Like the previous three seasons, the fourth of Virgin River is an emotional rollercoaster, but it looks like nothing could have prepared Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) for the shocking announcement that ends it.

First, in happy news: The couple is finally engaged and Mel’s baby is Jack’s. But the season ends in a cliffhanger (thankfully it’s already been renewed!): Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) calls, upset. When they find her, she’s having trouble breathing, and as they await an ambulance, she reveals that her twins aren’t actually Jack’s.

TV Insider caught up with Breckenridge to discuss those big moments and more.

We have to talk about that Charmaine twist at the end. We only see Jack’s shock when she reveals he’s not the twins’ father. How’s Mel feeling? It’s a betrayal, right? Given they were working to make the situation work.

Alexandra Breckenridge: It’s true. I think it’s most devastating to Jack honestly. Just being betrayed for both of them is devastating. That’s a huge betrayal. That’s a big, big lie and they’ve really stretched themselves thin to accommodate and create this environment in which they can all co-parent and have this family and they find out it’s a lie. I personally, as an actress was like, “Please let those babies not be Jack’s.” [Laughs] “Let’s not do that.” So I was personally very happy. I was like, “Great!”

Also in the finale, Mel tells Doc [Tim Matheson] that she’s resigning, but he wasn’t on board with that. So what can you say about her mindset when it comes to her career and what’s next?

I don’t think she wants to just completely quit her job. Her job’s extremely important to her. I just think she’s trying to be realistic about potential complications with her pregnancy and what that could mean for Doc’s clinic and how important she knows that that clinic is to the town. It’s extremely necessary for the town to have a medical facility because the closest one besides Doc’s is like two hours away. So for her, it’s not just about what she wants, it’s what she knows is best for the town. But I don’t think she’s going to step away forever.

In very happy news, talk about filming the proposal because we were waiting for that!

I know! I can’t say that I was surprised, but I was — it was so sweet, was it not?

It was very sweet.

Jack gave her this lovely speech and it was just so romantic. We were actually filming on a lake — it wasn’t a green screen or anything — and I was like, “This is the place where you want to get engaged. Yes, absolutely. This is so lovely and so sweet.” I’m happy that they did that at the end of the season. That was a pleasant surprise.

How is Mel feeling about her and Jack’s future at the end of the season? Optimistic? Because they’re getting married, found out that he’s the father, he’s getting help with his drinking. So things are definitely looking up for them.

Yes. I’m just trying to track back in my mind where exactly we are, because we literally just got off of the Zoom table read for Season 5, Episodes 1 and 2. So I’m like, “Wait, where are we now? Oh, yeah.” From where Mel came at the beginning of Season 1 to now, I don’t think that she ever imagined that she could find love again, let alone be pregnant again. Obviously that’s been kind of a ghost for her throughout the seasons, that she’s always wanted to have children and never really thought that she could. So at this point, she’s in a really good place besides that sort of needle scratch at the end of the season where Charmaine says she’s been lying to them the entire time. She’s just in this blissful place.

You said you just got off the table read, so what can you tease about the kind of wedding that Mel and Jack are going to have? Because they briefly touch on in the finale.

You know what, I haven’t gotten to that part. We don’t have that yet. I don’t know if they get married this season or not. I’m not sure. We go so slowly. If you wanted to check in on tracking Charmaine’s pregnancy, we go very slowly. I think it’s only like three or four months since Mel has been in Virgin River? So I don’t know that they’ll get married or not in Season 5. Genuinely, I don’t know yet.

Will we be getting more Mel and Brie [Zibby Allen] scenes? I love that friendship so much.

I know, I do, too. I’ve been asking for that since the second she came to town. Zibby and I have formed a very fast friendship just as people, so we get along swimmingly and I’m really hoping that they can write to that going forward. Also, Mel doesn’t have any other friends in Virgin River. It’s kind of unfortunate. Through Season 4, she’s not able to really talk to many people other than Jack about what’s really going on for her. I found that kind of isolating and troublesome for her character.

And Hope’s [Annette O’Toole] recovering.

Yeah. She can’t really connect with Hope. She doesn’t want to burden Doc, even though she accidentally does at some point because she’s emotional about the stillbirth that she delivers. She doesn’t have another touchstone in Virgin River besides Jack at the moment, so I’m hoping that we can develop some more friendships for her going forward in Season 5.