Supernatural premieres on the CW this week, October 13. Approaching 250 episodes, the long-running show about the Winchesters is now opening its twelfth season, with no indication of stalling. In fact, it is one of the most consistently well-written shows in the CW’s arsenal.
Last season we saw Chuck finally revealed as God himself, returning from a seasons-long hiatus to confront his sister. This season we have the resurrection of Sam and Dean’s mother, Mary. That got us thinking: what other characters would we want to see return to the show?
Gabriel
Number one on the list is definitely the archangel, Gabriel. First introduced as a minor character known as “The Trickster”, and then later as Loki, the Norse god, Gabriel’s true identity as one of the mightiest of the angels came as a bit of a surprise. After all, here was someone who enjoyed warping reality to lock Dean into a never-ending cycle of death, or dump the brothers into a sitcom universe.
Despite his wise-cracking ways and apparent flippant attitude, Gabriel was always on the side of humanity and very much against the infighting of his family. Having learned most of his tricks from Lucifer, he tragically stood up his older brother, his death allowing the Winchesters to escape to fight another day. Even though Chuck states that it’s beyond his power to resurrect Gabriel, keep in mind his wording: he doesn’t have time to bring back beings of primordial creation. Yet, he’s with his sister now, who has at least as much power, so together they might be able to pull it off.
Balthazar
Since we’re on the subject of heavenly beings, Balthazar is another of our favorite angels. Aside from the death of angel Anna Milton, his death was perhaps the most tragic. He was a close friend of Castiel and, in the end, it was this very friendship that resulted in his death. We can’t forget the look of utter confusion on his face as Castiel stabbed him from behind.
Balthazar was nearly as irreverent as Gabriel, literally un-sinking the Titanic because he hated the movie so much. He skipped out of Heaven at the first sign of the Apocalypse, taking a number of powerful artifacts with him and faking his death, and this would later make him a focal point when the angels went to war with one another. Now that Castiel is sane again, it would be interesting to pursue the fallout of that betrayal.
Jo Harvelle
There are quite a few mortals we could make a list of, but young Jo tops the roster. She was young when her father died on a hunt with John Winchester, Sam and Dean’s father. This led to her mother sheltering her as much as she could from a hunter’s life, but it’s sort of hard to keep her away forever when running a bar frequented by hunters.
While her first outing with the Winchesters revealed her to be tenacious, if impetuous, subsequent appearances proved her to be quite the formidable fighter. She eventually gained her mother’s approval, and the two began hunting together before joining in the effort to prevent the Apocalypse. They were instrumental in the defeat of the Horseman, War, and moved on to help against Lucifer. This would be her last outing, as she died while saving Dean’s life. Much later when the boys visited Heaven, it was heavily implied that neither Jo nor her mother were there, leaving the door open for a potential comeback. With such an overwhelming male presence on the show, it would be nice for a woman to come in that can stand toe-to-toe with the brothers, angels, and demons, which brings us to the next character…
Bela Talbot
Bela’s inclusion may be a bit of a contentious one, aside from Lauren Cohan busy with The Walking Dead. For most of her run, she was clearly not a fan favorite, but for her latter episodes she grew to be respected by even her most ardent detractors, especially after her tragic backstory was (finally) revealed. Here was a woman who, as a young girl, was sexually abused by her father while her mother feigned ignorance. As a teen, she was approached by a demon who offered a deal probably irresistible to someone so damaged and young: it would kill her parents, avenging Bela’s abuse, all for the price of her soul. It didn’t hurt that Bela would inherit a fortune.
Rarely have we ever seen a character get under the Winchester’s skins as much as Bela, whether it was flirtation and temptation, or machinations and trickery, she flustered them to no end. It’s perhaps too bad that her story, so similar to Dean’s, was revealed so late. She redeems herself to some extent right before being attacked by hellhounds, offering the brothers invaluable information on Lilith. Last we knew, she was dragged to Hell to be tortured for all eternity. Let’s not forget that not long after Lucifer escaped from his cage and, well, all hell broke loose on Earth, so there’s plenty of wiggle room for Bela to have escaped somehow. Speaking of escaping Hell, let’s jump right to a character that’s been overlooked for far too long.
Adam Milligan
This poor guy just can’t catch a break. The third son of John Winchester, Adam Milligan and his mother were killed by ghouls before he could meet his brothers. You’d think resurrection by the angels would be a wonderful thing, but all they really wanted was a vessel for the archangel, Michael. With Dean constantly refusing, they needed someone genetically as close to him as possible to agree. Seeing as how Sam was destined as Lucifer’s vessel, that left poor Adam.
Though the brothers attempt to rescue him, he eventually does give his consent, squaring off against Lucifer in Sam’s body. Both hurtle into Hell, where they are trapped in an endless battle. Later, Dean has the chance to pull either Sam or Adam from their confinement; of course, he chooses Sam. We’re left to believe that Michael/Adam has gone insane from time in Hell. For two brothers who so ardently believe in “family first” and have sacrificed so much for one another, it seems impossible that they wouldn’t do the same for Adam. In fact, this is one of the glaring perplexities of the show that has yet to be resolved. Even Castiel is treated more as family. As such, Adam’s story seems unresolved. With the cage damaged, we have to wonder what’s become of Michael.
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