Ruby doesn't do much for me. I think I would have bought the centuries-old demon a little better if the character had been played by an older woman, with a little more range. Cassidy plays it, in my opinion, as strictly snarky-sexy, with a side of trying-to-be-hip, and it's just sort of one-note.

I think Bela's character is fascinating. Sam and Dean have only ever encountered other *hunters* till now, and even in the case of someone like Gordon, who turned out to be dangerously single-minded, they all had the same bond Bobby mentions, the loss of someone close to them. And even when Gordon's methods and philosophy turned out to be too brutal for them to tolerate, he was, like every other hunter, at least trying to save innocent people.

Bela, on the other hand, knows as much or more about the supernatural as they do, and for the first time she has no interest in using that knowledge for the good of humanity. I think there has to be (should be?) a reason for how she got into the business, and it could be interesting to find out what it was, especially if it involves loss. As a foil to Sam and Dean and Bobby, she works pretty well for me because they really have to stop and *remember* that she's not going to do *anything* out of the goodness of her heart, and that's simply incredibly foreign to them. Dean may be tired, may have been for a while, but he can't stop and leave innocent people to die, even if he'd like a break.

I had a thought at the end of Jus in Bello, based off her comment to Dean that he "didn't know anything about her" and her uncomfortable expression when she hung up and glanced at the Colt on the seat beside her. What if the little girl Lilith's inhabiting is her daugher?

N.B. I'm on major painkillers, which are making me fuzzy and still not knocking back all the HOLY SHIT OW, and it's 4:45 a.m. EST. So take the above with a liberal application of salt.

Ruby doesn't do much for me. I think I would have bought the centuries-old demon a little better if the character had been played by an older woman, with a little more range.

Amy and are share a brain on this.

With Bela, I like the idea of the character (again, Amy and I share a brain as to why), but there's something off in the execution that makes a delicious idea not as delicious as it should be. It's like having a lasagna that's made with home-made noodles, fresh herbs, and tomato sauce from tomatoes grown in your own garden - but overcooked and using supermarket-brand rubberized shredded mozzerella for the chees.

Bev - yes! They need to put KC in some giant motorcycle boots or Docs. I know that they've been putting her in v. high heels because she is wee and the boys are tall but - height does not equal power or physical presence. . . they need to watch Summer Glau or Eliza Dushku. (Plus, it could be that physical presence is something you either have or don't have.)

Sumi, now you've got me thinking of what Ruby would be like if played by Summer Glau, and now I'm bitter all over again.

That's okay - now you know how I feel when somebody at TWOP said something that made me imagine Kristen Bell as Bela.

I'd love to see Bela played by Morena Baccarin.

I agree that Ruby needs some presence, and the snark just isn't enough.

I do think casting an actress that's visually reminiscent of the much cooler and more capable Stephanie Romanov turned out to be a mistake. Bela mainly makes me nostalgic for Lilah Morgan.

I'd love to see Bela played by Morena Baccarin.

whimper

I do think casting an actress that's visually reminiscent of the much cooler and more capable Stephanie Romanov turned out to be a mistake. Bela mainly makes me nostalgic for Lilah Morgan.

mournful howl

Two vastly different characterisations, and two actors who would rock the part. And Romanoff is tall enough not to need a scully box! What were they thinking? Oh yeah, teeny little network, 14-year-old sensibilities. Anybody over the age of 25 is pretty much irrelevant.

Okay, but does she have to walk and talk? Can we just have a little picture of her up in the corner of the screen?

Well, she needs to talk, or I can't dig the accent.

I agree with Amy on Bela, though. And Ruby, mostly.

I can understand the purpose of Bela's character; I do not like the execution of it. For many of the reasons mentioned above by all the other posters. Also, I think she has already been overused in an unrealistic way... the guys are criss-crossing the country, have been doing so all their lives, and suddenly in the past 6 months or so they keeping running across Bela? In the past 12 episodes she's appeared in 5 of them. (3.3: Bad Day at Black Rock, 3.6: Red Sky at Morning, 3.7: Fresh Blood, 3.10: Dream a Little Dream of Me, and 3.12: Jus In Bello). (That's as many episodes as Bobby has appeared in, by the way.) It is perhaps the cilantro effect -- a little would be okay, but too much just ruins everything.

Another issue I didn't see raised was her interaction with Gordon in Fresh Blood. I didn't like it -- Gordon was one seriously badass hunter, who had never needed help tracking down his prey before. I don't believe he would have stood there and bargained with Bela. He would have tortured her for the information, or shot her because of the inconvenience she caused him, (because he paid lip service to saving humans, but seemed willing to lay waste to anything in his way in his quest to kill Sam) but he wouldn't have put up with her taking something valuable from him. That whole scene made Gordon look powerless.

Also, I still don't buy Dean shrugging off Bela shooting Sam. Dean is so rabidly protective of Sam that he would never just let that slide by. He might be willing to overlook the theft, but not the shooting.

Not to mention I'm still waiting to see more than one facial expression, and to find out if she's capable of a vocal intonation of more than smug condescension.