Where Is Hope on 'Virgin River' Season 3?
Conspicuously absent from season 3 of Virgin River, which dropped on Netflix July 9, is the one and only Hope McCrea, played by Annette OToole: the sharp-tongued, fiercely loyal mayor of the town and fiance (and former wife) of Doc Mullins. While we frequently see Hope on video chat and her presence is very much felt in storylines, she isn't shown in person once during the third seasonunlike her onscreen husband, Doc, who is physically present in almost every episode. Do not fear: While O'Toole wasn't able to fly to Vancouver for filming of season 3, she's still very much a part of Virgin River. Showrunner Sue Tenney told Us Weekly: "We were affected by COVID like every other show, and it was impossible for Annette to come and join us up here in Vancouver. Personally, I love Hope. I love the character, so we got busy in the writers room to see how we can keep her alive in the show, with only having limited access.  Tenney added in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: "We've worked very hard to make sure she was still very much in the show. If we have a fourth season, everyone is now vaccinated and the pandemic is not what it was. So, I would hope that we would have Annette back." Like I said, Hope is very much a part of season three's storylines. Spoilers for Virgin River season three ahead. First, she's caught up in a hurricane while visiting her elderly aunt and Doc, who can't reach her, is terrified. It turns out Hope and her aunt are absolutely finebut Hope is forced to remain with her aunt for several more episodes in the aftermath of the hurricane. Then, on the eve of Hope's return to Virgin River, she gets in a car accident and is rushed to hospital. The last episode is set largely in the hospital, with Doc and Hope's doctors assessing her chances of recovery while Hope, presumably, lies in her hospital bedalthough, of course, she's never filmed doing so. These storylines were part of what Tenney described to EW as a "pandemic pivot." Tenney told EW: "We had a very lovely, two long episodes about [Doc and Hope's wedding]...Two episodes of plot on that. When we get to that point, which is a re-commitment ceremony, we definitely are going to want to see that." She is, of course, talking about season four. In interviews for season three, the cast remained tight-lipped about the possibility of another seasonbut rumor has it, Netflix has quietly approved a fourth season already. This lines up with what happened for season three: According to production listings unveiled by What's On Netflix, the third season of Virgin River was quietly green-lit by Netflix so production could start ASAP. Per What's On Netflix, not only was season four quietly approved, but filming will start as soon as the very end of July. Assuming that Hope survives the accidentwe'll call it "doing a Jack," where a character ends a season almost dead and pops up in the next one right as rainshe's likely to be in season four, as long as she can make it to Vancouver for July 2021. It would be difficult to keep Hope as active as she has been over video chat alone for yet another season, so fingers crossed she'll be back in the beloved small town soon. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io