It might’ve had all the standard trappings but “Patience” was quite a bit more than a standalone monster-of-the-week episode for Supernatural. It not only involved the long-awaited return of Missouri Moseley but the introduction of a brand-new character, Missouri’s granddaughter Patience. Patience is set to be one of the central characters in Supernatural‘s possible spin-off, Wayward Sisters. Yet even if the spin-off doesn’t happen, Supernatural should definitely keep Patience as an ongoing character because the potential for her is huge.
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Feeling Right at Home
“Patience” wasn’t a perfect episode of Supernatural. Missouri was brought back simply to die and while she was given a fantastic death scene, Supernatural casually killing off female characters remains an ongoing problem for the series. Patience, as a character, though was the perfect addition to the Supernatural mythos.
Patience has all the hallmarks of a great Supernatural character. She has the legacy of being a product of hunters with her connection to Missouri. Patience also showed a real willingness to fight and a desire to never back down no matter the cost. Most importantly though, Patience showed the heroic warrior spirit that is key to being a great Supernatural character. Even though Patience recognizes the dangers of being a hunter, she’s drawn to the life because of how it can improve the world around her.
Patience might not share everything with Jody Mills’ foster family or the Winchesters. Patience’s father is still alive and he cares for her but she’s got everything else to be a part of the extended family of Supernatural hunters. Though she was clearly designed with a plan in mind, Patience feels like a natural extension of the universe. She’s a character that makes sense and belongs in the world, which Supernatural cannot say with their last misguided effort to make a spin-off in the season 9 episode “Bloodlines.”
Variety Is the Spice of Hunting Life
It’s the unique elements of Patience that really make her an exciting character worthy of exploration. Psychics have been a surprisingly rare commodity on Supernatural but in “Patience” it was evident why such a skill set would be handy for a hunter. Patience’s ability to see the future can literally save lives. Giving Patience that power as a hunter would force the writers to come up with new and interesting ways to raise the stakes and have meaningful threats. When character can see death coming, it means that the average fight can’t just be average.
More than her second sight though, Patience is special because she came off as an obvious intellectual and scholar in her debut episode. Except for Sam, Supernatural hasn’t introduced many hunters who think before acting. Jody certainly doesn’t have many of them in her gang of surrogate daughters. This type of character isn’t only important in building an episodic structure, but they offer a great perspective.
Patience wouldn’t have a “shoot first and ask questions much later” approach like most hunters. She would be someone who would approach every problem logically and methodically which can really change up the pace in an important way. Supernatural can do action very well but its strongest and most emotional moments are the quieter ones. Having Patience just exist offers a different view and forces stories not to fall in the same repetitive patterns: the monster appears, the monster is found and the monster is killed.
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The fact that Patience does have an alive and caring father shouldn’t be brushed under the rug either. Patience obviously has some tragedy in her life with a dead mother and now murdered grandmother, but there is something really compelling about Patience being able to live a normal life. For most heroes in the world of Supernatural, having any semblance of normality has been stripped from them. Patience can truly exist in two worlds, being drawn to the hunting life but still feeling this pull to be a regular girl. It’s similar to Sam’s struggle in the very early seasons, which produced some fantastic drama.
“Patience” might have ended with a great female character, Missouri, being ripped away from the audience. Yet Patience herself can fill and expand on the role her grandmother supplied. If Supernatural wants Missouri’s death to be something more than shock value then Patience needs to stick around, whether on a spin-off or a semi-recurring character.
Do you agree? Would you watch more of Patience? How did you feel about her debut as a character? Do you think she was given a proper introduction or does she need more work as a character? How did you feel about Missouri’s murder?
Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on the CW. For more SPN updates, follow BuddyTV’s Supernatural Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
