The Detail About Jack's Bar That Has Virgin River Fans Scratching Their Heads
"Virgin River" fans have a fondness for the attractive, small California town in which the show and the source material novels are set, especially for well-worn locales like Jack's Bar. The place where Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson) plies his clientele with beers, bevs, and town news, it's also a classic go-to place for characters to flirt and meet, especially Jack and his love interest, Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge). Any fan of Netflix's "Virgin River" knows you're as likely to get an iced tea at Jack's as you are the latest bit of news. So many things have happened there so far, and as the show continues along, many more will no doubt occur.
But eagle-eyed devotees of the show have noticed something quite unusual about the behavior of characters in the bar. It's so consistent that someone made a thread about the characters' actions while in the local eatery on the show's unofficial SubReddit. What have they noticed?
An order on the lips but never on the hips
"[N]obody eats or drinks the things they order at Jack's bar. Go ahead, watch again ... you can't unsee it," posted /u/Emotivore to the Virgin River Subreddit.
"Mel walks in and Jack pours her an Iced Tea... and then drama happens and she leaves without so much as a sip. Tow-Truck guy comes to the counter and orders stew, but before he can take A SINGLE BITE Mel whisks him back to the office to set his hand (not even "can I get this to go?" for the poor guy). Time and time again someone will have a beer poured for them and walk away with it left, untouched, on the counter," /u/Emotivore continues, confirming that the fact that this happens constantly drives them "mad." /u/Baator agrees: "Not only that, but most of the times they specifically come to the bar because they are 'starving' or they want to relax by drinking a beer. They order, food/drink comes, they say a couple of lines and they immediately have to go! Food untouched. Why did you even come???"
Since food and the consumption thereof during television tapings can be problematic in of itself (time constraints can result in less-than-fresh food, and as to whether or not actors actually consume what they take in — well, just google the term "spit bucket" to learn more). And, additionally, as /u/Bookreader1328 points out, "The problem with having them actually eat is the way diet is today. Some are keto, some are vegan, some are intermittent fasting. It would be a horrible coordination event as well as expense to try and accommodate everyone with their very specific needs."
Either way, looks like fans will have fun tracking what doesn't get consumed when season four rolls around.