Season 3, Why The Two New Female Characters That Are...

[AdamDHarris]

The Same Character.

Ruby and Bella both to me seem like they are similar character wise, and I don't get why the writers made them both at the same time.
If I had a preference, I'd have ditched the Ruby actress and merged Ruby/Bella into one character with the Bella actress.
Both are a little annoying, but at least Bella so far has shown some levels of depth beyond "I'm a sarcastic annoying demon who smirks and scoffs at everything and everyone!"

[Elize34]

Mm, though I think they share a lot of similarities, I have never seen them as 'the same'. Yes they are both sarcastic, insensitive and pretty mean, but I guess being a demon, or being in the 'hunter-business' does that to you.

And I don't think it would have been wise for the writers to merge Ruby and Bela into one character, each of them have a specific role to play. I don't know at which episode you are?

But yeah, woman-characters on SPN, not the strongest side of the show IMO.

[AdamDHarris]

I've just seen the second Bella one with Pirates or something.

I don't neccessarily mean make both storylines into one, I guess the Demon storyline is more important in the long run, but they both are too similar in characterisation, so it seems silly to have both entering at the start of season three.
I'd have scrapped the whole stealing stuff plotline, or have a different sort of character playing it.

It's like having Jack from LOST and Mark from Flashforward in the same show at the same time...

[Elize34]

Great metaphor

And I do agree to some extend on what you are saying. It is true two pretty-similar character are introduced in season 3.

aha, so you saw 'Bad Day at Black Rock'. Actually really liked that episode, especially because Bela's character started growing on me after that ep. and I loved the interactions between Dean and Bela in that episode.

3x10 and 3x11 are one of the best episodes of season 3 in my opnion. Can't wait to see what you think of those!

[Devil's Arcade]

Bela is gay - just hate her! Though, I don't see the similarities.

[Notice]

I hate Bela and I like Ruby

[Joshua]

I really like S3 Ruby and the actress that plays her. But can't say much for Bela, though I think that's the point.

I think they both have their roles to play.

I'm currently doing a SPN rewatch (as I've not seen past S4 yet, want to rewatch before I start S5) and I have to say, S3 is really really good.

[Dahne]

Adam they were strangely similar, especially since there have never been many females on Supernatural. As for why they appeared - the answer lies with the CW who every time they interfere with Supernatural causes massive suckage. They wanted Supernatural to add women and we got Bella who was awesome in very small doses and Ruby who was annoying from the get-go. At least for once, the lack of budget worked in Supernatural's favor.

Can't wait to hear what you think of season 3. It's got a unique standing in the fandom due to the writer's strike. I think it could have been fabulous but ended up much too rushed. I guess that's what happens when you give yourself a one-year deadline that cannot be broken. You have to play it out with whatever number of episodes you have left. It does have some of the best episodes in the series though. The Kids are Alright, Bad Day at Black Rock, A Very SPN Christmas, Mystery Spot, and Jus in Bello are all fantastic in my opinion.

[CLDeangrl]

Love Bad Day At Black Rock and Jus In Bello as well as Mystery Spot, but as a whole I've always thought Season 3 was one of the weakest seasons. I think the writer's strike really hurt it.

As far as Ruby and Bella. Well obviously Ruby was a necessary character as we found out over the length of her run, but I never really liked her. I do have to say I preferred Katie Cassidy's depction of the role in season 3 to Genevieve Cortese's in season 4 (forgive me, Jared! ).

Bela was an interesting character but entirely unnecessary. Definitely the studios doing and a real mistake on their part.

[Bec666]

I liked Katie too but you couldn't ignore the chemistry between Jared and Geneieve

[CLDeangrl]

Well of course not, but that's because it existed off screen as well.