Virgin River fans have been coming up with a wild theory that could turn the entire series on its head – what if everything that has happened so far is just a dream?

Virgin River fans are eagerly awaiting the show’s seventh season, which is set to return to Netflix at the end of the year.

Amid the excitement, a wild new theory has emerged that could flip the storyline upside down: what if everything that’s happened is merely part of Mel’s dream? In an intriguing twist, some viewers think Mel’s experiences in Virgin River could be elaborate visions she’s having while unconscious from her car crash in episode one.

This means every character, every friendship and each conflict might simply be fabrications of her imagination as she lies comatose or recuperates.

Delving into this hypothesis, a Reddit user suggested, “The entire show is a hallucination following Mel’s car crash in Season 1 Ep 1. That would explain the timelines and deviations from reality. Last episode of the series; Mel wakes up in her car with Doc waiting to help.”

Someone else expressed their frustration at how Mel could think up such harrowing events. “Honestly, if I were Mel and hallucinating all this, I’d be hella mad that my subconscious gave me a miscarriage,” they said.

Virgin River fans think they’ve cracked the case (Image: NETFLIX)
Another fan brought attention to the puzzling timeline on the show as they noted the parallel with other series facing similar constraints due to the lengthy process of production and filming, which can lead to drastic differences between real time and the narrative’s timeline.

They remarked, “People don’t like the timeline, but unfortunately it takes a year or more to produce and film a series. So sometimes real time and show time can be wildly disparate.”

One fan noted, “Stranger things, it’s been 10 years and 4 seasons barely 2 years have passed- all the actors are adults now,” and drew comparisons to The Walking Dead and The Recruit, which have less of a time gap between the show’s universe and real life. However, they acknowledged that the “dream” theory could work if the show’s timeline were condensed to one year spread over six seasons.

Meanwhile, other viewers chimed in with their own takes on the theory, with one jokingly suggesting an alternate ending where Lizzie attends college and becomes financially independent. On the other hand, some fans have grown tired of the show and view the idea of a fresh start as mere wishful thinking, with one fan commenting, “I kind of wish they could start again, but sadly that IS a dream.”