The decision-making behind Netflix’s renewal and release process could generously be described as difficult to comprehend, which is accurate when it can take somewhere between two weeks and a year and a half for an original series to officially be renewed, but Virgin River exists on a plane of its own.
The romantic drama has proven itself countless times over to be one of the biggest hits at the streaming service’s disposal, so much so that once the fourth season concluded it was bestowed with the rare honor of being renewed for fifth and sixth runs at the same time, something that’s virtually unheard of in the cutthroat world of streaming.
Of course, no high-profile Netflix show is complete without its latest season being cut in two, but even at that Virgin River is pushing it. The first 10 episodes of season 5 arrived on Friday, but the final two – which also happen to be festive-themed – aren’t landing on the content library until Nov. 30, a gap of 12 whole weeks to complete the set.
Not only that, but season 6 could be miles and miles away, after executive producer Rich Keith hopped onto Instagram to celebrate the success of Virgin River‘s latest debut, before making a point of noting that subscribers won’t be able to get reacquainted with the characters they’ve come to know and love until 2025 unless AMPTP gets its finger out and ends the stalemate between writers, actors, and studios.
Admittedly, that would be pretty fitting given its chaotic existence so far.