Virgin River announces season 6 release date, drops first-look photos

Virgin River is returning just in time for the holidays.

On Monday, Netflix announced that season 6 of the romantic drama will debut on Dec. 19, with all 10 episodes of the new season dropping at once. The series will pick up a few months after where it left off in the season 5 holiday episodes, with Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) planning their wedding, Mel trying to learn more about her new-found biological father, Everett (John Allen Nelson), and Preacher (Colin Lawrence) facing his upcoming trial in the death of Wes (Steve Bacic).

The logline from Netflix reads: "Against the backdrop of Mel and Jack’s romantic spring wedding season, this sixth installment promises fresh twists and turns, escalating love triangles, delightful wedding drama, as well as uncovered secrets from Mel’s father’s past which will transport us to the magic and mystique of Virgin River in the 1970s."

Virgin River already shared a glimpse of the flashbacks to the 1970s and the actors portraying the younger versions of Mel's parents, but this photo drop is fans' first look at the current residents of the small town. The images focus on many of the show's core couples, in various degrees of bliss or crisis.

We see a solemn Mel embracing Jack; Brady (Benjaming Hollingsworth) talking to what appears to be Lark (Elise Gatien), the woman with familial ties to bad-guy Jimmy (Ian Tracey); Muriel (Teryl Rothery) and Cameron (Mark Ghanimé) having what looks to be a difficult conversation; Mike (Marco Grazzini) and Brie (Zibby Allen) smiling at each other; Doc (Tim Matheson) and Hope (Annette O'Toole) petting a horse; Preacher and Kaia (Kandyse McClure) sharing a sweet moment in the kitchen; and Denny (Kai Bradbury) and a very pregnant Lizzie (Sarah Dugdale) anticipating something.

One major outstanding question is what the future post-wedding will look like for Mel and Jack.

After Mel suffered another miscarriage last season, we grilled showrunner Patrick Sean Smith on whether the woman can ever find some peace and joy. "She and Jack do end up in a happy and accepting place by the end," he previously told Entertainment Weekly. "To be able to look forward to say their happiness might not be what they thought it was going to look like, but that doesn't mean they can't be happy again together in a different way."

Smith also teased that Everett and the complicated tale of Mel's father would play a large role in season 6. "He will definitely play a good-sized part in Mel's storyline," he said.

Absent from these photos is Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley), who finally gave birth to her twins last season. Though, now we have to worry about baby daddy Calvin (David Cubitt) trying to insert himself back into the lives of Virgin River citizens. "It will all become clear in season 6," Smith hinted last year. "But in bringing his character back at the end of part one and then having her deliver in part two, it did feel like a natural progression, given who their characters are, to bring a bit of a threat back into the world through Calvin. Not through a drug distribution storyline, but something more personal, which is what we're looking at for next season."

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All that's certain is that on Dec. 19th, the sleepy Northern California town of Virgin River is in for even more drama. See more first-look photos below.