Along with navigating the heavy moments, the star of the Netflix series also opens up to The Hollywood Reporter

about the storyline she felt was “kind of goofy” and her hopes for Jack (Martin Henderson) and Mel’s relationship.

Following a dramatic and intense season five of Netflix’s Virgin River, Alexandra Breckenridge was more than excited

to take on the light-hearted holiday episodes that closed out the two-part season.

This 12-episode season — which released its first 10 episodes on Sept. 7 — saw new relationships forming for several characters, Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth) and Brie’s (Zibby Allen) shocking breakup, a wildfire that threatens the entire town, Brie’s difficult court trial for her sexual assault case and Jack (Martin Henderson) finding out his business is at the center of an illegal drug business

But Breckenridge’s character Mel faces her own battles, including the emotional toll of suffering a workshop, which she says was “really difficult” and “very draining” to film.

Then, to add to the drama, Mel finds out in the part one finale that her biological father lives in Virgin River, of all places. Breckenridge recalled talking to showrunner Sean Smith about the storyline and saying, “’It is a little goofy, right?’ … And I remember when they were coming up with the storyline and being like, ‘Is it too much?’ I said, ‘Nah, it’s Virgin River.’”

Fortunately, during the season’s final two episodes that are now streaming, viewers get to see Mel and Jack embark on a merry scavenger hunt in search of her father, as the town prepares for another beloved seasonal event: the Christmas tree decorating contest.

Following these highly-anticipated holiday episodes, many unanswered questions still remain for the townspeople of Virgin River. But that’s something fans can look forward to in season six, including Breckenridge, who says she’s also excited to see what’s in store for Mel and Jack: “I feel that they have good days ahead of them, and they’ll just continue to become a stronger couple as we move ahead and move forward.”

Breckenridge talks with The Hollywood Reporter more below about her favorite, powerful relationship episodes this season, using personal experiences to help prepare for the emotional scenes surrounding Mel’s preliminary, and her hopes for Mel and Jack’s.

How excited were you to finally see Christmas in Virgin River?

It was just as I had anticipated. It was really cute, very small town, just a Christmas bonanza. Everything was decorated, and I was secretly in the corner on my phone buying Christmas ornaments (laughs). I think we were shooting at the end of October; I was so inspired by our Christmas. We have been talking about it for years, how it made sense to do a Virgin River Christmas. However, the problem always became how slowly the show moves, and so unless we were going to jump ahead at some point, it just wasn’t feasible to do. But, here it was.

After everything that happened this season, do you have a favorite episode or scene you filmed?

You know, as hard as mid-season was for me, I loved those episodes. I love when Brie’s character takes the stand. I thought that was extremely powerful, and what she said on the stand was incredibly powerful. It felt like something we hadn’t done before on the show. So I was really proud the writers chose to go there, and I cried when I read the script and I cried when I watched it. The fire — I think it was episodes five, six and seven. They were hard, but I thought it was some of our best work.

One of the big storylines was Mel’s preliminary. How did you prepare emotionally to take on those scenes?

It was really difficult. It was very draining. You know, if you look back at season one, coming into Virgin River, Mel was very deeply in loss and trauma, and as an actress that was something I was looking forward to getting out of. Because when I do that kind of work, it takes me there personally. So I really wasn’t looking forward to it, to be honest with you, because it took me through the trauma. I have my own trauma, just as everyone does, and for me, it feels close to home and something that I can relate to as a mother. And so I just used my own experience in that area, and I’m not going to lie to you, there was a weekend where I was just a total disaster on the couch after filming all of that. Those episodes were really hard. I was just watching TV all day and I had to call Martin [Henderson], and I was texting him and he was like, “Are you OK?” And I was like, “I don’t think so (crying voice).” But he was extremely kind and talked me down from my heightened emotional state.