A conversation I just had on another board:

Her: Why don't we like Jo Harvelle? I'm about to start ep. 2.11 so if it's something I'll find out later, just say that.

Me: We don't like Jo Harvelle because she A) is a woman and B) likes Dean.

I'm actually not joking. There is no textual reason not to like her.

Her: Seriously? That's lame. When she showed up, I just remembered all the buzz about "Say No to Jo!" and how everyone hated her and I was wondering if I missed something or if she changed later. I mean, I liked Sam Crawford when he first showed up and then he turned into a jerk. It could happen.

Le sigh.

Gah. We like Jo! Damn it.

We really do. I keep wishing they would bump into her on the road somewhere. Ellen, as well.

We totally like Jo! And Ellen! The Harvelle women are for the win! (Hell, come to that, I like Bela and Ruby*, although I remember gathering that they sucked when I was in my lagging-behind-on-viewing phase in Season 3, and following stuff online vicariously.) I also like Anna.

*I liked Katie's snarkier Ruby best, because that was about as close to having Faith/Winchester boys happen onscreen as I'm expecting to get. Gen's gone with some different acting choices, and I think she's okay, but not as much fun. (But otoh, she's a gorgeous curvy brunette, and I am shallow, with a weakness for gorgeous curvy brunettes, so that helps make up for it.)

I've warmed up go Gen's Ruby as time has gone on. She comes across as a Ruby who's either been changed by experience, or one who is playing up that angle to get into Sam's pants good graces. She and the writers have me curious about what Ruby is up to and what her storyline will be, so I have to say that they've been doing their job admirably.

We don't like Jo Harvelle because she A) is a woman and B) likes Dean.

I'm afraid there's more than a little truth to that. Remember the hue and cry when we heard there would be two female semi-regulars in S3?

I think the way Katie played Ruby was more effective, but also annoying as fuck. Probably intentionally so, but it was a real obstacle in the way of warming to her character.

Lauren was a good actress but her character was only well-written in a couple of episodes, with the remainder involving her being shoehorned in to plots where she didn't belong. (The dunce caps they fitted the leads with whenever she appeared didn't exactly endear Bela to me either.)

Yeah, the only woman I remember not being crazy about as it played on screen was Bella and that was just because she was a little boring.

Loved Ellen with the fire of a thousand suns. Touted her greatness with icons on LJ. Equally in love with Original Mary, Jessica, and Young Mary. Liked Jo, Ruby, Pamela, Sarah, Madison, Carmen, Lisa, Layla...yeah pretty much every other woman on the show. Even the girl from the 4400 that others weren't crazy about --still liked her. Oh Tessa and Meg!! Loved them and would welcome any and all back by natural or supernatural means.

I'm actually less inclined to like people with boy parts on this show. Dean, Sam, John, Bobby, Castiel, YED...pretty much the extent of it. I'm probably forgetting someone. Great guest stars and acting, but no one that I care if I see again.

eta: Re: Lauren and Katie--I think in addition to fearing two additional cast members taking screen time from the boys, Katie and Lauren had an uphill battle with the fan base because Alona and Sam Ferris weren't being asked back. Also, Fan base is pretty clear the boys have to be on every minute. Fans even snarl at Jensen for getting more air time than Jared.

(The dunce caps they fitted the leads with whenever she appeared didn't exactly endear Bela to me either.)

I agree on that one, but that just frustrated me with the writers, rather than with Bela. (Which is totally a YMMV thing, obviously!)

I'm still fond of the theory that Ruby is either Meg, or someone in the same kind of role and position as Meg, working Azazel's gameplan for him - it's just too damn similar, Azazel feeding Sammy the blood in the crib and Ruby showing up to worm her way into his trust and get him drinking the blood. I think she's Azazel's wetnurse. So - yeah, being all doe-eyed and pouty and unthreatening is a good call for getting Sammy naked to trust her.

Cassie I liked as an idea, but I was sorry the performance wasn't stronger. If she'd been a stronger actress, that could have been AWESOME. As it was, it was nice.

Okay, my reason for disliking Jo was not the little sister vibe that I saw between her and Dean but the way it felt like the producers were completely ignoring that and pushing a Jo/Dean thing that just didn't feel right.

I thought that both Ruby and Bela could separately be very interesting but I felt like they kept putting Bela into stories where she didn't really work and that they didn't really figure out her story until the very end.

Katie's Ruby annoyed me until I saw Gen's - Gen makes Katie seem like a Master. Thespian. comparitively. Oh, how I wish we could have Meg back.

And then they make Ellen disappear, they kill off Pamela and we never get to see either the St. Louis cop, the Baltimore cop or the woman from Provenance ever again. It's like they don't know when they've got a good thing when it's a female character. Maybe we'll get to see teen Mary again. . . that would rock.

If I could have only one woman back on the show on a semi-regular basis (like Bobby), it would be Missouri, hands down.

I felt like they kept putting Bela into stories where she didn't really work and that they didn't really figure out her story until the very end.

I think they started off with a vague idea and then had to scramble to tie it all up once they decided not to keep her. I actually liked the idea of Bela, though.

I also loved the idea of Dean's doomed relationship with Cassie, and the actress didn't bug me as much as she did others, but I felt like that was a pretty meaty piece of backstory for Dean that got short shrift.