If you swooned hard over Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack Sheridan’s (Martin Henderson) small-town love story on Virgin River, you’re in for a real Season 6 treat.

The sixth season of Netflix’s hit drama, based on Robyn Carr’s book series, not only tells the next chapter in Mel and Jack’s romance (they’re finally in their wedding era!) but it travels back to Virgin River in the 1970s to show the meet-cute/love story of Mel’s parents.

In an unexpectedly delightful twist, Virgin River‘s flashbacks became just as compelling as the main, present-day story, thanks in large part to phenomenal casting and compelling performances by the younger versions of Mel’s dad Everett (John Allen Nelson) and her late mom Sarah.

As fans watch the ’70s story unfold on-screen, they’ll likely want to know more about young Sarah and Everett. So who plays Mel’s charming parents in Season 6 flashbacks? And what do we know about Jessica Rothe and Callum Kerr?

Read on for a breakdown of Virgin River’s ’70s stars and Season 6’s blast from the past.

Virgin River Season 6 spoilers ahead.

As noted above, Jessica Rothe and Callum Kerr play the younger version of Mel’s parents in Season 6 flashbacks. Ahead of Mel’s wedding, she presses her dad for information on her mom in hopes of coming up with a thoughtful way to honor her during the ceremony. While Everett is reluctant to reminisce because he’s so hurt by the loss of Sarah, at the end of the Season 6 premiere he starts sharing snippets of their love story with Mel. Then, in Episode 2, Virgin River successfully takes us back in time to show Everett and Sarah’s meet-cute.

While driving his VW bus and belting Don Mclean’s “American Pie,” a young, carefree Everett — rocking an unbuttoned shirt and some Aviator shades — zoomed past Sarah, who was hitchhiking on the side of the road after her car broke down. Everett was heading to see The Stones at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, but it was love at first sight, so he backed up, learned that Sarah was also headed to San Francisco for a peace march with her friends, and gave her a ride on the condition that they didn’t have to talk politics. (He’s “more of a sex, drugs, and rock and roll kind of guy.”)

After Everett hit a pot hole, his VW paid the price and the two had to seek assistance at the nearest auto shop…in Virgin River. The fix would take 48 hours, which meant the new friends had to camp nearby and spend some romantic one-on-one time by a bonfire with a bottle of whiskey and Everett’s guitar. After getting vulnerable, Everett told Sarah, “If I don’t kiss you, I might spend the rest of my life regretting it.” (Have I mentioned that I’d watch the hell out of this spin-off?!) The two ultimately parted ways when Everett dropped her off at the march, but Sarah promised that fate would bring them back together again, and it did.

In Episode 3, we learned that Sarah reunited with Everett in Virgin River after she lost Chloe, and that’s when she got pregnant with Mel. In Episode 7, Sarah also planted a field of wildflowers in Virgin River and promised Everett that she’d be back to watch them bloom.

The 70s characters and actors who played them had palpable chemistry. As young Sarah and Everett flirted, shared pieces of themselves, and dove deeper into conversation, the ambitious flashbacks were not only entertaining, but served as a creative tool that taught us more valuable info about Mel’s parents, Virgin River’s history, and her own character.

So who’s responsible for the charming, heartfelt Sarah and Everett performances? Keep reading to learn all about Virgin River‘s new Season 6 additions.

As noted, young Sarah is played by Jessica Rothe, a 37-year-old actor from Denver, Colorado. Per IMDb, Rothe kickstarted her on-screen career in 2010 and has starred in more than 40 movies and television series over the past two decades, including Happy Endings, Gossip Girl, Blue Bloods, Chicago P.D., La La Land, Utopia, All My Life, Mary + Jane, Boy Kills World, and more. That said, she’s likely best known for her role as Tree Gelbman in Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U.

If you’re looking to stay up-to-date with Rothe off-screen while you wait to see if Virgin River will feature more flashbacks in Season 7, you can follow her on Instagram at @jessica_rothe, where she had 369,000 followers ahead of Virgin River‘s Season 6 premiere.

Now, on to young Everett, who’s played by Callum Kerr, a 30-year-old Scottish actor, model, and musician who kickstarted his on-screen career in 2017. Per IMDb, he’s starred in a variety of television shows and films over the years, including Zomboat!, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Glow & Darkness, and Flowers in the Attic: The Origin. He’s well-known for roles as Wade Stellings on Monarch and George Kiss on Hollyoaks, and he’s also set to portray Smoker on Netflix’s Onepiece.

If you’re looking to learn more about Rothe’s music or stay up-to-date with the actor while you wait to see if Virgin River will feature more flashbacks in Season 7, you can follow him on Spotify or Instagram at @callum_kerr_1, where he had 524,000 followers ahead of Virgin River‘s Season 6 premiere.

Virgin River Season 6 is now streaming on Netflix.