‘Virgin River’: Who Is Calvin? Unpacking Season 5’s Big Twist
That was a twist we didn’t see coming. Virgin River Season 5 ended on a major cliffhanger with the unexpected reappearance of a character everyone assumed was dead. His jaw-dropping reappearance is sure to change things for everyone in Virgin River. But one character in particular has reason to be wary of his return.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Virgin River Season 5.]
Who is Calvin on ‘Virgin River’?
The latest Virgin River shocker came at the end of season 5’s 10th episode. A very pregnant Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) was attending the town’s Labor Day festival. As she was leaving the event, a man approached her.
“I thought you were dead,” she says as we see that the strange man is Calvin (David Cubitt).
“Yeah, so did the person who tried to kill me,” he replies. “I don’t have to hide from her anymore.”
Calvin, in case you forgot, was Virgin River’s resident drug kingpin. When Brady (Ben Hollingsworth) went to work for him at Emerald Lumber, Calvin pulled the ex-Marine into his illegal business. In season 4, Calvin was apparently killed in a boat explosion, an event witnessed by both Brie Sheridan (Zibby Allen) and detective Mike Valenzuela (Marco Grazzini). Soon after, Melissa Montgomery (Barbara Pollard) paid Brady a visit. She confirmed she was behind the hit and informed Brady he’s now working for her.
In season 5, Melissa proved to be an even more ruthless boss than Calvin. But Brady teamed up with Mike to expose Melissa, and the pair (with some help from Martin Henderson’s Jack Sheridan) managed to take her down. Now, with Melissa behind bars, Calvin has decided to return.
Calvin’s return changes things for Charmaine
So, why has Calvin decided to sneak up on Charmaine? The answer to that question involves one of Virgin River’s biggest unanswered questions. At the end of season 4, Charmaine revealed that Jack wasn’t actually the father of her unborn twins. But she didn’t say who the babies’ father really was. And when Jack confronted her about it in season 5, she clammed up. All she would reveal was that she got pregnant as the result of a one-time encounter and that the man in question wasn’t cut out to be a dad.
Well, it turns out that man was Calvin. He knows he’s the father of the twins, and now that he’s back from the dead, he plans to be part of their lives.
“I want to be a father to my boys,” he tells Charmaine.
Understandably, Charmaine does not look thrilled about the idea of co-parenting with Calvin. He’s a bad guy, and her desire to keep quiet about who fathered her babies suddenly makes a whole lot more sense.
So, what does Calvin really want? We’ll have to wait until part 2 of Virgin River Season 5 arrives in November to find out. Hopefully, those episodes will also shed some more light on how Calvin and Charmaine got together in the first place. Up until now, there’s been no sign that they had any relationship, and the news that he’s the father of the twins is more than a little confusing.
Calvin’s return could also be bad news for Brady
Charmaine isn’t the only person who has reason to be wary of Calvin’s unexpected resurrection. The drug kingpin’s return to Virgin River is also bad news for Brady. He’s been trying to disentangle himself from his criminal associates, and it seemed that with Melissa’s arrest, he might have actually succeeded in doing so. But we’re afraid Calvin may try to pull him back into the drug business.
Virgin River Season 5 Part 2 is on Netflix on Nov. 30.
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