| “ | 'Course I know it's you, Grumpy! Same way I know that's a demon, that poor girl's Anna, and that you've been eyeing my rack. | ” |
— Pamela.
| ||
Pamela Barnes was a psychic whom hunters enlisted for help or to find out information. She was friends with Bobby Singer, who introduced her to Sam and Dean Winchester in "Lazarus Rising". She was permanently blinded when she looked upon Castiel's true form during a séance. Nevertheless, she continued to assist Sam and Dean when they called upon her, until her death at the end of "Death Takes a Holiday". In the afterlife, her soul went to Heaven where she became friends with Ash.
History
Background
Pamela is a psychic who at some point, met and befriended Bobby Singer. He refers to her as the "best damn psychic in the state". She has a tattoo on her lower back that says "Jesse Forever" although she tells Dean "it wasn't forever".
Season 4
Pamela helped Dean and Sam discover what pulled Dean out of Hell in Lazarus Rising. While doing this, the angel Castiel warned her not to press any further. Pamela ignored his warnings and kept going anyway, and finally caught a glimpse of the mysterious being. As a result, her eyes were seared from their sockets, leaving her permanently blind and a bit petulant when it came to angels in general.
She has displayed a strong sexual attraction to Dean, and flirted with Sam, especially about the firmness of his "ass" ("You can bounce a nickel off that thing!") and his "eyeballing her rack".
After losing her eyes, Pamela had them replaced with white plastic balls, which she joked made her look "extra psychic," and wore sunglasses. In Heaven and Hell, she returned to help discover the identity of Anna Milton's "real" father. Using hypnosis, she helped Anna recover her memories of her past life as a fallen angel. Still a bit bitter about her eyesight, she insisted Dean take her back home and away from all the "angel business".
Pamela returned again at the request of the Winchester brothers in Death Takes a Holiday. In order to prevent one of the 66 Seals from being broken, they needed to enter the astral plane, for which they needed the help of a psychic. Although not happy to be hauled back into what she described as their "angel-demon, Soc-Greaser crap," Pamela reluctantly agreed to use the Astral Projection Spell to help Sam and Dean in their endeavor.
When the demons discovered their plans, they attempted to kill the Winchesters' vacant bodies, which Pamela was guarding. As she fought to protect them, the demon wounded her mortally, but not before she was able to summon Sam back to his body and awaken him. After Sam banished the demon to Hell with his powers, Pamela refused to go to a hospital and instead returned Dean to his body and resigned herself to death, cursing Bobby Singer for ever bringing them to her doorstep. As she lay dying, she used the last of her strength to privately tell Sam that she caught a glimpse of his power, and to warn him that nothing good would ever come from it.
Season 5
Pamela returns in Dark Side of the Moon, where she is one of the Winchesters' old friends they visit while in Heaven. Her sight restored, she reveals that she is very happy in Heaven and that despite the circumstances of her death, she still cares for the Winchester brothers as a dear friends. Flirtatious as ever, Pamela meets the brothers in a Heavenly representation of the Roadhouse after Ash, also now in Heaven, helps them escape from Zachariah. Pamela tells Dean that saying yes to Michael really is not the horrible choice he believes it will be, as many of the people killed will come to Heaven, where they will be happy and at peace, as she is. Ash helps the Winchesters find a way to the edge of Heaven's central garden, and the two of them bid them farewell and comment that they'll one day meet again.
Powers and abilities
Pamela was a very knowledgeable psychic who was skilled at various practices, including the use of Ouija boards, séances, and hypnosis. Unlike most of her contemporaries, she had a genuine sixth sense and used real occult methods to gain information. Bobby claimed that she was the best psychic in the state she lived in.
- Spell Casting: Pamela had a notable knowledge of spell-work. She used a ritual in "Lazarus Rising" to psychically contact and glimpse the entity responsible for pulling Dean out of Hell, and also knew a spell to help Sam and Dean use astral projection, and later restore them to their bodies.
- Astral projection: Pamela helped Sam and Dean to project their consciousnesses outside of their bodies, making them ghosts. She also knew a spell to restore them to their bodies.
- Clairsentience: Despite being blind, Pamela displayed uncanny knowledge of her surroundings due to her psychic abilities. She could identify where people around her were, who they were, and what they were doing. She also sensed demonic presences; in "Heaven and Hell", she knew that Ruby was a demon without having to be told, and also felt the presence of a demon in the hotel room she was in in "Death Takes a Holiday". Furthermore, when Sam exorcised the demon in front of her using his powers, she was able to tell that he had demon blood inside of him.
Appearances
- Season 4
- Lazarus Rising
- Heaven and Hell
- Death Takes a Holiday
- On The Head Of A Pin (mentioned only)
- Season 7
- Defending Your Life (flashback only)
- The Mentalists (mentioned only)