comes back from Seattle. When he finally pops the question, Hope does not answer and instead has him listen to a voicemail from Muriel saying she’ll be meeting him at a restaurant.

Mel finds Jack at his batting cage and confronts him for not meeting her for lunch. She tells him she drove around looking for him because he was not answering his phone. Jack apologizes to her and tells her that Spencer is dead. Mel tells him it’s not his fault, but she understands the feeling of being responsible for someone’s death. She tells him that she blames herself for Mark’s death so she gets it, but that it is not an excuse to shut everybody out.

Jack tells her that he hasn’t shut her out and that when she returned to LA, he realized he didn’t want to live without her. Mel tells him that she loves him and that the thought of not having him in her life is painful. Jack kisses her, and she kisses back.

Our Thoughts

Whew, that kiss and Mel’s declaration of love for Jack is something we’ve all been waiting for. We have to say, that was perfect! Charmaine would be furious if she finds this out, but honestly, we couldn’t care less. Mel and Jack deserve to be happy too. On the other hand, we are sad for Doc and Hope. The gesture was grand, and any woman would have said yes, but not Hope – and certainly not anyone who had to listen to that voice message. Well, we hope they figure it out. Lastly, seeing Wes in the flesh is something that we didn’t expect. If he’s alive, then would that mean that Paige didn’t kill him and that Preacher’s off the hook?