Sullivan’s Crossing Season 3 needs to answer these 5 burning questions

Death by fire, a scorned love triangle, and a fatherless baby sounds like a Shakespearean tragedy, but it’s actually the set-up for Sullivan’s Crossing Season 3. Shandon’s Diner exploding changed everything, and we need answers. 

If you’ve ever watched Virgin River and thought, “Man, I wish there was even more of the same available to stream now,” author Robyn Carr’s other hit, Sullivan’s Crossing, has you covered.

While not on the same streaming service, the TV show has the same broad premise – a troubled woman leaves her professional city life behind to move to a rural community, meeting a handsome man or two along the way.

It’s a winning formula, and Sullivan’s Crossing Season 3 is on the way. This is great news for us because we’ve been desperate to know what happens next after the exciting Season 2 finale. Here’s exactly what we need the new season to address immediately.

Sullivan’s Crossing Season 3: Is Sully alive? 

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Without a doubt, Sully’s fate is the biggest question mark as we head into Sullivan’s Crossing Season 3. When we last saw Shandon’s Diner in the Season 2 finale it was burning down with Finn and Clover trapped inside. They escaped, but at a cost. 

Heroically, Sully and Cal rushed into the building to try and save them – but that move could have catastrophic consequences. Just after they ran in, the building exploded, leaving Maggie to scream at the destruction.

While it’s implied that Cal has narrowly avoided a deadly fate, Sully’s potential demise is set up as the cliffhanger leading into Season 3. From a fan perspective, it could go either way, as none of this happened in the original books.

While it would be incredibly cruel, Sully’s death can’t be ruled out. However, if he dies, this doesn’t mean that actor Scott Patterson couldn’t return in some capacity. Sullivan’s Crossing could take the Dallas approach to bring him back from the dead in the form of a vision or include Patterson in flashback scenes.

Let’s face it… this is a pessimistic take. We could switch on Season 3 Episode 1, and find that he’s right as rain! Arguably, there’s an ideal balance – if Sully isn’t dead but is severely injured enough to need long-term care, Maggie has something concrete tying her to stay in town. 

After so much back-and-forth over whether she’ll move back to the city, what could make you stay put like a sick relative?  

Who is the father of Maggie’s baby?

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If Robyn Carr knows how to do anything, it’s drawing out a pregnancy for longer than is humanly feasible (lest we forget Charmaine’s twins, who should be about 32 by now). In the case of Sullivan’s Crossing, Maggie entered the series off the back of the miscarriage and surprisingly finds herself pregnant again soon after.

Like all good small-town dramas, there’s a catch – we don’t know who the father is. What we do know is that there are only two candidates for the position: dreamy resident Cal, who Maggie has been having an on-off fling with, and ex-boyfriend Andrew, who’s been recently dumped over “lifestyle differences.”

If you’re asking us, Cal should be the father. While Maggie and Andrew’s lack of chemistry fizzled into a dumping, Cal and Maggie have it in abundance. They’re incredibly enjoyable to watch together, and pairing the new girl with the town heartthrob is textbook cozy rom-com. Who wouldn’t want to see them raise a baby together?

Judging by the original books, this is likely what will happen. While it plays out differently (Cal and Maggie stay together from the beginning), the novels follow the pair as they bring up their daughter, Elizabeth. 

It should be stressed that the binge worthy TV show doesn’t have to follow the books, nor do we know anything about Maggie’s baby… other than it exists. If the program takes some creative license, who knows – perhaps an ex or an unknown rival will show up. Nobody can predict a Robyn Carr story, as Charmaine’s baby daddy reveal in Virgin River proved (spoiler: it’s Calvin, who comes back from the dead to confirm that). 

Will Maggie stay in Sullivan’s Crossing?

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Before Sully’s life was in danger, the biggest dilemma in Maggie’s life was whether to move back to the city or stay in Sullivan’s Crossing – and this never really got answered. As we said earlier, lots of this will depend on whether Sully pulls through or not, but there’s more to the story.

As it stands, Maggie is leaning towards staying, but she’s got a potential problem in the form of her ex-boyfriend, Andrew. Sure, they’ve split up, but what about if he is the father of Maggie’s baby? That means a ton of co-parenting, which arguably needs to happen close by. Andrew is heading back to the city because he’s unhappy in town… so you get where we’re going.

On top of this, Maggie is likely to have a difficult time emotionally with her new pregnancy. Having a miscarriage is a life-changing thing, and heading back to the city could open old wounds around what happened the first time. Staying in Sullivan’s Crossing gives her a literal village of support, including somewhere safe and stable to raise a child. 

Still, this is dramatic TV – anything can change, and anything can happen! Knowing how our favorite cozy shows typically pan out, some unexpected storyline is just around the corner, meaning nothing can be second-guessed.

What happens next for Andrew?

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It would be easier to feel sorry for Andrew if he wasn’t being such a jerk, but it’s still unclear what Sullivan’s Crossing Season 3 holds for him – or whether we’ll even see him again. 

Andrew clearly loved Maggie, but perhaps not enough to completely uproot his city life to settle down in a small town. In the books, Andrew’s a total idiot after Maggie miscarries their baby, but that’s wildly different from what we see in the TV adaptation.

The stakes are much lower in CTV’s version, although this could change if Andrew is indeed the father of Maggie’s baby. If we’re honest, we don’t really care about Andrew’s backstory or future at all. 

We cared because he was a significant part of Maggie’s life… and now that’s all over, we’d rather see her move on to bigger and better things (e.g. settling down with Cal). 

Sullivan’s Crossing Season 3: Will Cal and Maggie get married?

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Season 3 of Sullivan’s Crossing likely leaves Maggie and Cal open to a long-awaited reunion, with the shared experience of the diner fire likely bringing them closer together than ever before.

It’s a rich jumping-off point for their romance to get restarted. If Virgin River’s Mel and Jack are the blueprint, nothing ignites passion more than almost having your life completely ruined. The pair have been pushed and pulled apart across five series, and while it’s been entertaining to watch, it’s also left them in the healthiest possible place.

Cal has been married once before, which caused a huge rift between him and Maggie in Season 2. After they were able to discuss it properly, Maggie found out that Cal’s wife died of ALS, with Cal moving to Sullivan’s Crossing to seek solace. 

Once again, the books confirm that they do indeed get married in the first installment. While the series clearly isn’t staying completely faithful to its source material, it’s taking a longer time to get to the same points. Put two and two together, and we’re hearing wedding bells in the future.

For more small-town drama, explore The Way Home Season 3, Virgin River Season 6, and Ginny and Georgia Season 3. We’ve explained what questions When Calls the Heart Season 12 needs to answer.