#Virgin River Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Can’t Let Go

PTSD is a real B-word.

In Virgin River Season 2 Episode 5, we see Jack battle his PTSD as his Marine buddies come into town for a small reunion.

Jack has already been on edge lately, but having them come in town has definitely exacerbated it.

This is a callout to the books, as Jack and Preacher’s marine buddies come to town for a reunion every year. These reunions give everyone a reason to check on Jack, who remains haunted by Iraq.

This proves to remain the case in our TV adaptation.

Zeke makes a (tasteless) joke about Iraq when following Jack on dirt bikes, and you can see the pain in Jack’s face. The man obviously feels an overwhelming amount of guilt for those he lost at war.

Jack: No, seriously, just follow me.

Zeke: Isn’t that what you said in Iraq?

Jack’s guilt at not being able to save everyone at war would explain a lot about his behavior in Virgin River.

Jack’s need to investigate on his own where that drug-seeking intruder who attacked Mel came from is a prime example of this. He has taken it upon himself to make sure Mel and everyone else in town stays safe, something he couldn’t do in Iraq.

Additionally, when Brady first showed up at Jack’s in season one, he took him in out of a sense of duty. Preacher couldn’t understand why Jack was doing so much for Brady, but Jack felt duty-bound to take care of him. He didn’t want to lose another soldier, in war or otherwise.

Jack’s call to the Lonerghan family was heartbreaking. This had obviously been on his heart for years, but he hadn’t felt strong enough to call them before now. 

It was only after sitting with Mike, Preacher, and the guys and talking about Lonerghan that he decided it was time to reach out to Lonerghan’s parents. Finding out he was too late and Lonerghan’s parents were deceased only made Jack’s pain worse.

Hopefully his influence at home will be good enough to still save Brady.

When Brady finds out Calvin is beginning to move Fetanyl, he shows some reluctance. When it was just weed money, Brady had no qualms about working for Calvin. Now that he knows he’s working with something much bigger, it seems Brady is second-guessing his decision.

Calvin doesn’t seem like a guy who will let his people go away easily, though. So, even if Brady changes his mind and gets on the straight and narrow, it likely won’t be as easy as putting in a two-week notice.

At the very least, we can be grateful Lizzie isn’t still pursuing Brady.

It really seemed as if Lizzie was only using Ricky for alcohol (she probably was) at first.

However, when it was just the two of them, they really opened up to one another and she seemed to really care for Ricky in that moment. It seems we have a real teenage romance on our hands.

Ricky: Everyone just looks right through me, like I don’t even exist. Like they don’t even see me.

Lizzie: I see you.

That birth control might turn out to come in handy. That is, if Connie hadn’t ripped up the prescription.

While Connie definitely has her irrational moments, she proved to be a good friend.

As soon as she heard there was an APB out on Wesley Logan, Florida Police Detective, she immediately told Preacher. 

Connie is more sharp than she seems, and put two and two together, realizing Paige had to have been on the run from Wes. 

I’ve gone over Wes showing up at Paige’s house a million times. Christopher was so excited about seeing him. But when Wes went for a hug, he flinched.
Connie

Connie’s story about her childhood did a great job at humanizing her. Before now, Connie was just known as the town gossip who has some archaic ways of thinking (who gets mad at a 19-year-old getting on birth control?), always snapping at Mel for doing her job (remember the abandoned baby?).

Diving into her background, though, about her abusive father who killed her mother really gave viewers some insight into this character who was really just kind of annoying before.

While we were extremely adverse to the idea of Preacher bringing Connie in on the Paige secret, this insight into her psyche gives viewers a little peace of mind. 

Someone who’s been through what Connie has, would absolutely know what Paige is going through. Given she is still feeling guilt for the loss of her mother (despite being a child at the time), we know Connie will do everything she can to help Paige.

No child should have to grow up without a mother. And I’m damned if I’m gonna let that happen to Christopher.
Connie

That said, it still doesn’t give Connie the right to attack Mel for doing her job by writing Lizzie a prescription. She’s said herself she thinks Lizzie is wild. Why wouldn’t she want her to take proper precautions?

Mel is going through enough.

The nerve and absolute gall of Stacie is outstanding. 

It’s not enough that she asks for Mel’s engagement ring back, but she has to pour salt in the wound by intimating Mel and Mark might not still be together if he were alive.

Then she even says Mel can’t even have children to pass the ring down to.

When Stacie thought there was a possibility she would get the ring back, she was all on board with Mel dating Jack. Now that Jack made her realize she didn’t have to give it up if she didn’t want to, Stacie is all on Mel’s case for moving on already.

Jack was right and helped Mel look at the situation the right way. She didn’t have to give away the ring if she didn’t want to, whether she was over Mark or not.

I think it’s wrong to assume that if you felt you were ready to part with it that that would somehow mean that you’re over him. Grief never comes straight at you. It’s circular, right? It just hits you when you least expect it.
Jack

Stacie is just completely selfish and out of line, and Mel is an absolute saint. We’ve seen her deal with Doc, Connie, Charmaine, and Stacie with the utmost patience since the day she set foot in Virgin River.

It was good to see Mel be honest with Stacie and tell her their precious Mimi didn’t even want Stacie to have the ring.

Mel stood up for herself in a nice, calm way, but it would be nice to see her slap someone for once.

Just kidding (but also not).

Over to you, Fanatics!

What did you think of Connie’s back story? Do you think it was a good idea for Preacher to confide in her? Are you happy Mel didn’t give up the ring?

Sound off in the comments and share with us your thoughts!

Berea Orange is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.