From Ask Ausiello ...

[apocalypsos]

The italics are mine.

Question: As much as the female fans of Supernatural seem to hate the idea, I think that Bella and Ruby added a nice dynamic last season. Will the show's writers ever stand up to the fans and give at least one of the brothers and ongoing love interest? -- Jeff
Ausiello: Not if they value their life. And based on Eric Kripke's response to this question, I'm guessing they do. "The most dangerous job in Hollywood is to be the recurring female lead on Supernatural," Kripke laughs. "No, the formula in terms of romance that really has proven to work best for us is a girl in every port. Not that there’s not ongoing characters. But there are going to be recurring female characters threaded in and out of the story, and they will affect the storylines. But just to have them in sort of passive love interest roles is something that hasn’t really worked."

Oh, faaaaaabulous. I'm part of THAT fandom.

*headdesk*

(Not that I didn't know, but ... you know, past Kripke's lips, it sounds even worse.)

Comments

[baileytc.livejournal.com]

I don't want a "love interest." I want a strong, interesting female character. If she happens to get into a relationship with one of the guys, that's fine.

Unfortunately, Kripke & Company have virtually NO IDEA how to introduce a character who is intended from the outset to recur. Jo had a lot of unrealized potential but was doomed from the start by mishandled characterization (per Alona Tal, she was told Jo was "the female Dean") and a horrible "meet cute" intro.

Bela was interesting in "Bad Day at Black Rock" but went swiftly downhill once she started showing up every episode or two to make the guys look like bumbling idiots.

I liked Ruby as a character--although she had possibly the worst intro in TV history--because she was connected to the mythology and thus had a reason to show up on a regular basis. I hope Ruby pops back up again this season, no matter who plays her.

Ellen has been the biggest success so far, I think, possibly because 1. the producers think she's too old (ha!) for a love interest, so they didn't try to manufacture opportunities to put her together with one of the boys, and 2. the actress is quite good, so she made an excellent impression with everything they gave her.

It's quite telling--not of the producers' attitudes toward women, but of the writing staff's ability to write female characters--that the most successful recurring character by far is Bobby, who was NOT intended to be a recurring character. They do much better with "organic" characters than with pre-fabricated ones.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Yes, all of this. Especially that first bit. Develop her first, give me a relationship if they develop realistic chemistry later. If we're going to have a love story, don't give me an arranged marriage, give me an organic romance.

[tinylegacies.livejournal.com]

I agree with pretty much all of your points.

Jo definitely had a ton of unrealized potential and was not written consistently.

Ruby's intro was SO Mary Sue-ish, but she swiftly became interesting with the demon reveal. And she did have a lot of reasons to show back up.

Ellen was AWESOME and I am so sad that she hasn't shown up anymore.

The only thing I disagree about is Bela - I think she had amazing potential as well and mostly got shafted by the writer's strike. Her story could have unfolded in a more gradual and organic manner if the season hadn't been shortened.