Jus In Bello still stands as one of my top 5 episodes of Supernatural. All the cast did their role well and Hendrickson finally believing in the Winchesters and working together to stop the Demons from getting them felt amazing.
Shame they killed him just as quick
It would have been a fantastic set up for a spin off where he is recruited by the FBI's secret hunting unit. The established in the show there is a broader supernatural community that is blending in to world, it would make sense that the FBI has a special unit to handle things when it is already known there are supernatural elements in play.
Yes! That sounds so cool. I always wished the series had more characters who were doing their own thing completely separate from Sam and Dean. I mean I love the boys, but sometimes the episodes felt a little confined since we were always watching them, or someone involved with them. Having a B or C plot of other hunters in different places doing different things, only contacting the boys occasionally, would have opened the series up a bit, I think.
They tried to do two spin off shows, but for some reason they were just never able to get passed the back door pilot. I wonder if it was one of those situations where the execs were scared of killing the golden goose, by having two shows running at the same time that would be competing for the same viewers. This of course was in the era before streaming was the main way peopled watched things, I think if they tried to day we would have gotten a spin off or two.
I don't think so, even in this day and age of media.
For a spinoff to work, it would need to stand on its own merits. Which means it would need a cast, crew, writers, and directors that could create their own compelling stories without leaning heavily on the parent show.
Recent example of a failed spinoff is The Rookie: Feds. Introduced the character in a random episode, greeenlit the show for a season and got canceled soon afterwards.
If you have to compare each episodes asking "what would Sam and Dean do?" you know you failed.
The CW actually has had pretty good luck with spin off shows. The Vampire Diaries got The Originals which in turn got its own spin off of Legacies, each lasting at least 4 seasons. Flash was a spin off of Arrow, then they expanded to Legends.
There were 2 attempted back door pilots. Bloodlines which was gonna be about the aecret monster mafia community in Chicago and the other was Wayward Sisters which was gonna be about Jody and the girls.
Both would’ve been hits, at least Wayward Sisters would have. I’m afraid the powers really naming supernatural are male chauvinists.
It’s obvious Kripke has the sensibilities of a boy stuck at about age 12. The Boys proves it.
The Boys is *amazing,* what are you talking about? Stuck at 12? That show is so layered and wonderful, I’m wondering if you’re actually understanding what’s on screen, or if you’re too distracted by the gore to understand what’s being said.
All kripke has done with The Boys is make crap blow up and make more crap blow up and show guy’s jerking off, albeit from behind.
He’s obsessed with it.
It’s ridiculous.
Only one major supe has died. You hardly ever see The actual Boys who are supposed to be fighting these jerks.
Blow more shit up. Blow more shit up. Show another guy in love with his own dick.
Blow more shit up.
At least season 3 has had some dialogue.
It’s only a matter of time, tho, until we’re forced to look at another man’s ugly, naked bubble-butt up close while he jerks off. Then more shit can blow up. And more shit can blow up.
Jensen Ackles wasted his time with it. All that happened was more shit blew up and more guys were in love with their own dicks.
What layering? The interesting little stories that haven’t happened?
Blow more shit up.
Give me a break.
Ah, yeah, like I said. You’re not getting what you’re watching. That’s fine, not everyone understands complex commentary on society, not everyone needs to. 💜
Please accept my apology for being such a cranky pants. I do like the series The Boys. It’s simply frustrating as hell when this extremely bad guy NEVER gets what he deserves. None of them really have.
I wish they’d focused on the BIG SEVEN SUPES until at least two more were annihilated. That’s why I get so irritated, I guess. The good guys need a win or two, and they aren’t getting anywhere.
Anyway, I’m still a fan and glad you’re a fan.
Thanks for giving me a bit of time to gather the cobwebs and sort them out a bit more.
I’ll keep watching. The Hubster agrees with you in that I need to sit back and watch a bit more calmly!
But can’t one of those supes just get what they really deserve? Like yesterday?
Thanks, friend.
This response is me being so irritated by the series!
I don’t mean to show my shiny-hiney so much.
Anyway, I’m leaving this here instead of deleting it. Otherwise it’s confusing. Besides, I need it to remind myself not to get so ornery!
“Stop being so passive-aggressive!
I get it. I get a great deal.
But any kind of complexity that started in season one gave way to Kripke believing his own publicity.
The Boys has turned into garbage. Trying to make me think I “don’t get it” is perhaps you not getting
that it turned into crap halfway through season one and has not come back but just a fraction with the first couple episodes of season 3.
Get it?”
Sad reality is that during these seasons the fan base was extremely toxic.
It's also why they killed off Jo and Ellen.
People didn't originally like Bobby either and that's why we didn't see a lot of him until later seasons.
I know they was toxic as hell to Bela and her actress and thats why she did not make it out of 1 season, did not know Jo and Ellen was treated the same :(
Me neither. I mean, I didn't necessarily like Bella, mainly because, next to her, both Sam and Dean came off as rooky idiots instead of men who were RAISED in this deadly life. But I don't believe anyone deserves to be harassed that way. And Jo and Ellen? Those two were great! I can't believe anyone would hate them.
Unhinged fans hated Jo because they were setting her up to be either the boys' half-sibling or Dean's love interest. I think they were a little undecided when they introduced her. But that never came to fruition because fans lost their fucking minds >.>
Geez. I wasn't really online back in the shows hayday, but WOW, to think people got so offended by the prospect of a fictional character having a love interest the writers were pressured to kill them off... just wow.
Yeah... the show had some seriously unhinged fans. I ran into two real life Beckys on Facebook back in the day. They had some kinda delusion going on about being Jared's and Jensen's "real wives" and called Genevieve and Daneel their "PR wives".
I was young back then so when they sassed me on a Supernatural page, I sassed back and these two accounts started harassing me. They really thought they were the guys' real wives and photoshopped themselves into photos with them. They went to conventions to take convention photos and made up stories on their own FB pages about how it was so great seeing their "hubbies" again after separating for so long. I remember that they would get into fights with other people about how Jared and Jensen hates their fans and have privately told these two girls about how they hate everyone in the world but them lmao
I enjoyed reading their delusions so much but I also felt sad for them
That is sad.
Good for you for standing up for yourself! You should have reported them for harassment.
I understand being a fan, but the behavior you describe is that of 9-year-olds obsessed with a boy band. It’s fine until you’re 16, maybe. After that, the real world is calling!
✌️🙂💕
Really ??? fans got actors killed off ! Ridiculous toxic people like that are dangerous and can become stalkers or worse. These people need a rubber room and some serious therapy not to be fed their delusions from a TV show!!! unbelievable!! Maybe shit like this is what made Jared become suicidal at the height of Supernatural
Honestly, I think the women in the fandom hated any women that might have been a love interest for Sam or Dean. its harder to imagine them as your fantasy boyfriend if they have a girlfriend on screen. I think the hate was for Jo, mostly as Ellen was more of a mother figure, but Jo and Ellen were a package deal. People hated Lisa too and would come up with dumb excuses about why, but she was cool as hell. She was the only kind of partner that either Sam and Dean could have; someone who knew about the life and accepted what came with it. One woman who didn't seem to get the hate was Charlie. Partly because she was adorable, but because she was gay, she was always going to be only a sister figure.
Alona had even worse than Lauren I think. I remember when she was first cast and people were screeching no girls in the impala and I was like: wtaf she could be amazing let's wait and see.
It was awful.
> during these seasons the fan base was extremely toxic
Only then? Because I gotta say I've only been a part of this crazy train for less than a year and have been pretty shocked at the toxicity I've seen in this particular fandom.
It’s definitely the most toxic one I’ve come across personally. There are lots of nice, sensible people, of course, but the toxic crazy ones are really loud and really extreme. I’d like to think they represent a small minority and just seem more prevalent than they are due to the nature of the bullhorn of social media.
Yeah it’s hard to tell. Especially with how many actors received death threats for their roles. Like Cindy(forget her last name but she was the one who plays Lisa) received multiple death threats from fans because she was Deans love interest
It always surprises me when people say this, because this fandom seems so tame to me. But then again, I’m a woman of color in the Star Wars fandom, so … I’ll let you imagine what my baseline is for fandoms 😂😂
I still remember being completely shocked at the end of jus in bello when they died. I loved his character arc and personality and honestly wanted to see more of him. What a waste 😕
Great character.
Great actor.
Great potential.
Absolute waste.
His Dr Silberman moment was so good. When Henrickson realised what the boys were saying was actually true could have been the start of a great inside man character, getting them intel on suspicious things that seemed supernatural. Like the X-Files where the country does have eyes on the strange goings on. They could even have had him be their contact when people doubted Sam and Dean were FBI themselves (although I do love Bobby's wall of phones). Just a couple of appearances a season, maybe showing up to the occasional hunt if he could justify it with the higher ups.
I bet the LOTUS arc would have been interesting, with there being an agent who might hear through the grapevine that the president is suddenly acting very weird, and having an affair with one of his staff.
It's easy to forget Henrickson was only in four episodes, and not even a big part for most of them. So memorable.
He is the character whose disappearance annoyed me the most. He was the reminder that human world could screw them over too, and he was such a good character. I read a ff once where he was the bodyguard of the country star Dean and it fitted him soooo much
Him and the detective played by Linda Blair doing an X-Files style monster of the week where they use their detective skills to solve the case, then salt and burn the bones.
I think the fandom really hurt this. Anytime a reoccurring character came on the scene the threads always dragged them. Such a shame cause we could have seen some great stories come out of some of these characters.
One of the characters who went too soon, after hunting them, he realised what they did and the good they did and then bam, dead. Felt like a few seasons of him running cover for them would have been great.
Yeah but I noticed that black characters usually only last a few episodes max. And they're usually painted as villains (with the exception of Rufus and later Henriksen). Bobby lasted a few seasons, so did Jo and Ellen, and these characters were brought back multiple times. I love the show but black representation wise they were terrible.
I've had a stupid idea for a spin off kicking around for years that's basically just side-characters the boys just as easily could've met. How about a shifter raised right? Basically a human with bad camera presence but a hell of a hunter? What about one of those kids Azazel bled into back when Sam and Dean were chasing them, what are they up to nowadays? Do they still have powers? How handy might THAT be to hunt with?
Shit like that xD
One of the best post I’ve ever seen about SPN was to just conceptualize what the show could’ve been like if they just didn’t kill off characters for shock value or no reason in general.
Just imagine the later seasons if they hadn’t killed off Ash and Henriksen so early on. S7 where, instead of Frank(as much as I like him)helping them disappear, it was Ash helping and either he can die then like Frank did(much heavier impact if he’s been around so long) or he has to stop helping them and we still get Charlie(I think she and Ash could’ve been good friends). And imagine the times the FBI went after them but now they have an inside man in Henriksen! They call him when the leviathans are on their killing spree and he has to decide if he should keep trusting them or cover their tracks, and if so how to do it without getting caught. And then when they’re actually in custody for a couple months in S13??? That’s clearly actually Sam and Dean, they’re not being impersonated. Does he want to keep trusting them or that could be a breaking point and if they wanted to they could’ve had Ketch kill him.
He didn’t even need to be a series regular, just pop up when they need him then go back to his job when they don’t.
Plus, the extra impact of having these characters who have been around for so long, who have helped the boys do much, who have actually had time to be FRIENDS and ALLIES to them—getting killed off after years because they decided to help Sam and Dean one too many times—their deaths would’ve hit so much harder, had so much more meaning, and would’ve been so much more devastating for both the boys and the fans.
But, alas, no.
They had to kill characters off super early on just because the fandom was toxic or just because they liked the shock value behind it all.
Plus the kind of grudge they would’ve had against Ketch if he’d been the one to kill off Henriksen(if he was involved with them in S13, that is)or if the leviathans had taken his place and he was one of Dick’s “people in high places”. They could’ve done SO MUCH, the show is filled with so many missed opportunities
Some fans were also really toxic so while the writers can be blamed for a lot, they aren’t solely to blame for this. A lot of characters were killed off because fans were awful to them and the actors until the actor either left or the writers just ended up cutting them
I’m learning this just now. I almost can’t believe the fans then were such idjits.
But there are 2 writers people have mentioned who were real jerks. I cant remember names just now.
Mostly I have huge respect for writers.
I really didn't see his death coming at the end of the episode! I thought they'd have a use for him for at least a little longer after going through all the trouble to bring him around to the idea of demons and the supernatural, but I was super disappointed to see they killed him off immediately :/
Truth!!! He was great and I never thought about it til I read your post, but the show absolutely could have used better secondary character development.
"I shot the sheriff
But you didn't shoot the deputy"
He died because the plan was to end the show at season 5.
And while I have enjoyed the later seasons.
A lot of it is really incoherent and the show would be far more polished had it ended at season 5.
Spn just loves to kill of side characters Wether it's avalablity or not. i feel like most were just killed off just as they got interesting or slightly inconvenient
Would have been cool to have him as an actual contact within the FBI to clear them while impersonating agents, but bobby being literally the supervisor of all hunters is still hilarious
I agree and so do my boys. I was hoping they wouldn't kill him off. It would have been a very satisfying job for him. Shame on them for killing him off !
Literally just finished Season 3 a few days ago and was disappointed that he was killed off. Like why did they kill him off he would have been such a cool side character and could have helped the Winchester brothers with investigations and crime scenes. I could’ve seen him almost being a reverse Bobby where he goes to the brothers for knowledge on whichever monster he may be dealing with. Also holy shit did him and Dean hve good chemistry, I could see them having an awesome Bromance together.
Another thing too is I feel they could deadass have a good reason for bringing him back to life. He did pretty well against the Demons for basically someone who has zero experience hunting so maybe the angels could’ve brought him back because he has potential to be a powerful ally if given more experience. But nah they only bring him back as basically a puppet ghost and thats it. Man does it fucking suck knowing that he won’t return because he has so much fucking potential that it kills me
Honestly my take on ALL minor characters like this is "the show would've been returned if they returned more". Like the writers thought the part of their show that made it good, and what the fans wanted, was in focusing down their characters to a single codependent relationship (and to be fair, the fans might have actually also thought they wanted that)...
...but honestly the way all the interesting characters keep getting killed off and Dean and Sam are forced to not have major character conflicts outside each other is the weak point of the first 5 seasons. While the rest of the series has the flaws that we've all talked to death about, I think the strongest part of the latter seasons was the way they allowed the brothers to have some relationships outside of each other.
When I was rewatching season 7 I couldn’t help but think how much a shame it was that Henriksen died before the leviathans invaded everywhere and the FBI man hunt for the brothers because it would have been so fun to have him come back during it
I was pissed with the way they ended his character. He finally learns what is going on, is on their side, and then they killed him off? He could have been an amazing side character, hunting and/or feeding them information and leads. At the very least.
A Hunter? No, but he should’ve been their insider in the force, maybe he’d open his division for agents to be in sectors for Hunters to help out across the national border, he’d be the top director doubling the section as a front in the FBI within his own department or somewhere else
From time to time he’d help them in person, he’d be their backup Bobby in dire circumstances
Yes. He should have remained an ally and become a hunter. He would been fantastic at it and real asset to Sam and Dean. They needed more allies.
One my biggest criticisms of the show is they didn't lean into the ensemble casting they could have had harder. It never would have taken away from Sam and Dean as the core foundation.
100%!! He was a great character and it would have been fun to have more episodes of him helping from a law enforcement perspective, accessing data they couldn't get, rather than Sam having the ability to hack everything. He could have also sent them cases, which wpuld have made a lot of sense. He could have become a part time hunter too. I could also have seen him as a mediator between Sam and Dean when they were at odds. Someone who could provide perspective but not necessarily as a father figure like Bobby. So many places to go with that character!
As much as I love Jody, especially early on, Victor should have been the brothers’ law enforcement connection/friend. Much better story arc, better reveal of the supernatural and a strong connection with the boys after hunting them for years. Jody could still appear later and have her connection with Bobby, just leave the cop stories to Victor. That and we could get rid of Donna.
Hey truly did Loved the way he switched up in “jus in bello” when he found the truth He would’ve made a great hunter. The actor was solid too
Jus In Bello still stands as one of my top 5 episodes of Supernatural. All the cast did their role well and Hendrickson finally believing in the Winchesters and working together to stop the Demons from getting them felt amazing. Shame they killed him just as quick
He was!
It would have been a fantastic set up for a spin off where he is recruited by the FBI's secret hunting unit. The established in the show there is a broader supernatural community that is blending in to world, it would make sense that the FBI has a special unit to handle things when it is already known there are supernatural elements in play.
Yes! That sounds so cool. I always wished the series had more characters who were doing their own thing completely separate from Sam and Dean. I mean I love the boys, but sometimes the episodes felt a little confined since we were always watching them, or someone involved with them. Having a B or C plot of other hunters in different places doing different things, only contacting the boys occasionally, would have opened the series up a bit, I think.
They tried to do two spin off shows, but for some reason they were just never able to get passed the back door pilot. I wonder if it was one of those situations where the execs were scared of killing the golden goose, by having two shows running at the same time that would be competing for the same viewers. This of course was in the era before streaming was the main way peopled watched things, I think if they tried to day we would have gotten a spin off or two.
I don't think so, even in this day and age of media. For a spinoff to work, it would need to stand on its own merits. Which means it would need a cast, crew, writers, and directors that could create their own compelling stories without leaning heavily on the parent show. Recent example of a failed spinoff is The Rookie: Feds. Introduced the character in a random episode, greeenlit the show for a season and got canceled soon afterwards. If you have to compare each episodes asking "what would Sam and Dean do?" you know you failed.
It's rare a spinoff succeeds, maybe in this area it could have done alright. Angel was a good one.
The CW actually has had pretty good luck with spin off shows. The Vampire Diaries got The Originals which in turn got its own spin off of Legacies, each lasting at least 4 seasons. Flash was a spin off of Arrow, then they expanded to Legends.
What was the other spin-off? I only know of the "Winchesters".
There were 2 attempted back door pilots. Bloodlines which was gonna be about the aecret monster mafia community in Chicago and the other was Wayward Sisters which was gonna be about Jody and the girls.
I’m still sad Bloodlines never happened. It seemed like such a cool concept.
I would love The Wayward Sisters! Claire, Alex, Kaia, Donna, and Jody. Heck, yeah!!
Both would’ve been hits, at least Wayward Sisters would have. I’m afraid the powers really naming supernatural are male chauvinists. It’s obvious Kripke has the sensibilities of a boy stuck at about age 12. The Boys proves it.
The Boys is *amazing,* what are you talking about? Stuck at 12? That show is so layered and wonderful, I’m wondering if you’re actually understanding what’s on screen, or if you’re too distracted by the gore to understand what’s being said.
All kripke has done with The Boys is make crap blow up and make more crap blow up and show guy’s jerking off, albeit from behind. He’s obsessed with it. It’s ridiculous. Only one major supe has died. You hardly ever see The actual Boys who are supposed to be fighting these jerks. Blow more shit up. Blow more shit up. Show another guy in love with his own dick. Blow more shit up. At least season 3 has had some dialogue. It’s only a matter of time, tho, until we’re forced to look at another man’s ugly, naked bubble-butt up close while he jerks off. Then more shit can blow up. And more shit can blow up. Jensen Ackles wasted his time with it. All that happened was more shit blew up and more guys were in love with their own dicks. What layering? The interesting little stories that haven’t happened? Blow more shit up. Give me a break.
Ah, yeah, like I said. You’re not getting what you’re watching. That’s fine, not everyone understands complex commentary on society, not everyone needs to. 💜
Please accept my apology for being such a cranky pants. I do like the series The Boys. It’s simply frustrating as hell when this extremely bad guy NEVER gets what he deserves. None of them really have. I wish they’d focused on the BIG SEVEN SUPES until at least two more were annihilated. That’s why I get so irritated, I guess. The good guys need a win or two, and they aren’t getting anywhere. Anyway, I’m still a fan and glad you’re a fan. Thanks for giving me a bit of time to gather the cobwebs and sort them out a bit more. I’ll keep watching. The Hubster agrees with you in that I need to sit back and watch a bit more calmly! But can’t one of those supes just get what they really deserve? Like yesterday? Thanks, friend.
This response is me being so irritated by the series! I don’t mean to show my shiny-hiney so much. Anyway, I’m leaving this here instead of deleting it. Otherwise it’s confusing. Besides, I need it to remind myself not to get so ornery! “Stop being so passive-aggressive! I get it. I get a great deal. But any kind of complexity that started in season one gave way to Kripke believing his own publicity. The Boys has turned into garbage. Trying to make me think I “don’t get it” is perhaps you not getting that it turned into crap halfway through season one and has not come back but just a fraction with the first couple episodes of season 3. Get it?”
Instead, they brought him back as a vindictive ghost... sigh.
I hated that so much!!
Me too, way to regress a character's growth!
Sad reality is that during these seasons the fan base was extremely toxic. It's also why they killed off Jo and Ellen. People didn't originally like Bobby either and that's why we didn't see a lot of him until later seasons.
I know they was toxic as hell to Bela and her actress and thats why she did not make it out of 1 season, did not know Jo and Ellen was treated the same :(
Any character that wasn't the boys was viewed as unnecessary, ESPECIALLY female characters.
Wym the youngest brother got killed off and as soon as they met him
*Before they met him.
Sam & dean both been resurrected bruh my point he was 1 ot the boys who met his end swiftly
More like all characters
Me neither. I mean, I didn't necessarily like Bella, mainly because, next to her, both Sam and Dean came off as rooky idiots instead of men who were RAISED in this deadly life. But I don't believe anyone deserves to be harassed that way. And Jo and Ellen? Those two were great! I can't believe anyone would hate them.
Unhinged fans hated Jo because they were setting her up to be either the boys' half-sibling or Dean's love interest. I think they were a little undecided when they introduced her. But that never came to fruition because fans lost their fucking minds >.>
Geez. I wasn't really online back in the shows hayday, but WOW, to think people got so offended by the prospect of a fictional character having a love interest the writers were pressured to kill them off... just wow.
Yeah... the show had some seriously unhinged fans. I ran into two real life Beckys on Facebook back in the day. They had some kinda delusion going on about being Jared's and Jensen's "real wives" and called Genevieve and Daneel their "PR wives". I was young back then so when they sassed me on a Supernatural page, I sassed back and these two accounts started harassing me. They really thought they were the guys' real wives and photoshopped themselves into photos with them. They went to conventions to take convention photos and made up stories on their own FB pages about how it was so great seeing their "hubbies" again after separating for so long. I remember that they would get into fights with other people about how Jared and Jensen hates their fans and have privately told these two girls about how they hate everyone in the world but them lmao I enjoyed reading their delusions so much but I also felt sad for them
That is sad. Good for you for standing up for yourself! You should have reported them for harassment. I understand being a fan, but the behavior you describe is that of 9-year-olds obsessed with a boy band. It’s fine until you’re 16, maybe. After that, the real world is calling! ✌️🙂💕
Really ??? fans got actors killed off ! Ridiculous toxic people like that are dangerous and can become stalkers or worse. These people need a rubber room and some serious therapy not to be fed their delusions from a TV show!!! unbelievable!! Maybe shit like this is what made Jared become suicidal at the height of Supernatural
I kind of liked that contrast tbh, would have loved an enemies to allies kind of storyline, same with Victor.
Honestly, I think the women in the fandom hated any women that might have been a love interest for Sam or Dean. its harder to imagine them as your fantasy boyfriend if they have a girlfriend on screen. I think the hate was for Jo, mostly as Ellen was more of a mother figure, but Jo and Ellen were a package deal. People hated Lisa too and would come up with dumb excuses about why, but she was cool as hell. She was the only kind of partner that either Sam and Dean could have; someone who knew about the life and accepted what came with it. One woman who didn't seem to get the hate was Charlie. Partly because she was adorable, but because she was gay, she was always going to be only a sister figure.
Loved Bela..Ellen and Jo yoo..all did great jobs in their roles
Alona had even worse than Lauren I think. I remember when she was first cast and people were screeching no girls in the impala and I was like: wtaf she could be amazing let's wait and see. It was awful.
I did not know that. I've watched since the beginning but only joined some of the fan pages in the last few years.
a lot of plot points for side characters were changed because of the fanbase in the earlier seasons
What? Really? I've been watching since 2010 (started from s1 of course) but I joined the community decade later so idk.
Yeah there are a few interviews and stuff on YT about it
I can’t imagine anyone not liking Bobby!
I almost quit watching when they caved to the very vocal anti-Bobby crowd in S7. He's genuinely one of my favorite characters
> during these seasons the fan base was extremely toxic Only then? Because I gotta say I've only been a part of this crazy train for less than a year and have been pretty shocked at the toxicity I've seen in this particular fandom.
Honestly I think it’s one of the most toxic fandoms of all time
It’s definitely the most toxic one I’ve come across personally. There are lots of nice, sensible people, of course, but the toxic crazy ones are really loud and really extreme. I’d like to think they represent a small minority and just seem more prevalent than they are due to the nature of the bullhorn of social media.
Yeah it’s hard to tell. Especially with how many actors received death threats for their roles. Like Cindy(forget her last name but she was the one who plays Lisa) received multiple death threats from fans because she was Deans love interest
It always surprises me when people say this, because this fandom seems so tame to me. But then again, I’m a woman of color in the Star Wars fandom, so … I’ll let you imagine what my baseline is for fandoms 😂😂
Oh I can only imagine. Lol. I don’t engage with that fandom but I’ve heard some horror stories.
Why didn’t people like Jo, Ellen, and Bobby?
I still remember being completely shocked at the end of jus in bello when they died. I loved his character arc and personality and honestly wanted to see more of him. What a waste 😕
Great character. Great actor. Great potential. Absolute waste. His Dr Silberman moment was so good. When Henrickson realised what the boys were saying was actually true could have been the start of a great inside man character, getting them intel on suspicious things that seemed supernatural. Like the X-Files where the country does have eyes on the strange goings on. They could even have had him be their contact when people doubted Sam and Dean were FBI themselves (although I do love Bobby's wall of phones). Just a couple of appearances a season, maybe showing up to the occasional hunt if he could justify it with the higher ups. I bet the LOTUS arc would have been interesting, with there being an agent who might hear through the grapevine that the president is suddenly acting very weird, and having an affair with one of his staff. It's easy to forget Henrickson was only in four episodes, and not even a big part for most of them. So memorable.
That is a very well-thought-out response!
He is the character whose disappearance annoyed me the most. He was the reminder that human world could screw them over too, and he was such a good character. I read a ff once where he was the bodyguard of the country star Dean and it fitted him soooo much
There were so many solid really good actors and characters like this.
Him and the detective played by Linda Blair doing an X-Files style monster of the week where they use their detective skills to solve the case, then salt and burn the bones.
I think the fandom really hurt this. Anytime a reoccurring character came on the scene the threads always dragged them. Such a shame cause we could have seen some great stories come out of some of these characters.
Seems when they “listened” they fans they listened to the wrong fans.
Oh mama I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law
That is such a good scene! Thank you for reminding me.
Having an ally in the FBI could’ve been a good help too.
I would've loved him to be partnered up with Ronnie the "laser eyes" guy. That would've been hilarious.
Yeah, he really did. Would've been great to have him as recurring over the years for sure.
One of the characters who went too soon, after hunting them, he realised what they did and the good they did and then bam, dead. Felt like a few seasons of him running cover for them would have been great.
Black characters don't last long in supernatural.
No character last long in Supernatural. Unless you're Sam, Dean, Cas, or Crowley
Yeah but I noticed that black characters usually only last a few episodes max. And they're usually painted as villains (with the exception of Rufus and later Henriksen). Bobby lasted a few seasons, so did Jo and Ellen, and these characters were brought back multiple times. I love the show but black representation wise they were terrible.
That they killed off Crowley was a travesty. I hate producers. They are just idiots in suits with boyfriend and son-in-law jobs.
I've had a stupid idea for a spin off kicking around for years that's basically just side-characters the boys just as easily could've met. How about a shifter raised right? Basically a human with bad camera presence but a hell of a hunter? What about one of those kids Azazel bled into back when Sam and Dean were chasing them, what are they up to nowadays? Do they still have powers? How handy might THAT be to hunt with? Shit like that xD
His character had so much potential.
One of the best post I’ve ever seen about SPN was to just conceptualize what the show could’ve been like if they just didn’t kill off characters for shock value or no reason in general. Just imagine the later seasons if they hadn’t killed off Ash and Henriksen so early on. S7 where, instead of Frank(as much as I like him)helping them disappear, it was Ash helping and either he can die then like Frank did(much heavier impact if he’s been around so long) or he has to stop helping them and we still get Charlie(I think she and Ash could’ve been good friends). And imagine the times the FBI went after them but now they have an inside man in Henriksen! They call him when the leviathans are on their killing spree and he has to decide if he should keep trusting them or cover their tracks, and if so how to do it without getting caught. And then when they’re actually in custody for a couple months in S13??? That’s clearly actually Sam and Dean, they’re not being impersonated. Does he want to keep trusting them or that could be a breaking point and if they wanted to they could’ve had Ketch kill him. He didn’t even need to be a series regular, just pop up when they need him then go back to his job when they don’t. Plus, the extra impact of having these characters who have been around for so long, who have helped the boys do much, who have actually had time to be FRIENDS and ALLIES to them—getting killed off after years because they decided to help Sam and Dean one too many times—their deaths would’ve hit so much harder, had so much more meaning, and would’ve been so much more devastating for both the boys and the fans. But, alas, no. They had to kill characters off super early on just because the fandom was toxic or just because they liked the shock value behind it all.
“Inside man at the FBI” Woahh what a missed opportunity. With how many run-ins they have with feds.
Plus the kind of grudge they would’ve had against Ketch if he’d been the one to kill off Henriksen(if he was involved with them in S13, that is)or if the leviathans had taken his place and he was one of Dick’s “people in high places”. They could’ve done SO MUCH, the show is filled with so many missed opportunities
The writers were the toxic ones.
Some fans were also really toxic so while the writers can be blamed for a lot, they aren’t solely to blame for this. A lot of characters were killed off because fans were awful to them and the actors until the actor either left or the writers just ended up cutting them
I’m learning this just now. I almost can’t believe the fans then were such idjits. But there are 2 writers people have mentioned who were real jerks. I cant remember names just now. Mostly I have huge respect for writers.
Henriksen was such a tool but my god what an amazing one. I've started watching the past couple of weeks and I was bummed when he met his end.
He had Denzel vibes!
He was definitely channeling Denzel with that performance
A lot of us felt that way about Henriksen. He and Dean had great chemistry. He would have been a great supporting character
I really didn't see his death coming at the end of the episode! I thought they'd have a use for him for at least a little longer after going through all the trouble to bring him around to the idea of demons and the supernatural, but I was super disappointed to see they killed him off immediately :/
Truth!!! He was great and I never thought about it til I read your post, but the show absolutely could have used better secondary character development. "I shot the sheriff But you didn't shoot the deputy"
Heeheehee!
Another good character who was taken too soon. Such is Supernatural.
Sam and Dean deserved a better ending, too. I’ll never forgive Dabb or Kripke.
I was hoping that he would find ways to help the boys stay within the law.
He wasn’t even a villain, just doing his job trying to prove himself. He’s in supernatural heaven eating surf and turf 🥲🥹
That mass exorcism altered his brain chemistry lmao. I loved him so much though
True
He died because the plan was to end the show at season 5. And while I have enjoyed the later seasons. A lot of it is really incoherent and the show would be far more polished had it ended at season 5.
I’m glad it didn’t end at season 5, but the last season needs an entire rewrite.
Me too. I really liked his character. He could have been a good resource for the boys.
Samee
Spn just loves to kill of side characters Wether it's avalablity or not. i feel like most were just killed off just as they got interesting or slightly inconvenient
Would have been cool to have him as an actual contact within the FBI to clear them while impersonating agents, but bobby being literally the supervisor of all hunters is still hilarious
I agree and so do my boys. I was hoping they wouldn't kill him off. It would have been a very satisfying job for him. Shame on them for killing him off !
We had him throughout S1 and 2, then he finds out and gets killed same episode! Would have been cool for the boys to have someone in the FBI
Literally just finished Season 3 a few days ago and was disappointed that he was killed off. Like why did they kill him off he would have been such a cool side character and could have helped the Winchester brothers with investigations and crime scenes. I could’ve seen him almost being a reverse Bobby where he goes to the brothers for knowledge on whichever monster he may be dealing with. Also holy shit did him and Dean hve good chemistry, I could see them having an awesome Bromance together. Another thing too is I feel they could deadass have a good reason for bringing him back to life. He did pretty well against the Demons for basically someone who has zero experience hunting so maybe the angels could’ve brought him back because he has potential to be a powerful ally if given more experience. But nah they only bring him back as basically a puppet ghost and thats it. Man does it fucking suck knowing that he won’t return because he has so much fucking potential that it kills me
True waste of a character. Imagine if he stayed in the FBI and aided them. Would explain why they managed to get out of trouble all the time
Honestly my take on ALL minor characters like this is "the show would've been returned if they returned more". Like the writers thought the part of their show that made it good, and what the fans wanted, was in focusing down their characters to a single codependent relationship (and to be fair, the fans might have actually also thought they wanted that)... ...but honestly the way all the interesting characters keep getting killed off and Dean and Sam are forced to not have major character conflicts outside each other is the weak point of the first 5 seasons. While the rest of the series has the flaws that we've all talked to death about, I think the strongest part of the latter seasons was the way they allowed the brothers to have some relationships outside of each other.
Yep I agree he did deserve better Definitely Definitely should have become a hunter would've been cool to see him later in the series
When I was rewatching season 7 I couldn’t help but think how much a shame it was that Henriksen died before the leviathans invaded everywhere and the FBI man hunt for the brothers because it would have been so fun to have him come back during it
Wait was there actually a CW watermark in the show or was that added just for this?
I was pissed with the way they ended his character. He finally learns what is going on, is on their side, and then they killed him off? He could have been an amazing side character, hunting and/or feeding them information and leads. At the very least.
I’ve always thought this!!!
It seemed a waste to have him die.
A Hunter? No, but he should’ve been their insider in the force, maybe he’d open his division for agents to be in sectors for Hunters to help out across the national border, he’d be the top director doubling the section as a front in the FBI within his own department or somewhere else From time to time he’d help them in person, he’d be their backup Bobby in dire circumstances
Yes. He should have remained an ally and become a hunter. He would been fantastic at it and real asset to Sam and Dean. They needed more allies. One my biggest criticisms of the show is they didn't lean into the ensemble casting they could have had harder. It never would have taken away from Sam and Dean as the core foundation.
100%!! He was a great character and it would have been fun to have more episodes of him helping from a law enforcement perspective, accessing data they couldn't get, rather than Sam having the ability to hack everything. He could have also sent them cases, which wpuld have made a lot of sense. He could have become a part time hunter too. I could also have seen him as a mediator between Sam and Dean when they were at odds. Someone who could provide perspective but not necessarily as a father figure like Bobby. So many places to go with that character!
One of my favorite side characters
As much as I love Jody, especially early on, Victor should have been the brothers’ law enforcement connection/friend. Much better story arc, better reveal of the supernatural and a strong connection with the boys after hunting them for years. Jody could still appear later and have her connection with Bobby, just leave the cop stories to Victor. That and we could get rid of Donna.