Now, this episode COULD have been a real bummer. To recap, the town was almost wiped off the face of the planet until Hope found a way to save them all. (Note: this plan wasn’t covered in her fire safety plan, which again makes me feel they should revisit their emergency preparations…)

Anyway, it’s time for us to move into recovery mode, folks. And you know what recovery mode is code for? S-E-X.

How thrilling is it that Lizzie, a woman who was once not allowed to get birth control, can now stay the night at the home of her employer and have sexy time with her boyfriend, who is living with his grandparents. Hope and Vern are so chill!

Also, let’s flashback and remember that one of Lizzie’s issues with Ricky was the fact that he lived with his grandma.

Eh… not every match is meant to be. Consider Vernon and DMC.

Here’s what makes ZERO sense to me: didn’t Cameron take this job knowing at some point Doc would retire? Vern said he was hiring a replacement — that’s literally what he told Mel when he started looking for another doctor.

Anyway, Cam’s on the fence about this entire proposal.

What he’s not on the fence about? MURIEL!!!!

THIS. IS. HAPPENING!

Things are also heating up between Melissa and Brady.

Hehehe! Just kidding. Brady’s life is garbage right now.

He is homeless AND jobless AND things are still on the rocks with Brie. (Notice how Brady is the only member of the main cast whose home burned down… all the businesses we frequent also survived.)

But, never forget: Brady’s a hero.

A legit hero.

Things are also looking a little rough for Preacher since he found out the woman who he slept with after asking exactly zero questions turned out to be married.

And she, Preacher, will never ask you where that body is.

Anyway, Kaia makes everything right. See, the thing is she was gonna get a divorce, but there were complicating factors.

Happens to the best of us, girl.

Anyway, Jay is totally chill with this divorce.

What I liked most about this is that even though they are splitting up, they still go to social events together.

Anyway, it’s nice that she and Preacher are finding a way forward.

Denny and Lizzie are also finding a way forward by deciding neither one of them is going to graduate college.

Okay, before we can talk more about Stanford, let’s take a look at Lizzie’s outfit.

Who put this ensemble together? What is this sweater?

Clearly the writers knew this ep was gonna be a real bummer because of Mel’s pregnancy and half the town burning down (which we have not seen, but it happened!), so they decided to have costumes punch up the looks in this ep for added joy. And you know, it worked.

Look 1: Muriel’s cat sweatshirt

And Lizzie is being promoted!

Chief of staff?! What staff? Also, let’s just take a peek at the roles and responsibilities for this job via Indeed:

• ensuring the CEO’s involvement in key decision-making processes (Hope makes all decisions unilaterally)
• preparing the CEO and other leaders for upcoming meetings and providing them with all the necessary information (The only info Hope needs comes from the sewing circle)
• taking care of internal and external communications, such as newsletters, speeches, reports and presentations (When have we seen Hope need to do any of this? And aren’t all her speeches just off-the-cuff?)
• managing organization-wide programs or initiatives (Okay, this one may be legitimate in the aftermath of the devastating fire)
• leading strategic planning processes and ensuring the alignment of ideas between the CEO and other leaders (What other leaders? Jack?)
• assisting with the creation of key performance indicators (KPIs) (No one in Virgin River has ever heard of a KPI.)
• directing members in other CEO support roles, such as executive assistants and senior project managers (There are no support roles. Everyone here is equal.)
• managing the budget cycle process, which could include assisting managers with their budget presentations (What budget? Remember the state of Mel’s place when she first came to town? Here, I’ll remind you.)

• researching and defining new business opportunities (I guess Lizzie and Melissa could talk…)
• overseeing special projects per the CEO and other executives’ direction (There’s no way in hell Hope would let someone else oversee something.)
• working together with the human resources department to address potential staffing issues (There is no HR department.)

I think I’ve proven my point.

Anyway, what’s clear is that we are soon to have a new power couple in VR. Will it be: Lizzie and Hope? Lizzie and Denny? Cam and Muriel? Kaia and Preacher (and Jay? threesome?)? Cam and Vern? The twists just keep coming!