'Virgin River' Season 6 inches closer, but fans are still not over Jack’s 'off-putting' behavior in Season 1
Jack (Martin Henderson) and Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) have come a long way in 'Virgin River'. The two charming protagonists, with issues of their own, fell in love deeper than before with every season, and are now ready to walk down the aisle in Season 6. These characters aren't completely perfect. They stumble, make mistakes, and learn from them. Yet sometimes, some of these mistakes are hard to forget.
Die-hard fans of the show often describe Jack as a "green flag". He has been supportive of Mel, even though she comes with massive grief. He himself has been struggling with massive traumas and decides to work upon them. But there have been several instances when his actions have thrown us out of balance.
Why Jack in 'Virgin River' isn't a green flag
Jack is perfect for Mel-- at least that's what the show wants us to believe. Right from Season 1, the duo had an irresistible chemistry, even though none of them could afford a relationship at that time. While Mel was still grieving the death of her husband, Jack was dating Charmine (Lauren Hammersley).
Charmine was clearly in love with him. She used to call him boyfriend and even went ahead to plan their anniversary. But Jack always acted cold with her. I mean, if you weren't happy with her, you should have called it off. Why wait to find another girl and make it all look like an infidelity episode?
While being with Charmine, he never communicated what he wanted and when later Charmine went berserk, he lashed out at her, placing all the blame on her for expecting too much from him. How is it fair?
Fans still haven't forgotten Jack's behavior in 'Virgin River' Season 1
Jack built his relationship with Mel by breaking Charmine's heart and this doesn't sound exciting! Even after five years, fans find Jack's behavior problematic. Ahead of Season 6 release, a fan took to Reddit and wrote, "I'm rewatching Virgin River and Jack's emotional immaturity is really off-putting." Referring to Jack's early relationship with Charmaine, she added, "I do not condone her behaviour in the later episodes, however, I can understand her confusion. The way he treats her after meeting Mel is not nice. I remember when watching the show for the first time I wondered about how Jack never seemed into Charmaine at all, even when they were intimate he just seemed.. bitter? And slightly repulsed."
The Reddit user further expressed, "I mean, clearly he feels he is in too deep with Charmaine, despite not setting out for it. Nevertheless, he makes zero effort to communicate with her, or himself, to clarify his intentions or re-establish boundaries. Instead he leaves her house and goes to renovate Mel’s cabin angrily smashing a wall or something. It is just so off-putting to see a grown man take so little charge of himself and his emotions. Even with Charmaine suggesting the anniversary thing, he doesn’t say no, he’s not comfortable with that, he just doesn’t reply, leaving her to do all the emotional labour in their relationship."
Criticizing Jack's character, another fan said, "Here we call that being an Fboy.. Jack totally Fboy'd Charmaine, he played her. He attempts to backtrack and claim he told here there was basically no future but his actions didn't match his words - he strung her along using her until something better came along. Men like this are not to be respected."
"He is portrayed as such a nice guy but nice people are good to everyone and he really did screw Charmaine over the moment a pretty and smart girl took interest in him. If Charmaine was the MC, people would hate on Jack for being flaky, uncommunicative and disloyal," one pointed out.
Not only in Season 1, Jack's behavior has continued to raise concerns even when he is in a committed relationship with Mel. A fan pointed out, "Even in general, things just happen to Jack. He takes no responsibility in his part for the failure of his glamping business. Before sinking his savings, he should have known his business partner. He definitely shouldn’t have been allowing someone else to take care of the books either."
While a flawed protagonist isn't an issue, in a storyline where most characters, especially Mel, embody angelic purity, fans typically expect her partner to measure up to that standard. What are your thoughts?
'Virgin River' Season 6 trailer
'Virgin River' Season 6 arrives on Netflix on Thursday, December 19
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