Virgin River

During a recent illness, I was laid up for several weeks, and this was a pleasant, undemanding way of passing the time. It made zero demands on me. Annette O'Toole is always a pleasure to watch, even if her character is annoying. This is an actress who has never gotten the credit she deserves. The men are handsome in non-threatening ways. The heroine is pretty and smart, but not too pretty, and not too smart. It's like a Harlequin romance for TV.

Two things bug me: That's not Humboldt County. Trinity Alps, maybe, or somewhere in the Sierras. It rarely snows in Humboldt, and there are no snow capped mountains. Humboldt, especially the pot growing areas, is cool, foggy, and green. I lived there, and that ain't it.

The other things is endemic to almost all TV and movies: the perfect hair and make up at all times. A woman spends the night in basically a hobo camp and the next morning her hair is smooth, glossy, and blow-dried, her eyeliner and mascara intact. lip gloss undisturbed. It's a pet peeve.

I love Virgin River but I am so annoyed with Charmaine in Season 2.

The most annoying character on this show is Charmaine. Seriously, the desperation is overwhelming!

Kind of a mix between Dr Quinn Medicine Woman and Grey's Anatomy (with much less sex.) Mel, Jack, Preacher and even ornery Doc are good characters. But Hope McCrea is like the Jar Jar Binks of this show. She is, without a doubt, one of the worst, most annoying characters I've ever seen on any show EVER. I'd give it a higher rating if she left.

I didn't know there were books and I've never watched Heart of Dixie so I can't compare this to either like other viewers. But I just binge watched the entire first season on the strength of the chemistry between the two lead actors and I definitely want a season 2 since 1 ended on such a cliffhanger. Please keep making this show. It might be predictable and formulaic in the same ways so many things are these days, but it's no less addicting for that.