Ellen Harvelle

Ellen Harvelle
Supernatural character
Samantha Ferris as Ellen Harvelle
First appearance	"Everybody Loves a Clown"
Last appearance	"My Heart Will Go On"
Portrayed by	Samantha Ferris
Information
Occupation	Proprietor Hunter
Spouse(s)	William Anthony Harvelle (husband, deceased)
Children	Jo Harvelle (daughter, deceased)

Ellen Harvelle is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's Supernatural portrayed by Samantha Ferris. Introduced in the second season in order to explore a mother-daughter relationship in the hunting world, the "gun-toting, beer-slinging" Ellen brought a "maternal energy" to the male-dominated series. The mother of Jo Harvelle and the proprietor of Harvelle's Roadhouse—a bar frequented by hunters of supernatural creatures—Ellen provides advice and assistance to Sam and Dean Winchester throughout the second season. Although the character's appearances in the third season were dropped due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and failed negotiations, she returns in the fifth and sixth seasons. Critical reception to the character has been positive, with many critics happy to see her return.

An old friend of John Winchester, Ellen Harvelle is the wife of hunter William Anthony Harvelle and the mother of Jo Harvelle. She runs Harvelle's Roadhouse, a saloon and pub frequented by hunters of supernatural creatures. When Sam and Dean Winchester arrive there in the second season episode "Everybody Loves a Clown", a wary Ellen holds them at gunpoint until she learns that they are John's sons. She gives them information regarding a dangerous hunter named Gordon Walker in "Bloodlust", while Sam and Dean later explain to her in "Simon Said" about the demon Azazel's planned war against humanity. Her relationship with the brothers is strained in the episode "No Exit", where she reveals that she believes her husband's death was the result of a mistake made by John Winchester while they were working together on a hunt. However, she admits to Sam in "Hunted" that her husband's death was not John's fault and that she had forgiven him a long time ago. She also does not blame the brothers for Jo's decision to go off hunting by herself.