Bela Talbot
Bela Talbot | |
---|---|
Supernatural character | |
First appearance | "Bad Day at Black Rock" (2007) |
Last appearance | "Time Is On My Side" (2008) |
Created by | Ben Edlund |
Portrayed by | Lauren Cohan Tiera Skovbye (teenager) |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Female |
Occupation | Thief Con artist |
Bela Talbot is a fictional character on
Plot
In her first appearance, "Bad Day at Black Rock", Bela Talbot hires two crooks to steal a cursed
She next appears in "Red Sky at Morning", an episode in which the Winchesters track down a ghost ship responsible for local deaths. Bela fools them into helping her again, with the three of them working together to steal the precious and magical Hand of Glory. The Winchesters plan to destroy the artifact to end the curse, but Bela steals it from them to sell to a client. However, Bela then witnesses the ghost ship, which only appears to those who have spilled the blood of a family member. Condemned to death, she turns to the Winchesters for help. Dean is prepared to leave her behind to die, but Sam comes up with a plan to save Bela's life. This time, Bela gives them $10,000 as a "thank you" before she leaves because she does not like being indebted to others.[2]
In "Fresh Blood", hunter and recently escaped felon
In "Dream a Little Dream of Me", Bela returns when the Winchesters contact her for help in saving fellow hunter and family friend
In "Time Is On My Side", Dean discovers Bela no longer has the Colt. He later gets her criminal record from England and learns her true name is Abbie. Almost ten years prior, when she was 14, she had her parents killed in exchange for her soul as part of a ten-year deal made with a
In
Characterization
Described by her actress, Lauren Cohan, as "a female Humphrey Bogart",[8] Bela is "a little bit manipulative" and she "always wants to be in control".[8] According to series creator Eric Kripke, the writers conceptualized the character as "someone [the Winchesters have] really never come across before" because, though she moves throughout the supernatural world, Bela has no interest in the "altruistic or obsessed or revenge-minded motives of hunting".[9] Writer and producer Sera Gamble summarized the writing team's characterization of Bela as a greedy "mercenary that [sic] just [doesn't] give a shit about the cause".[10] Gamble believed that Bela "finds it quite amusing" that the Winchesters use their knowledge of the supernatural to help people. On this aspect, Gamble added, "I always suspect when someone is that blasé that there's something underneath, and we're finally getting into that".[11]
Cohan viewed Bela as "a young woman trying to make a living and find some kind of reason in her world" who was "a little damaged." The actress shared Gamble's opinion of Bela's behavior being a façade, and incorporated into her performance the idea of Bela hiding her true self, with Cohan feeling that her character created a persona to shield her from "real strong connections". This defensiveness prevented her from opening up to the Winchesters, with whom Cohan believed Bela "would have loved to be able to have a normal relationship". Contrary to Kripke and Gamble's assessment of Bela as amoral and uncaring, Cohan envisioned the character as having "fits of conscience" offscreen throughout the third season. In the actress's opinion, Bela "would have loved to go around fighting evil with those boys."[12]
Development
Supernatural producers originally intended for Bela to be a recurring character. Having already created a new female lead in the form of the demon
Cohan auditioned for Ruby, but ultimately received the part of Bela.[9][14] Upon learning of Cohan's British accent, a "really psyched" Kripke reworked the character to be British. The actress herself later pictured Bela that way, feeling she "has some kind of cool shading and sneakiness, which fits the British accent".[14] At the time of Cohan's casting, however, she had been given little exposure to the character script-wise, and was unaware she would play a "nasty person". It was not until The CW up-fronts that Kripke gave her a "good spiel" about Bela because she would be interviewed.[12] The actress later turned down an offer from him to provide more of the character's backstory, and instead opted to learn it as the episodes were filmed.[15] In order to prepare for her role, Cohan received training in weaponry to be "well equipped with swords and a lot of instruments—sharp instruments",[8] and in kickboxing alongside Ruby's actress Katie Cassidy. Cohan and Cassidy also decided to catch up on Supernatural before filming for the third season began, by watching the first two seasons together.[16]
Due to "protective and occasionally nervous" fans, Kripke meant for Bela to be introduced in "small doses".[17] He wanted fans to know the show would always be just about Sam and Dean Winchester, and stated, "[Ruby and Bela are] there for important plot elements, but it's not the Ruby and Bela show, nor is it about the four of them cruising around in the Impala together. It's about the guys."[17] However, he felt the writers pushed it too far in the episode "Red Sky at Morning", stating his opinion that it "was by far the least successful episode this year because it really kind of became the Bela show".[17] The writers also did not take the time to consider how to tie her into the Winchesters' storylines. As Kripke pointed out, "It's a road show and we're in a different town every week, so if you're going to run into the same character over and over again, you better have a damn good reason..." They were eventually "crushed under the weight of the absurdity of it" because it became more difficult to justify her reappearances within the narrative.[18] Another key problem stemmed from their conceptualization of her as an antagonistic character rather than a potential love interest for the brothers.[18][13] The writers, "so taken with a woman who could screw the boys over at every turn", ended up making Bela too antagonistic without establishing a balance. Any chance for a "funny effervescent episode where they all work together" was lost after the character attempts to have the Winchesters killed on multiple occasions.[18] They eventually decided to drop the character from the series, opting to "send her off in an appropriate and dramatic way" which would "show a couple of cards [they have] been holding onto all season" by revealing her backstory "in a way that will surprise the audience and kind of tie her into the story."[7]
Reception
Critical response to the character has been mixed. BuddyTV staff columnist Don Williams deemed the addition of Bela a "cheap ploy" to attract teen male viewers, believing the character distracts viewers from the "brotherly bond that made the show so special in the first place". As well, he felt her "sexy cat burglar act, coupled with her flirtation with one of our heroes, is clichéd and has been seen a thousand times before", and he likened her to a combination of
From the start, fans were very wary of bringing in female characters to the male-dominated show;[27] they feared Bela was brought on to be "arm candy or [a sidekick]".[15] To make matters worse, when coming up with the scenes for the auditions for Bela, executive producer Robert Singer spent an hour writing a lackluster script not intended to be used in the show.[28] Mere hours after the script was given to the casting director, the show's fans had found them on casting websites and were "obsessively going over these scenes". According to Kripke, the fan reaction was the characters "really look like they suck".[28] Bela's overly-antagonistic actions throughout the season did not calm the viewers' fears. "[Bela screwed] over the boys so badly," Kripke explained, "that she became unlikeable to the fans because she was irredeemable".[18] Kripke has confessed part of the decision to kill the character off was due to the negative reaction from the fans.[29]
References
- ^ Writer: Ben Edlund, Director: Bob Singer (October 18, 2007). "Bad Day at Black Rock". Supernatural. Season 3. Episode 3. CW.
- ^ Writer: Laurence Andries, Director: Cliff Bole (November 8, 2007). "Red Sky at Morning". Supernatural. Season 3. Episode 6. CW.
- ^ Writer: Laurence Andries, Director: Sera Gamble (November 15, 2007). "Fresh Blood". Supernatural. Season 3. Episode 7. CW.
- ^ Story: Sera Gamble & Cathryn Humphris, Teleplay: Cathryn Humphris, Director: Steve Boyum (February 7, 2008). "Dream a Little Dream of Me". Supernatural. Season 3. Episode 10. CW.
- ^ Writer: Sera Gamble, Director: Kim Manners (February 21, 2008). "Jus in Bello". Supernatural. Season 3. Episode 12. CW.
- ^ Writer: Sera Gamble, Director: Charles Beeson (May 8, 2008). "Time Is On My Side". Supernatural. Season 3. Episode 15. CW.
- ^ a b "'Supernatural' creator talks season four". Digital Spy. 8 May 2008. Archived from the original on 8 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
- ^ a b c Santiago, Rosario (September 24, 2007). "New 'Supernatural' Femme Fatales Provide Inside Dish on Their Characters". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on 2009-11-26. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ^ a b c d Michael Ausiello (July 21, 2007). "Supernatural Exec: "We Won't Be One Tree Hill with Monsters!"". TV Guide. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
- ^ The Essential Supernatural: On the Road with Sam and Dean Winchester, Knight, p.70
- ^ Claustro, Lisa (November 22, 2007). "Writer Shares Thoughts on 'Supernatural' Girls". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on 2008-04-18. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ^ a b Knight 3, p.118
- ^ a b O'Hare, Kate (October 11, 2007). "No 'Supernatural' Slippers for Ruby". Newsday. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
- ^ a b White, Cindy (July 23, 2007). "Supernatural Welcomes New Girls". Sci Fi Wire. Archived from the original on 2008-01-14. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ^ Titan Magazines. p. 51.
- SciFi.com. Archived from the originalon January 14, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
- ^ a b c Surette, Tim (January 10, 2008). "TV.com Q&A: Supernatural creator Eric Kripke". TV.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
- ^ a b c d Knight, pp.10-11
- ^ "Supernatural: Ditch the Girls and Bring Back Brotherly Love". BuddyTV. December 7, 2007. Archived from the original on 2009-05-10. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ^ "Supernatural: Female Trouble". BuddyTV. June 20, 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ^ a b c d Steenbergen, Diana (May 9, 2008). "Supernatural: "Time Is on My Side" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
- ^ a b "Supernatural: Season 3 Review - IGN".
- ^ "Supernatural Flashback: "Shadow" Review - IGN". 6 August 2008.
- ^ Peterson, Karla (May 16, 2008). "Supernatural: No Rest for the Wicked". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ^ a b ""Dream a Little Dream of Me" - TV Show Recaps | TVGuide.com". Archived from the original on 2009-05-24. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^ ""Time is on My Side" - TV Show Recaps | TVGuide.com". Archived from the original on 2009-05-24. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^ Dos Santos, Kristin (November 15, 2007). "Supernatural's "Troublemakers" Spill on What's Ahead". E! Online. Archived from the original on 10 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ a b Lachonis, Jon (February 5, 2008). "Supernatural's Eric Kripke on Bonding, Cute Girls, and Which Winchester Would Win in a Fight". UGO. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
- ^ Williams, Don (September 8, 2008). "Creator Eric Kripke Talks 'Supernatural' Season 4". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2009-04-11.