Oh yeah - Ackles knocks it out the ballpark, bless him. But in the scenes with the two of them, a stronger actor could have raised the level considerably. Mostly on SPN I'm not distracted by people's crappy delivery (whereas on SGA I almost always found myself flinching at Tori's choices, and repeating the line out loud in a more believable fashion). She's adequate, but she's not awesome, and that's a real shame, given what a substantial bit of backstory it is. If she's the one girl special enough to have got under Dean's skin to such an extent, then it would have been nice to really see why - rather than having to assume that any sweet and pretty girl would have done, and that it was more about the place HE was in emotionally/what he was looking for/Dean attempting to find a bit of normality for himself.

Exactly. She was so ... perky. And sort of perfect(ish). I think I saw Dean with someone a little realer looking, and with a little more edge. More like Sarah after she cottoned on, to be honest.

98% of the time, Jensen's subtle expressions do most of his acting for him. And his voice, too, actually, the different tones, rough or smooth or sarcastic or raw.

Well, I think THAT actress needs a particular type of directing or something because I hated her in SPN AND in the 4400 but she was perfectly fine in Veronica Mars. What is up with that?

my reason for disliking Jo ... pushing a Jo/Dean thing that just didn't feel right

ITA. It was far too contrived from the git-go. Second episode for Jo, and she's punching in "I Can't Fight This Feeling" in the jukebox. The only thing more in-your-face would have been if they'd tattooed "Dean" on her bicep.

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,

I'm totally there, Fay. I've had some shaky theories in the past, but I feel very strongly about this one.

The only thing more in-your-face would have been if they'd tattooed "Dean" on her bicep.

Oh, see, I loved that. Dean is totally the kind of bad boy a lot of girls fall for at least once, especially when they've got a mama bear like Ellen breathing down their necks. What I loved watching was Dean's reaction, because Jo is adorable and hot and totally his type, and yeah, SO NOT GOING THERE. See: Mama Bear Ellen, who scares the shit out of him.

The whole thing delighted me.

Ellen delighted me. Very cool character with a lot of back story potential. Jo made me squint at the screen and go "really?" ;-)

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

Oh please oh please. Tho' considering the Winchester Boys track record with cool women dying because of them, I am cherishing my pet theory that Missouri is in the occultists' version of Witness Protection. She was really surprised when recently, at the Thursday night Ouija Board Bingo night that she and a group of friends throw (none of them can agree on a book to read for a book club), this spirit named Pamela contacted her and started bitching about the Brothers Winchester. But they got to talking, and now they chat every Tuesday night.

Every now and then Bobby calls Missouri, but they have a deal that they don't mention any of the Winchesters. Bobby likes having the break.

I am cherishing my pet theory that Missouri is in the occultists' version of Witness Protection. She was really surprised when recently, at the Thursday night Ouija Board Bingo night that she and a group of friends throw (none of them can agree on a book to read for a book club), this spirit named Pamela contacted her and started bitching about the Brothers Winchester. But they got to talking, and now they chat every Tuesday night.

Every now and then Bobby calls Missouri, but they have a deal that they don't mention any of the Winchesters. Bobby likes having the break.

This is now my personal canon.

::fangirls Jilli's brain like WHOA::

::sits with Amy::

Would definitely love to see Missouri again. She totally rocked my world.