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.

::sitting with Aillean and Amy.

She's not busy on GA anymore. . . they need to bring her back.

Missouri casts such a huge shadow throughout fanfiction that I tend to forget that she only appeared in ONE episode. Awesome like that resonates. I would love to see her more, but perhaps not as much as we see Bobby because that would dilute her. (And speaking of Bobby... I adore Bobby, but maybe the boys could start doing a little research on their own again instead of just picking up the phone? And yeah, Bobby must be getting tired of driving hundreds of miles at an instant's notice - I almost said "at the drop of a hat" but that was just too obvious - to save their asses on such a regular basis.)

Mostly I agree with everything you've already written: We need Ellen back. The guys have had so little ongoing female presence in their life, and Ellen is no-nonsense but protective and loving and she could at the very least be at the other end of some of those phone calls. I wasn't as fond of Jo because of the way the writers tried to force her down the audiences' throats as a potential love interest, but I did like her in that episode set in Philadelphia with the serial-killer ghost in the apartment building (although that episode is sorely lacking in Sam, but that's another subject). Pamela was awesome- funny, brave, snarky - and a potential ally and source of info, so of course she was knocked off. I preferred the first incarnation of Ruby, because this one doesn't seem to have much of a personality at all. She's boring. Sarah from Bloody Mary also was awesome - funny, brave, willing to take a chance... and we haven't seen or heard about her since. I don't miss Cassie, don't really want to see her again (although I suppose Dean mentioning that he's spoken on the phone with her would add continuity). Anna was bland, and weak.

Really, from a storytelling perspective, having either of the Winchesters involved in a long-term romantic relationship wouldn't work for oh so many reasons. Practically, the change locations every few days. But overall, their focus is the coming apocalypse, and flowers and dinner dates really wouldn't fit around the edges. (Sam didn't even have to leave Cara's office!) And on a shallow note, I originally was drawn into this show because of the brotherly bond, and the efforts of these two characters to rebuild that bond and find their way back to each other. I want to watch them, and not spend a chunk of each ep watching random women.