The Dearly Departed
Dearly Departed – by Elle2
Inspired by Randal’s recent One Night Stands (and yes, I totally went the way of the gutter while preparing to read that…) I decided to write briefly about some of my favorite recurring characters who alas are no more. I’m putting them in my order of favor, least to most, although any ordering is not meant to disparage because the following characters I truly enjoyed each and every time they came to visit. Be it on the side of the light or the side of the dark, they were all ‘good’ characters who enriched the storyline.
“This guy’s no genius, he’s a Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie.” – Ash
Ash was the first wacky character that truly was a character: genius, drunk, opportunist, Dr. Bad***, unabashedly comfortable in his birthday suit, keeper of secrets – until pressured by Ellen and then he folds – and loyal.
Ash staggered drunkenly into the Winchester’s lives in ELAC and quickly proved himself able to decipher John’s research (the man who writes like Yoda), to be a keeper of Sam’s secret psychic abilities, a helper to Jo who tried to ditch (unsuccessfully) her mother and hunt with the brothers, and very aware of the dangers abounding as he sensed the importance of his discovery and the need to keep it safe (AHBL I&II).
Ash came seemingly from nowhere (well, all right, MIT) and for some unknown reason found himself settled in a back room at The Roadhouse. There’s much unknown about Ash, including his death, to this day there are those that hope (against hope) that he somehow escaped the fiery explosion, that somehow the watch that was highlighted during his phone call to Dean and the burnt watch on the charred remains found at the devastation of The Roadhouse was somehow a ruse, I’m thinking Ash is gone.
He was fun, funny, outrageous and a mystery; in the end he did not fit anywhere in the landscape and it was best to remove him, before he outstayed his welcome; as it is, I miss him.
“I was a freak with a knife collection.” – Jo Harvelle
Was Jo a poorly conceived character? A poorly executed character (in writing that is)? Perhaps in Season 2 she was both. Alona Tal did a fine job with what she was given. Like Bela, Jo was a good idea, on paper; reality was a whole different matter. Thank heavens all involved figured out quickly that having a ‘love interest’ just was not going to work. I suggest that Bela’s character (as clunky as it was since she had no ‘tie’ into the mythos until at the end) shows how those involved learned some things from the Jo character and tried to improve; Bela was dangerous, sarcastic, independent, Jo was none of those.
Jo was a great idea, as Ellen’s daughter she had an obvious tie to hunting. She was youthful and somewhat idealistic about hunting but she was readily comprehensible as to why she would appear in an episode. Unfortunately, she was written as naïve and immature, until BUABS which gave her her initial (and decent) send off.
Even in GGY Jo was not the complex, experienced woman we met in AAH. Finally, the character was given a complexity that made her extremely appealing and had me truly wishing she was not leaving. The Jo in ELAC is a long way gone from the Jo in AAH, self-assured, fearless, intelligent…and a realist. Goodbye, Jo, I will truly miss you and all that you could have become.
“The best damn psychic in the state” – Pamela Barnes
Funny, flirty, intelligent, brave, loyal, foolish, overly attracted to Sam’s butt but equally willing to indulge Dean’s fantasy, Pamela burst on the scene in Lazarus Rising, flirted with Bobby, in real life chose to lift Jim Beaver off the ground, not part of the script, or so goes an interview at a Con, startled Dean who was more than willing, after having been sprung from jail (or hell) to indulge in a little carnal pleasure with the faire Pamela but when Pamela invited Sam, that was too much. Fearless Pamela strode a bit too close to the spirit world, got her eyes burned out and yet, despite what should be forever a healthy inclination to stay far, far, far away from all things Winchester, twice came back to assist the brothers.
Pamela goes down as a heroic, in a tragic way, character. She was smart enough to figure out how to aid Anna as well as send Dean and Sam into the ghostly plane and loyal and courageous enough to stay by their sides and fight off demons, despite being blind. In the end, those who stray too close to the dark side and stay there to assist Sam and Dean end up dead, and Pamela was no exception. Unlike another on this list, Pamela knew the truth (at least the Supernatural brand of truth) from the first time we met her, still all that knowledge wasn’t enough to save her when death came calling.
I miss you, Pam. Thanks for all you did.
“He’s what you might call a specialist” – Uriel
Uriel made an immediate impression with his brooding presence dominating the hotel scene in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester. Even with his back to the action and only a couple of spoken words, his power was evident. Uriel, unlike Castiel, had no interest in the ‘humans’ and his contempt for those ‘mud monkeys’ dripped not only from his lips but oozed from his every pore.
At first Uriel is under Castiel’s direction but that quickly changes as he strikes out on his own in Heaven and Hell and contacts Dean through a dream and threatens the life of Sam if Dean doesn’t hand over Anna; this truly is no ministering angel seeking to comfort or support. I’ll admit, I never saw his true traitorous ways coming in On The Head of a Pin and I didn’t mourn his death at Anna’s hands…although he was a wonderfully nasty villain. Good thing we still have Zachariah to dislike this season.
Uriel made a brief four appearances but in those short times we learned that heaven’s angelic host are not all under the same belief that humans are to be cared for or that God’s plans are to be followed. It’s quite fitting that a formerly fallen angel, intent on her own wishes, was the one to slay the murderous Uriel.
“Yeah, and Hannibal Lechter’s a good psychiatrist” – Gordon Walker
Gotta love a bad guy who calls Sam Sammy, and Sam takes him to task for it, gets Dean to open up about his grief over John’s death, hunts Sam and tries to blow him up, kidnaps Dean and beats him up and finally becomes that which he hated the most and still tries to maintain his sense of morality, as in, when I’ve killed Sam Winchester I’m going to kill myself, not bad, Gordon.
Gordon blasted on the scene early in Season 2 and by his actions challenged Dean, along with Sam’s persistence, to assess what being a hunter meant: Does a hunter just kill all things supernatural or is there something deeper that needs to be examined? Dean’s been examining it, in one form or another, ever since.
While it appeared that Gordon and Dean were be set up to have grudge matches from Blood Lust on it was Sam who was Gordon’s focus. I’m of the mind that Gordon would have let Dean live after the events of Hunted, provided Gordon killed Sam in the first place, but that he would have no compunction about killing Dean if Dean decided to come after him; self-defense is a proper, ethically acceptable way to kill, at least to Gordon’s way of thinking.
Gordon’s demise came deliciously and gruesomely at, of all people, Sam’s hands, uh, literally, and marked an important signpost along Sam’s journey from idealistic young man to cold, calculating hunter. While Sam has always had the ability to kill when his or anyone else’s lives were threatened, the brutal, personal way of strangling Gordon with wire until his head was cut off was particularly stunning, and Sam seemed to barely blink.
Gordon was a worthy foe, evil, cunning, intelligent, equally capable of ‘beating’ the Winchesters as he was of being beaten. He showed the Winchesters the true dangers they faced with Sam’s ‘abilities’; they would be hunted not only by demons, not only by the FBI, but they would also be hunted by hunters, there truly was no safe place.
“Don’t you recognize me? Oh, I forgot, I’m wearing a pediatrician.” – Alastair
Along came a fabulous demon who enjoyed taunting the Winchesters about as much as Meg in Season 1. Alastair taught us much about Dean’s experience in hell, orally and visually as the forever brilliant OTHOAP demonstrated. Amid all the demons in Season 4 who were part of ‘the plan’ or at least eager to see it succeed, Alastair wanted only to remain in hell where he was the master of torture. He was intriguing in that he seemed to utterly enjoy hell, whereas we learned from Meg that hell was hell to demons and not a place to enjoy. Of course, as Alastair was the head torturer perhaps his enjoyment came from the fact that he got to dish out the pain and torment and not receive it.
Alastair came along and gave us a big baddie right up front whilst Lilith continued to lurk in the background. While two actors, well, actually three, brought Alastair to life, the character remained the same, sarcastic, sadistic, he was purely evil; his chief pleasure was to cause pain and he loved being in hell, likely the only resident of hell to hold such an opinion. The fangirl in my loved that it was Sam who killed him, take that you evil SOB for torturing my brother for 30 years and then turning him into a torturer for another decade (*yes, there is a fangirl in here). Alastair, like Azazel, lit up the screen and turned up the angst with each scene.
“Yes, I know about Sam; Bonnie to your Clyde.” Henriksen
Season 2 brought us quite a few ‘dearly departed’ as this list will show. Victor Henriksen was a good guy out in the world, badge, credentials, law enforcement he got into the career with the hopes of making the world a better place – too bad he was looking in the wrong direction.
Henriksen was someone I would have loved to see continue, but as is the norm for those who cross paths with the Winchesters on more than one occasion, they meet a sad end. The Winchesters have made several friends in law enforcement over the years, (The Benders, The Usual Suspects, Folsom Prison Blues) but Henrickson’s turn from antagonist to ally was one I cheered for and then grieved when Lilith ended him. Victor would have been an excellent hunter had he been given the chance and I believe he would have found returning to his life as an FBI agent unsatisfying to say the least once he ‘knew’ what was really going on out there.
Victor, you were a good guy yet a bad guy as you relentlessly pursued Sam and Dean but once you understood and recognized what the Winchesters were doing, you wiped their slate clean by ‘killing’ them – does that count as a death? – and then you yourself were killed, hardly seems fair.
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“Okay, now that is just weird, man. Why the hell would I be looking for that?”
“’cause there’s a PBR in it for you.”
“Give me fifteen minutes”.
Long live the mullet. This is quite a roster you’ve got just on those that are, sniff, no longer with us. Yes, even Azazel, one of the *all-time* great teevee villains. As was Gordon, really. He had that psychotic look down pat, which nicely complimented his, you know, psychotic actions. Though, in a way, he wasn’t all that wrong. Love me some ambiguity.
My list would like very similar to this, but with an addendum of Kubrick. “Don’t play with my Jesus.”
Now, Kripke, tell the major networks to eat it and get JDM back one last time.
I still have to get used to all of you using acronyms for the episodes, since I use numbers. You guys are throwing me off, dammit. 😀
That is a great list Elle2!
The ones I grieve the most for are Jo and Ellen, and, of course Big Daddy.
Would have liked Ash, Henrikson and Pamela to survive for a bit more time.
Ol’Yellow Eyes (Fred Lehne) was my favourite demon, for his sarcastic humour (“Here’s the Thing!”) along with his menace. (“Sit a spell!”) And Mitch Pileggi
was SO badass as Azazel! Alistair’s main two hosts were a close second though, with all the unsaid history between him and Dean just to be imagined and not spelled out. (I still don’t believe John was the first choice for the righteous man. I think it was Dean all along, considering it is a brother thing with Lucifer and Michael. I think he was goading Dean unmercifully with that notion he couldn’t live up to his Dad’s expectations).
Gordon, I grew to hate with a passion (even though he did have a point with Sam). I cheered when Sam did him in. What really pushed Sam into high gear to best ol’Gordo was seeing him take a bite out of his brother, especially since Dean had such a short time to live at the time.
I could incluse Nicki Aycox as Meg to your list, as she was a formidable foe and truly evil incarnate.
Henrikson would have made a terrific ally if he had survived. Too bad!
Uriel just oozed contempt for the boys and the human race. Such a good actor! Zach makes a good substitute to hate, even though his modus operandi is different, they both have unpleasant plans for the brothers. Loved Dean’s and Uriel’s repartee. Dean gives it as good to Zach as well!
Thanks again Elle2. Only 4 more weeks to go!
My list, too, would be very similar, but I think I would add Jessica to my list. Yes, we’ve only seen her once in person, but she’s been a figment of both Sam and Dean’s dreams/dreamworlds, and even now, nearly 5 years after her death, we still see how much Sam loved her and how guilty he feels over her death.
Great list, Elle2. Till you see a list of all the characters SPN has lost, you don’t realize how many there have been. It would be nice to see some of these characters return, if only as ghosts…..well maybe not a ghost, vampire Gordon! But, you never know what will happen in the SPN world. Guess that’s part of what makes the show great! Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Randal, Bevie, Sablegreen — and for the life of me I can’t read the third( but fourth member) in line on the comments list.
As an aside, my main computer is repaired (yeah!) and I can access the site again on that, BUT, I’m on vacation and traveling with my notebook and thus still have the problem of reading the comments in an inch wide screen and the dates and times write over the usernames.
I’m so glad y’all like my little list. Randal, you’re so right, Ash had some great lines AND — SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT!!!
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Here it is!!!!
Ash returns in an upcoming episode…perhaps as a zombie??????
SPOILERS ALL DONE NOW.
Anyway, glad you liked the list everyone. I thought long and hard about including Meg but as she is back I left her off, although Nicki Aycox is sorely missed overall.
There are so very many good characters (and even better actors/actresses) who have graced the SPN landscape and will be missed (and are) still, we’re blessed with those who remain (Bobby especially!)
Thanks all for the comments.
Great list! Love your choices! Very much with you on Ellen–loved her and Jo from their first appearance, really wish we’d seen more of them before AAH…
I think I’d have to include Jess and especially Mary in mine; their presence also lingers in the series. Maybe not as much as John, but you feel it. Sure, Jess had no character development (baked goods and a nurse outfit, geez Louise), even in WIAWSNB she was just sorta there, but in my book Adrianne Palicki gets a lot of credit for conveying a sense of a the relationship there when she had so little to work with… When I think of Jessica I tend to think of that mournful scene at the end of Bloody Mary, with the Rolling Stones tune…
The there’s Mary. One of the reasons I loved In the Beginning, and Jas pointed this out in an article–the repeated cycle of Winchester secrets, sacrifice, diabolical deals all rising from their love for each other… We had thought it started with John, but come to find out it really started with Mary, that her choice set them on the road they’re on.
I love, love, love that you included Alastair and Uriel! I adored every moment those guys were on screen, dripping with sarcasm and menace, and very badly wanted them around longer! I think Christopher Heyerdahl’s Alastair is my all-time favorite demon, I think for me he actually gets the jump on Yellow Eyes. But then, it was season 4 that caught my attention to begin with, so there must be something to be said for first loves 😀 Thanks!
Hi, Elena,
I agree with you, Alistair was deliciously evil. I thought about including Mary and Jess and your reasoning is very appropriate. Both had so little air time but their presence continues to permeate, Jess had a lot more ‘presence’ in Season 1 and it’s great that in Season 5 Lucifer used her as a way to introduce himself to Sam — wonderful throwback. That ending of Bloody Mary is excellent and is a great reason to go back and watch that eppie again (not that I need reasons to go back LOL)
I do like how mysterious the Mary character is, that we got the Sam, I’m sorry in Home and waited until Season 4’s In The Beginning to get the payoff on that…excellent. I’m hoping we get more.
Thanks for including some of your choices as well.
Hi Elle2
This is great. I would have to agree with everyone you put on the list.
I would also agree with Elena about Jessica and Mary. Despite their minimal appearances they truly left their presence.
I would also add Casey from ‘Sin City’. I really liked that character and her chemistry with Dean.
I don’t know if she knew the true plan or not, with bringing back Lucifer, but I think she would have been a great ally for the guys.
Hi, Cassi and Karen,
Thanks for the comments and the additions, Casey was a great character (and I think Randall included her on his ‘one-night stands’ list, for all the reasons you said.
As for Ruby…I like the S3 Ruby, not the Season 4, Season 4 was just off (even though I knew she was evil and manipulative). Ava also was a good character, so sweet and innocent and naive and then so coldly determined to survive…Sam should have paid closer attention to how evil and death can turn a person’s character.
Thanks for joining in.
Glad to hear that your computer is up and running again!
And cassi’s comment made me realize that I completely forgot about Andy. Simon Said is easily one of my all-time favorite episodes.
Glad to hear that your computer is up and running again!
And cassi’s comment made me realize that I completely forgot about Andy. Simon Said is easily one of my all-time favorite episodes.
yeah, Casey the demon was cool 8-). *gasp* I forgot Andy too–can’t believe it!!! He may actually bump Al & Uriel, he’s definitely my pick for the character I most want to see again. Hats off to elle2 for actually troubling to narrow the list down to your top ten, cuz mine just keeps getting longer 😉
Ash and Andy, for they made me smile. Ellen and Pamela for the coolness and loyalty. Azazel and Alistair, for they scared the c*** out of me.
After reading your article, elle, I just realized how MANY great and interesting characters have walked through the show – it’s quite an accomplishment for Kripke and the writers to keep track ;-), keep track and give each one of them such meaning.
Well, they will not be forgotten.
Thanks for writing this!
Lara
Hi, Randal, Freebird and Elena
I’m glad my computer is back up and running as well. Appears something nasty got into my email archives and was fouling things up…that and I shorted out the power supply in the front by using the front USB ports for my printer and camera plug ins…who knew, (Obviously not me) so cross fingers and hope, hope, hope it’s all better for a long, long, long time.
Andy is a cool character, Simon Said is a fab episode and it’s a shame Andy got ‘ganked’ in AHBL I…darn that Ava and her desire to live! (Can’t really blame her though)
I’m glad y’all appreciate that I whittled down my list (and it’s fun that all of you can add a character here and there) Initially I only had seven and then the list grew as Ash and Jo and ohmygosh I had initially forgotten Azazel (shudder) so it grew by three, then I decided to halt it at ten and that would be enough.
Hey, we’re at the three week mark until the next new episode! Hooray. I haven’t worked on anything whilst on vacation but I intend to finish my Women on Supernatural, Sex or Subtext is my working title (may be the actual title) that’ll come out (hopefully) before the new eps begin.
Thanks for reading, commenting and offering your picks, everyone.
I adore, adore, ADORE Ava. I’m sad she only got to be there in two episodes. :C
Elle2, wow, what a great piece, thanks so much for giving us this tribute to the ‘dearly departed’.
I also miss Pamela, and, of course, Ellen (what a fantastic woman!) and Jo, and Henricksen (really liked the guy, he was a man of intergrity), and Ash…. Well, he’ll be back, eh? Can’t wait how that will turn out. Perhaps he didn’t die at all and someone else was wearing his watch (perhaps Ash sold the thing for a beer? Or for some info?)…
Personally, I’d like to see Mary again, and Jess, and I kinda miss Madison…
And, I loved to hate Alistair (Christopher Heyerdahl did such a fantastic job! The man is an impressive and commanding actor. I’ve seen him in other shows, and he has always been fine. By the way, he plays a vampire in ‘New Moon’, but has only about two lines to say. I can only hope there will be more to do for him in the following films)…
Thanks, Elle2, this was great fun! Jas
I loved your list and agree with them all. One spelling correction. You say that Ellen runs a salon – shouldn’t that be saloon? Although the Roadhouse Salon gave me all sorts of giggles.
Love the idea of Salon Winchester … Bad hair And Scars Our Speciality … 😆
Great list, joggle the order a tadge, ditch Big Daddy and Jo and add Bongmaster Andy and it could be mine own!
…we also offer plastic surgery for torn out nails and Christmas tree scratches, deal in ‘Tru Demon Blood’ in case your donor gets killed and please come and see our new zombie musical ‘Miss Thigh Gone’, coming to a theatre near you…
I’m sure, you already have your ticket, Suze!
;-),Jas
Miss Thigh Gone … Fnark! 😆 😆 😆