Photo copyright 2009 The CW Network
“I wanted it to be a total surprise for you all, but someone spilled the beans!”
That’s Traci Dinwiddie’s reaction when I contacted her to do an interview with her on her return to Supernatural as Pamela “best damn psychic in the state” Barnes after her character’s demise in the S4.15 episode, Death Takes a Holiday.
The “bean spiller” of course was the publicity department for the CW Network who sent out the promo blurb for S5.16 Dark Side of the Moon which announced her return guest appearance along with several other favorite Supernatural characters who have passed into the ‘great beyond’.
It’s no April Fools Day joke when fellow hunters track and kill Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) as retribution for starting the apocalypse. The boys are surprised to find themselves in Heaven and with Castiel’s (Misha Collins) help navigating Paradise, they begin searching for information about God’s whereabouts. In the meantime, Zachariah (guest star Kurt Fuller) continues his intense quest to find the brothers and force them to accept their destinies as Lucifer & Michael’s vessels. Additional guest stars include: Colin Ford as ‘Young Sam,’ Samantha Smith as ‘Mary Winchester,’ Chad Lindbergh as ‘Ash,’ Traci Dinwiddie as ‘Pamela,’ Roger Aaron Brown as ‘Joshua’ and Bones the Dog as ‘Casey.’ Jeff Woolnough directed the episode written by Andrew Dabb & Dan Loflin.
Traci Dinwiddie’s first appearance as Pamela Barnes was in the S4.1 episode Lazarus Rising when Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) takes the Winchester brothers to her in search of some answers as to who pulled Dean out of hell and returned him, fully restored, to life. The character of psychic Pamela Barnes was smartly crafted, well written and most importantly cast with the talented and charismatic Dinwiddie in the role. All of which served to make the character a rarity in universe of Supernatural—a female character that many of the viewers and the fans embraced with enthusiasm. Pamela’s demise in the latter part of season four was met with dismay, but now she’s back for another round of adventure with the Winchester Brothers and Eclipse has an exclusive chat with Traci Dinwiddie on that return—well as much as we could pry out of her without letting any spoilers slip. Ah to live in fear of the Kripke!
So the first thing I asked of Traci Dinwiddie was if she as surprised as the viewers and the fans are to find herself back on Supernatural to reprise a character that died last season?
“I was stoked!” She says of finding herself getting back into the role of Pamela Barnes and goes on to explain that she actually got the call from her manager about the return while she was appearing a guest at the Creation Salute to Supernatural Convention in Chicago last November.
“I had to keep yet ANOTHER big secret the whole time I was there. Though, this one was much more fun to keep than the forth coming Supernatural death of Pamela Barnes,” Dinwiddie explains referencing to having to keep mum about the season 4 episode Death Takes a Holiday, in which her character died and, at the time, had not yet aired.
That character death of course is in the past now and, while Pamela may (or may not) still be dead, she is making a reappearance in Supernatural’s season 5 and while we knew she couldn’t give any specific spoilers, I did ask her to give a general overview of what it was like being back on the set and working with the guys again on the show. The answer illicit’s quite a visual!
“Twas like crawling back into my puppy box. Cozy. Easy going. Kind & Fun!”
Cozy puppy box? Can I just say, I want to be a puppy in that box too!
Ok so puppy boxes aside, Pamela apparently made it to heaven so I asked Traci if she was surprised about this? Of course Traci played it cool and cagey on the spoiler front.
“How do you know that she made it to heaven? It’s April fool’s day, my dear, and Supernatural, ta boot. No spoilers from me!”
Even though we both live in fear of the Kripke coming after us for being too spoilery, I decided to live a little dangerously and ask Dinwiddie about something that really has me intrigued about the upcoming episode. The last time we saw Pamela Barnes, there was some animosity on her part towards the guys, especially Sam Winchester for getting her involved in things. So I asked her will we see a continuation of that or is the dynamic different?
Again she was cagey with the spoilers, but made sure we knew that some really amazing things were coming our way when the Winchester brothers and Pamela Barnes meet up again.
“I can only tell you this. When I read the script, I was like….”really??? REALLY????!!!! The fans are going to FREAK!”
Well I don’t know about anyone else, but now I’m really fired up about seeing Dark Side of the Moon!
Supernatural has its milestone 100th episode coming up in two more weeks and since both Traci Dinwiddie and her character of Pamela Barnes have become a part of that history and success, I asked her if she might share some thoughts about why she thinks Supernatural has made it to 100 episodes and what’s like to be a part of that history.
“Bottom line, the FANS are what keep this show rockin’ and a’ rollin! Without you, the story does not get told”, she tells us and then you can almost hear the impish smile in her words as she adds. “Okay, and the boyz are hot and hilarious. There, I said it.”
It’s ok to admit it Traci, cause we the viewers and the fans pretty much all agree with you about that!
While we look forward to seeing Traci Dinwiddie returning to Supernatural as Pamela Barnes in the S5.16 episode, Dark Side of the Moon, we know there is more to this talented actress’ career than just this one role. So we asked her if there was anything else she was working on that she could tell us about?
“I have just finished shooting a lead role in an indie feature film based on a true story called “Elena Undone”. I play a lesbian free-lance writer who falls terribly in love with a married, straight woman. Also, I’m writing away on a new web series. It’s a cross between Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks. It’s very cool, if I do say so myself.”
So that means that not only do we have a new episode of Supernatural to look forward to seeing the creative and talented Traci Dinwiddie in, but other interesting things as well.
And we also have one last message from Traci to the Supernatural fans and viewers who have taken her and Pamela into their hearts.
“Thank you soooo much for your awesome support of my character and work as an actress! You make this journey even more special!”
You’re welcome Traci and thank you!
Supernatural S5.16 Dark Side of the Moon airs on the CW Network this coming Thursday, April 1st at 9PM EST. Check out the sneak peeks below.
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