Development
Due to the father-son dynamics of the hunting world depicted in the series' first season with the Winchesters, the writers decided to explore a mother-daughter relationship. This resulted in the introduction of the character Alex Harvelle and her mother Ellen, though the Alex character was eventually renamed Jo. Tal had been a fan of the show, and decided to audition for the role. Since the character was not fully explored during her first few appearances on the show, Tal did not know what her personality would be. Because of the way Jo is introduced—threatening Dean with a rifle—Tal was under the impression that the character was an experienced hunter. With this in mind, she decided to portray her as "somewhat confident and cool" by making use of her experience in the Israeli army, where she served for two years. Tal commented, "When I was in the army I was holding my gun and feeling all dangerous and badass. It's an attitude, it's a different kind of walk, and the way you hold yourself, the way you look at things. I tried to put that in there because she didn't say much."
| “ | The work you do up there is unlike on any other show. And it was a lot of fun, but it's not over. You never know what might happen, and you have to stay open-minded. I got what I wanted for Jo, which was respect. | ” |
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—Tal discussing her work on the series following her character's death. |
The writers originally intended Jo to serve as a love interest for Dean Winchester, but this was eventually dropped from the plan when the character came across as more of a "girl-next-door", in Kripke's opinion, than the stronger type of character Dean would be attracted to, like Sydney Bristow of Alias. Tal also noted the tension between Jo and Dean, which made the characters "snappy" towards one another, resulting in the appearance of a brother-sister relationship. Kripke admits that, even before Jo's debut, he had doubts about the way the character was conceived. Because of these factors, the character was eventually phased out of the second season altogether.
During the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International, Kripke announced that Jo would return in the series' fifth season. The opportunity to return surprised Tal due to the character's negative fan reaction and the large time span since her previous appearance. She was later alerted about Jo's demise in "Abandon All Hope..." by director Phil Sgriccia. Though unhappy, Tal was "all for it" because she felt it benefited the show, and found it "grand" that Jo "went out in a blaze of glory".
In 2011, at Comic-Con it was revealed that Jo will be returning during season 7.
Read more about this topic: Jo Harvelle
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