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Supernatural - Season 8 - Liane Balaban cast as Amelia
9 Jul 2012
Supernatural
The CW series has cast Liane Balaban in the role of Amelia, who is described as “a tragedy-damaged soul” that “soon reveals herself to be a brave, sweet, smart, sarcastic woman.”
Sam really likes brunettes.
ReplyDeleteI like Balaban. She was good on both Alphas and Covert Affairs.
ReplyDeleteI love her!
ReplyDeleteShe reminds me a bit of that sexy doctor of the Siren episode in season 4. She seems like a good actress, hopefully the writers give her a good story as well.
ReplyDeleteSupernatural is really good at making their female characters interesting. They just have a problem keeping them alive.
ReplyDeleteIs it wrong that I actually don't mind that part - I'd rather have interesting and strong but dying or disappearing than bland, banal and permenantly being listless in the background.
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm not familiar with her at all! She's pretty, though... let's hope this one doesn't die a painful, violent death early on. I know they said she's recurring, but who knows for how long?
ReplyDeleteYou make an excellent point. Never really thought about that.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about this actress and I think that's a good thing. No preconceived notions going in. I just hope that there is no even potential love triangle, that her character brings hope instead of despair, and that it ends well.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with wanting interesting characters who don't wear out their welcome. :)
ReplyDeleteBecky's still alive. (Hides behind nearest couch)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't familiar with actress's name and had to "look her up"; she was the actress who planned "Anna" an Alphas and she appeared in two episodes. I watched "Alphas" with half an eye (too much material snaked from other shows. specifically Heroes and SPN) but Anna was an interesting character.
ReplyDeleteDon't ever use the words "love triangle" on a Supernatural post again.Ever!Someone could hear you...
ReplyDeleteAlso,you hope it ends well?What show have you been watching the past seven years?!
: p
Seriously,though,I don't see them killing her off.Sam has already lost Jessica,then had to kill a woman he fell in love with in 48 hours(no,I will never be able to let that go) and then started a weird "relationship" with a demon that lied to him in order to free Satan.
Give the guy a break!
She was Anna;) I like her and really wish that Sam could be happy with Amelia!
ReplyDeleteAnd yet vastly uninteresting. I think you've made fazziemodo's point. :-P
ReplyDeleteWell what with the arguement that supernatural is sexist rearing it's ugly head every once in a while I think people forget that even with the very high death count there has been very few uninteresting females in spn.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather have five minutes of spn's Bella than hours and hours of Twilight's one.
Ha! Let me clarify. By ends well I mean I hope the brothers don't end up having to kill her themselves. That's as close to "ends well" as I get on this show. If I wanted to shoot for the moon, I would add that I hope her presence and eventual removal from the show do not cause major fandom warfare. I realize this is asking way too much but a girl can dream right. :-)
ReplyDeleteHa! Yeah, you better run and hide! *shakes fist*
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! That's another annoying argument that continues to thrive along with the fallacy that SPN is a teen girl show. As for Bela Talbot vs Bella Swan, let's just say that I would pay to see Bela shoot Bella for being an annoying twit. Supernatural females are definitely hard to forget - even if you occasionally want to.
ReplyDeleteI liked her already. I hope Carver and company doesn't make the same mistakes Gamble did with Lisa.
ReplyDeleteNo major fandom warfare is always a plus,that's true..
ReplyDeleteThis definition of "ends well" is much more like it. ; )
I never understood that idea about SPN was a teen girl show - wasn't it the idea in the beginning that the show was meant to be CW's effort to draw in male viewers (hence two boys no recurring females). But when it didn't they found that the female demographic of the ratings was skewing a little too old for the usual teen audience they were comfortable with. That was why we got Jo crushing over Dean for no reason and then Bela and Ruby mark one. Three characters that weren't really needed at the time tho none of which were completely uninteresting, even if it took Jo a while to get there.
ReplyDeleteAs for Becky (as I saw someone mention her) even though she is vapid mad and I hope they don't bring her back for another comedy episode ever. I know she was really 2 dimensional, but her character has one dimension more than a lot of female characters that turn up in a lot bland teen girl shows/books
Thats kind off a running joke on the show isnt it?
ReplyDeleteI think the online internet fandom makes people think Supernatural skews more female than it actually does. On the last statistics I've seen about the show's demographics it was split 50/50 in terms of what gender was watching. Well at least what gender of Nielsen viewers that is.
ReplyDeleteJust googled her, she seems like she is quite a good actress and extremely pretty. I think she has the chops to pull of a very good Amelia, I think she might end up being a fan favourite well amongst the Sam fans and the neutrals anyway.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading somewhere that when it started they were expecting more males to watch it than they got plus the female age range was older.than they were use to. But when it comes to forums yes definately more female to male.
ReplyDeleteBut that does say something doesn't it about the writing, both genders keep coming back no matter the gender of the cast or the fact that females get bumped off or disappear - when in it they contribute something (on the most part) and for the most part aren't kept around purely for window dressing if they aren't really needed for the plot even if it means killing them.
Well originally Supernatural was on the WB which wasn't as narrowly defined by the teen girl dynamic. It was when the WB and UPN got rolled together to make the CW and Ostroff took over that the netlet got the chick flick lite reputation.
ReplyDeleteI do think it is telling that so many males still watch the show. In fact, talking with people who are new to the show or not online, I find that many "problems" people discuss ad infinitum online are simply not a factor for those people who watch outside of the online community. Sometimes I think the online fandom gets itself worked up into a tizzy over invisible issues. Obviously there is something for each gender that keeps bringing them back to the show. I have a friend who just got her son and husband hooked on Supernatural and now they're talking about attending a SPN Con together. They obviously think it's worth watching to put down that chunk of change on it. The thing about Supernatural to me is that you can approach it from some many angles and find a variety of reasons to watch it. It has so many facets that people tend to be able to flow over the stuff that doesn't appeal to them because they know something that does is right around the corner.
Sounds like Sams kinda girl....
ReplyDeleteIs it nasty of me to worry she'll be a third wheel and we'll literally have a Raiders of the Lost Ark rip off and she'll be the sassy damsel the Demons/Nazis kidnapp, yadayada. UGH
ReplyDelete(I fear I'm going to despise this season. I may need to boycott spoilers because it's making me furious for some weird reason.)
I don't want a third wheel either and honestly I don't think they would even try it. They would have fan backlash from the get-go. I would definitely suggest stop reading spoilers if they make you depressed or angry about season 8. It hasn't started yet and there's every reason to be hopeful.
ReplyDeleteBesides, negativity breeds negativity, especially on this site so it is easy to get tangled up in issues that never ever happen on screen. Remember the brouhaha about Girl Next Door and Time After Time last year. All that angsting and knowing that they were going to shaft (fill in whichever brother here) when things turned out drastically different than what everyone was upset about. Did I end up hating the Amy subplot? Absolutely! And yet none of that fan emoangsting even brought up what would end up being the worst part of the episode. I think hellatus makes us all a little crazy and we end up a frothy mob of anger and disappointment before a single second of the season is aired. Not a good way to come into the actual season.
technically Castiel could be considered a third wheel especially in the scenario you described. I dont see how Amelia can possibly be anymore of a third wheel than Cas, I dont see how she can change the brothers relationship/dynamic any more than it already has. Where we have fans who enjoy Dean and Cas on screen together often with Sam out of the picture Amelia could be the same/create the same dynamic/be that person but with Sam instead.
ReplyDeleteI think it actually will help create a better balance on the show. Now Sam will have something of his own outside of Dean, I as a Sam girl will be able to enjoy Sam interacting with another character without Dean on occasion.
The best thing about this scenario with Amelia is that it gives Sam a personal connection, he has something to live for, fight for. It ups the stakes for him again,
I saw her recently in an NCIS:LA repeat. I liked her. I'm glad that Sam is getting a love interest and it sounds good so far.
ReplyDeleteIn Unforgiven it was. All the victims were brunettes.
ReplyDeleteRegarding this spoiler. She's cute. I approve. I can't believe how excited I am that Sam is getting a romantic interest. The boy needs something.
I don't know you or your habits regarding this show, but for me, I've found it's good to take vacations from a show that I follow online during the spoiler-light periods. I just try to get my mind off it - go on a real vacation, read some good books, watch movies, or catch up on an addictive TV series that I had missed. Otherwise, by the time it returns, I'm actually growing to hate it. The worst is when I start to imagine scenarios of what will happen when it returns, because the show never goes as I had imagined.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget just walking away from Sarah. I think Dean was right that she would've been good for Sam.
ReplyDeleteFunny and I agree. I miss Bela...even though she caused so much trouble. They just didn't write her right, IMO. She needed redeeming qualities long before the writers ever gave her one.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm not a fan of Cas in the way you assume, though I do like the character (well I used to, the recent version makes me cringe.) I prefer the brothers dynamic, with a healthy does of side characters around for them to interact with, like in the early years. I don't know what went wrong, but the last 2 and half years is painful to me.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind if she balances it out as a side character, but I fear something even worse - the ensemble. I assumed Carver would take off from his Mystery Spot vision of the show, but it's sounding like Being Human 3 to me lately.
lol I sound like Cassandra here, and I realize I'm annoying with negativity. But just had to vent in the old superstition, that if you say it, it won't happen.
Wise advice.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't mind spoilers, but I think my hopes soared for what I wanted, and clearly they dropped everything I hoped for, even if they do flashbacks, and it's made me crabby. lol
I'll stick around for Cominc Con, and that will cheer me up I hope. But if I still feel this way after, I'll have to disappear, or I'll begin to hate my online persona. LOL
She looks a lot like the girl from the Mentalist, but then again she looks like a lot the girls on the show. I wish they would try to break away from the same looking girls. (Dark brown hair and pale: Gwen, Melanie, Cara, Meg (2), Pamela, and a lot of the damsels.) As much as I didn't like Lisa at least she looked different from the pale brunettes on the show. Sarah, Ava, and Bela stand out as from all the other brunettes for me because they aren't pale and have different color eyes.(But that also has to do with their personalties too.) But I do think characters like Anna, Jo, and young Mary have an easier time standing out partly because they break apart of the stream of brunettes. (And then it falls more on the character and the actress than looks.)
ReplyDeleteI hope the character will probably be more defined by her chemistry with Sam and whether or not she's a good actress than her looks. Simply, because I don't want her to be just another pretty girl who doesn't do anything but cause drama. I don't know anything about Liana Balaban. The picture they have makes her look a little old to be playing a love interest for Sam. It isn't a good picture, but the show has a way of making some of the girls look beautiful (I never convinced my dad that Robin was Jo from "Eureka") . Maybe she looks younger on screen or something.
(Personally, I have only found Jessica, Sarah, and (both) Ruby to appear to be in the same age as Sam. The rest like Madison, Cara, and Meg (1st) looked older than Sam to me. And Lindsay and Lori looked younger. But I only had trouble with Cara and Lindsay due to the "difference" in age.)
So, far, I have only heard good things about the actress so that's a plus.
Yes, I actually am afraid of spoiling everyone's squee right now. lol
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping Comic Con will make me excited again, and if not, I'll step back for a while - hard because I loved spoilers and the specualtion. But lately I'm all "Wha! I don't want that!! WHAA!"
Out of curiosity, could Carver be trying to set up an ensemble in the Being Human style? This thought haunts me and at first I didn't really believe it, but now, Cas, Amelia, then Kevin and MonsterBenny ... it's looking like a crowd right now.
I think he's trying to find some characters that stick and could become recurring characters a la Frank and Garth last season. However, Jeremy Carver knows this show. He will not be making anyone equal to Dean and Sam in it. Amelia will not be the girl in the Being Human triangle. He knows better than that. In all honesty the show needs characters that don't pop up just to die the next episode.
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt that any of these characters is going to take up much screen time. Kevin is a plot device. MonsterBenny will probably be out of the picture well before the winter hiatus. They apparently still don't know what to do with Cas. Crowley will be the Big Bad. But the simple fact is that the majority of these characters will get screen time when we are in a big mytharc episode and nto any time else. I doubt any of them will get near the amount of screen time Bobby had and few people thought he took away from the story.
Now, repopulating the world is something I can get behind. (I loved Frank and hope he lived, for the actor, I loved him.) What concerns me is the "love interest" part. Another Lisa that we know Sam is pining for, isn't exciting to me at all.
ReplyDeleteBut if they have some noogie (ie, shirtless scene), then agree to be friends, and she becomes Sam's "Jody Mills", and we get teasing friendly chemistry, then sign me up.
It does occcur to me that they need someone to sacrifice for, that we want to see saved. It's been too big ("save the world"), or too badly plotted ("save Lisa and Ben from demons") to make us want to invest anything. If Sam has a relationship with her, then Sam - and since he won't let him go alone, Dean - will sacrifice everything for her.
I just dislike the recurrent romance angle, because then it spotlights that relationship, even if they say it doesn't and try not to do that. It will inevitably. So I hope it's one night, that turns to comradeship, to avoid that complication.
More than Frank and Garth. We don't have Bobby now. The only recurring characters are Crowley and Cas. The others only appear in one or two episodes top.
ReplyDeleteThis Benny could be the next Cas. I hope so.
Too pessimist. We don't know if she is sticking in the show or not.
ReplyDeleteThey're saying she has a tragic past. For all we know she is a hunter or her father was one.
ReplyDeleteHonestly if she is accepted by the fandom and storyline works I think this time they should keep her as a permenant fixture, no need to kill of another character that fans like (potentially). She doesnt have to be in endless episodes, crammed in where she doesnt belong just for the sake of having her there but depending on where they go with the storyline then she should be kept around.
ReplyDeleteRealistically how many episodes are all these characters likely to appear in? A handful each. Hardley constitutesas an ensemble. There doesnt seem to be more charatcers than in any other season.
ReplyDeleteThere are easy ways to combat the 'overcrowding'
-Benny only appears in Dean's Purgatory flashabcks which shouldnt be more then say 2 episodes (he runs from monsters, meets a friendly? monster and escapes) dont think that requires endless number of episodes.
-Kevin only needs to appear in the mythology heavy episodes where he has to read the word of god, realistically one at the beginning of the season, a small appearance here and there through the season and maybe a couple at the end of the season. Crowley could even appear without Kevin at all.
-Crowley the same as usual, he never seems to be around too much, just gets his point across and leaves
-Meg likely to dissapear other than one or two episodes, really they should kill her off already she's been pointless for far too many seasons.
-Cas unlikely to be in Purgatory it seems, so he could be awol for a while, he could pop up to tell Sam and Dean a bit more about what's going on with heaven and hell and what Crowley is up to. He could then dissapear again doing something in heaven and come back for the last few episodes of the season.
-Amelia is unlikely to be a Lisa type fixture but she is Sam's storyline for the season so maybe 3 or 4 episodes depending on where the storyline is going. Dont realky know.
I concure, I also wish I'd read your post before I wrote mine.
ReplyDeleteunlikely he is the new Cas, dont think he'll appear in many episodes. A monster friend would be cool though. Canmt wait for the casting, they like to humanise their monsters on this show so it'll be interesting to see what kind of monster Benny is and what kind off personality he has. I like the idea of Dean making a monster friend/allie in Purgatory that helps him get out, thats what I'd like to see.
ReplyDeleteNo more than the Cas/Dean relationship has been highlighted over the years.
ReplyDeleteWhether he sleeps with her or they are just friends I dont see how she affects the relationship between the brothers or that particular relationship is any more spotlightd than the Cas/Dean one. That may not be a romanitc relationship but its one that has been highlighted and focused on by the writers over the years. So why not a relationship romantic or otherwise that focuses on Sam and another person.
or she could be on the verge of becoming a hunter?
ReplyDeletePlease don't say frothy, LOL!
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I in the beginning of season 7 I took a neutral Team Winchester approach because I was tired of the Brother Wars. I love both the boys (with a small leaning towards Sammy because I'm the younger of two siblings and my older sister is indeed short and bossy, LOL!). I've been practicing my diplomacy in regards towards my feelings about Cas as well. All I ask for is consistency, continuity and for the new writers to read the show bible and not read the 1 pg character profile or shutter to think, actually watch a few episodes of the show before they write about our boys. I feel like the writers and the show runners talk out of their ass most of the time and that's what sparks all the nervous energy that sends the speculation mill into overdrive. They should know by now to keep certain things under wraps but I think they secretly like to watch the fandom implode on itself b/c we can so easily be turned into a "frothy" mob. Oops, I said the f word.
Shhh. I like to pretend the demon killed her at the end of It's Time For a Wedding".
ReplyDeleteI think her being knowledgeable about the supernatural world would be good. I don't want her to be a hunter because then we've got that whole third wheel thing. I'd rather she be a segment of Sam's life that we see or hear from sporadically than a permanent fixture.
ReplyDeleteI felt frothy was more politically correct than to call it a freaking insane, practically demon possessed, passionate to Fatal Attraction levels, out with pitchforks mob mentality. Plus frothy is shorter.
ReplyDeleteI will be happy if Benny stays in Purgatory while Dean makes it out - unless it causes more Dean angst. Dean angst needs to be cut back big time. My big concern would be that Benny becomes Ruby 3.0. I didn't particularly care for Ruby 1.0 or 2.0. As for Kevin, I see him as being in the show slightly more than any of the others you mentioned except for maybe Crowley, given that I think most of Kevin's scenes will also include Crowley. I do hope that after they find the God pieces Kevin is allowed to go back to his hyper-student ways and not pouf into oblivion.
ReplyDeleteI'm less excited about Meg going for good than you are. Not because I think she is particularly relevant to the story anymore - she's not - but more because it's one character the writers seem to write well consistently. She and Kevin were the best part of Reading is Fundamental and she made Born-Again Identity bearable. Originally I hoped Cas would be involved on a hunt for the remaining angels, but mostly they just need to know what their plans for the character are. Tacking him in wily nily does nothing for the story and doesn't seem to be making anyone happy. At this point they are going to tick off a quarter of the fans either way, so they need to make a decision and go with it.
Amelia is the biggest unknown and I think that is why she is unsettling people so much. Sam needs a friend. Personally I think they would have done better to make that friend non-romantic because it would certainly be less controversial, especially in the summer before we even know much after her. Sheriff Jody in Time After Time was a good start. I hope they don't stop having Sam scenes with her just because Amelia is now in the picture. I only have 4 criteria for Amelia and I am good with her if they stick to these:
1. No love triangles. Not even a hint of a love triangle. In fact she can't be the cause of brother drama in any way or the wrath of the fandom will descend on her faster than Jo having Dean lie to Ellen did.
2. She has to be a source of hope and comfort. If she adds more depression and despair to a show that is suffocating under the weight of its own emotional issues, then move on. And by move on, I do NOT mean die in a horrible way. When she leaves, and she will, it better not be because she died.
3. She needs to be a full character in her own right and not just Sam's quasi-girlfriend. If she's not interesting then she's arm candy and frankly unnecessary.
4. She isn't a regular character. I think we need to see her in small doses. If she starts hunting with the brothers then I'm not interested. I don't want a permanent back seat Impala rider no matter what the gender or species, no matter whose friend they are.
So far I haven't heard anything to make me think that any of these will be a problem so I am cautiously optimistic about her. If written well and understated, I think Amelia could make things a bit more hopeful and be a step in rebuilding a stable of recurring characters fans can get drawn into.
If she's accepted by the online fandom it will be a miracle to be honest. I think she will be accepted by the non-online fans just fine. I most definitely do not want her to die but I don't see her on screen for the remainder of the shows years.
ReplyDeleteDitto. Very well said. Couldn't agree more ;)
ReplyDeletemuch in the way Lisa was, she was in 8 episodes in season 6 and 3 before that? Would you consider her sporadic or a permanent fixture? I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteGiven that Amelia is as far as we know Sam's arc for this season I think it would be nice to see/hear about or from her fairly often. If we can have Lisa and Cas pop up in random episodes for Dean in season 6 then I think we can have Amelia pop up now and again for Sam.
As far as her being a hunter, I dont think she will be a hunter out right not like Sam and Dean anyway but she'll have knowledge of whats out there and maybe she'll know how to protect herself. If she were to help out on a hunt or two that wouldnt be a bad thing (I dont want her riding in the back seat of the Impala all season long). especially if she's a strong, capable woman who wants to hunt because she wants to help people. Also she doesn't as far as we know have the limitations that Lisa had (the house in the burbs, the kid, the job) Amelia could essentially be a hunter in the making even better she could really compliment Sam. Hey if they only go to her to fix up an injury now and then that would be cool too.
I just get the feeling that this storyline is one Jeremy Carver wants to get right, I think we're going to see a much more positive outcome than usual and I think they are looking to build the SPN universe up a little for however many seasons are left. I think this is the storyline from the past they want to get right this time round. Besides a reccuring female character that isnt a bitch, a mother figure or dead would be a nice change.
I think if Amelia were in the episodes about the same amount of time as Lisa that would be perfect. After all, Lisa may have been in 6 episodes in season 6, but for the most part she was only in a scene or two. She had very limited screen time in most of those episodes and she definitely wasn't the main focus of the story, except for in Let It Bleed. Lisa had a few defining scenes but much of her importance came in what happened off screen. That's what I'd like to see for Amelia too. Lisa was sporadic in number of episodes, length of time on screen, and importance for season 6. Amelia should be the same way for season 8 in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteHaving Amelia as a hunter would be a mistake in my opinion also. If she is a hunter then why wouldn't she stick with Sam and partner up with him the whole time? Hunting's safer when people are watching your back. If she joins the Winchester hunting team, she will be reviled and they will essentially change the entire nature of this show. If she's a hunter and she doesn't join the Winchesters, they will have to do some fancy maneuvering to make her both a valid love interest and also a logical person. I like the idea that she is a doctor because she would have a valid reason for being on screen more often and yet still not be in the way of the core brother relationship.
Yeah, frothy is shorter but I just think of Rick Santorum when I hear that word (it think it's safe to Google that word now, right? Shudders).
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say Rick Santorum never enters my thinking at all. I'd be more likely to think of ocean waves or a cappuccino.
ReplyDeleteLOVE! LOVE! twitter ACCt official of actress Liane Balaban is @LIANEBALABAN_
ReplyDelete