Virgin River Season 5, Episode 1: What Song Plays When Paige Drives Away?

Contains spoilers for "Virgin River" Season 5, Episode 1 — "A Second Chance"

The course of true love has never run smoothly for "Virgin River" stalwarts, the one-of-a-kind John "Preacher" Middleton (Colin Lawrence) and Paige Lassiter (Lexa Doig). Their romantic ups and downs are fraught with complications. Most of those problems stem from Paige's abusive ex, Wes (Steve Bacic), who chooses to resurface and ruin Paige's happy new beginning with Preacher during Season 1. Four seasons later, Wes is dead, and his twin brother Vince (also Bacic), who spends Season 4 threatening Paige and her son Christopher (Chase Petriw), is out of commission.

With Wes and Vince now firmly in their rearview mirrors, Paige and Preacher have a fresh start ahead of them. Unfortunately, Paige still can't relax and let go; she has too many negative memories associated with Virgin River to keep living in town. She decides she's going to start over someplace else with Christopher. Preacher lets them go, vowing to stay in touch. And the tune that plays as Paige drives away is "Always" by singer-songwriter Ashe.

Ashe is known for her moody, attitude-filed music. "Virgin River" isn't the first time she has contributed to a major streaming project's soundtrack.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Ashe has made multiple contributions to various soundtracks, but she is probably best known for the songs she performed in Netflix's "To All The Boys" series. Her music appears in "To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You" and "To All The Boys: Always And Forever." The song "Moral of the Story" appears in the former, and "The Same" and "Real Love" show up in the latter. Boosted by the success of "To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You," "Moral of the Story" peaked at 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #7 on their Hot Rock and Alternative Songs chart in 2020. Ashe also has a song in "The Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting" called "Girl Who Cried Wolf."

The singer also scored an interesting get for her album "Rae." One song, "Love is Letting Go," features vocals from Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton. There's a reason for that. Ashe told UWM Post in 2017 that she deeply admires Keaton. "Some of my biggest inspirations are Carole King, and this actress, Diane Keaton, and they are these incredibly humble women of character. They love what they do and deflect some of the love pointed towards them. I take that as them saying, 'I'm simply a vessel for my art.' And that's how I want to be seen." And there's no better way to be seen than to work with the idols one admires most.