'Supernatural' star Jim Beaver says Bobby 'misses the boys'

After Bobby Singer died in Supernatural‘s seventh season, there was an idjit-sized hole in all of our hearts. But thankfully, the show has found a way to work him into every season of the show since his death… even if only for an episode.

And tonight, Jim Beaver’s Bobby Singer returns to help the boys with the Mark of Cain. But this time, he’ll have to help them from Heaven. (Spoiler: God probably won’t show up.)

We talked with Beaver about Bobby’s return:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Has Bobby changed at all since we saw him last?

JIM BEAVER: I don’t know that there’s a huge difference. There’s an old play called The Bill of Divorcement, and they did a movie of it with John Barrymore and Katharine Hepburn. And in it, Barrymore has a line. He says, “You know what the dead do in Heaven? They sit up on their golden chairs and pine for home.” I think that’s kind of what Bobby’s doing. I think he’s in a very pleasant situation. You’ll get a pretty good chance to see what Heaven is like for Bobby, but the fact is, I think he misses the game. And he misses the boys. But a lot of that is just my reading of it. I think the viewers will have to decide for themselves.

Last time we were in Heaven, everyone seemed pretty isolated up there. Is that still the case? Is Bobby off on his own?

Yeah, the way I understand it, everyone’s Heaven is designed individually for them in a way that sort of precludes a lot of mixing and matching because my heaven might not be your idea of heaven. There is an isolated quality to Bobby’s Heaven, and I guess to everybody else’s as well.

As long as he’s got some beer, he should be fine.

Yeah well, he wouldn’t last too long without that. [Laughs]

In a clip from the episode, Castiel tells Bobby that the angels will not like a soul wandering free. I’m curious about the “wandering free” part of that. Might we see Bobby outside of realm of heaven?

Not exactly. But you may see a little of Bobby outside of his Heaven. Bobby’s pretty good at stirring things up, as you may have noticed over the last nine seasons, and he does a pretty good job of stirring things up in Heaven as well. [Laughs] Let’s just say that the natural order of things in Heaven gets turned on its head, and a lot of it’s Bobby and Cas’ doing.

When it comes to hunting and fighting, does Bobby still have it? Or is he maybe a little rusty?

I think he’s concerned that his talents aren’t as sharp as they used to be, but anybody who knows Bobby knows that he’s his own worst critic. Yeah, he’s still got it. Come on, it’s Bobby. [Laughs]

I think my first question when I saw that Cas and Sam were going to Bobby for help was, why Bobby? Might he still have his library in Heaven? What makes him the best resource in terms of the Mark of Cain?

Well, like I said, he’s Bobby. Who you gonna call? [Laughs] In terms of resources, you may find some familiar aspects to Bobby’s Heaven, let’s put it that way. But you know, seriously, if they need an inside man in Heaven, who else are they going to look to that they have the relationship with and that they have the confidence in? To me it seems like the natural choice. I just wish they’d make it every week. [Laughs]

Now for my most important question: How many times does Bobby say “idjit”?

I have to confess it’s been a couple of months since I filmed the episode, and I’ve lost track. But I think most of the things that the viewers think of when they think of Bobby will reappear in some fashion in this episode. I didn’t count the idjits, but we know there’s always at least two. [Laughs]

So this is a one-off episode, correct? You’re not recurring?

Not so far as I’ve been informed. They’re coming up on the end of [filming] this season, so it’s clearly the only episode I’m in this season because I haven’t shot any more. But I have not idea what they’ve got in mind for season 11 and 12 and 13 and 14 and 15. I’m hoping that if nothing else, I can keep up my record of being in every season at least once. Despite the fact that there’s been a lot of other good stuff going on for me, I always welcome a chance to go back. It’s kind of home away from home.

Do you have a favorite post-death appearance?

I used to talk about not liking having come back as a ghost toward the end of season 7, and that’s not exactly accurate. I loved being back, I just didn’t like getting white stuff smashed all over my face. When Bobby came back as a ghost, there were several really fun episodes. The one where Charlie had to be rescued—it was kind of a final showdown with Dick Roman. [The episode is “The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo.”] It was where ghost Bobby was starting to really turn kind of bad, and Bobby realized that sticking around as a ghost wasn’t going to work.

Supernatural

airs tonight at 9 p.m. on The CW.