Sheriff Jody Mills
No. You were right -- about me. My judgment was clouded. You know, working this case, it brought... feelings back. Feelings I've been trying to bury for years, you know, buried it under work, religion... even dating. We know how that worked out. But, you know, it was still there, you know, underneath. The grief. Don't know what that means for me, just that I've been -- I've been fooling myself to think that I could ignore it. Anyway, thank you -- for coming out, for curing Alex.
– Jody Mills, 9.19 Alex Annie Alexis Ann
History
Jody Mills is the sheriff in the town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She lives in town, and also has a cabin in the woods which belonged to her parents. She used to visit this cabin with her husband and son.
Jody's young son Owen died. Not long after, Death caused the dead in town to reanimate, and her son returned and killed her husband, Sean.[1]
Jody knew Bobby Singer for some time before meeting the Winchesters, but was not particularly impressed with him, saying "he's a menace around here - ass-full of drunk-and-disorderlies and mail fraud." They formed a friendship after she, Bobby, and the Winchesters helped save the town from zombies and later that year she covered for him and Rufus Turner with the FBI. Subsequent hunts [2] brought them closer together. While Bobby definitely had romantic feelings for her [3], nothing happened before he died in 2012.
Following Bobby's death, Jody told the Winchesters she had been keeping an eye on police reports for the sort of cases that might be supernatural-related. This eventually led into her becoming a hunter, while still maintaining her position of sheriff. Jody has developed a close relationships with both Sam and Dean. They call on each other for both information and practical support during hunts, and for emotional support.
Jody once unwittingly went on a date with Crowley. It didn't end well. She also hooked up occasionally with hunter Asa Fox before his death.
In 2014, Jody and the Winchesters were involved in a case involving vampires who were using a girl they have kidnapped, Alex Jones, as a blood slave and as a lure to bring unsuspecting victims to the nest for her family to feed on. Jody took in Alex to live with her after the case was finished. Later Claire Novak, the orphaned daughter of Jimmy Novak, came to live with her following her mother's death.
Claire and Alex have become daughters to Jody. While Alex seems able to fit into normal life, Claire and Jody clash over her desire to be a hunter.
Jody is also friends with Sheriff Donna Hanscum, whom she met at a law enforcement retreat in 2014.
Episodes
5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
When the dead are rising as zombies, Sheriff Mills' young son is one of the people who come back. Because of this, she tries to stop Sam and Dean from investigating, along with Bobby who also lives there and whose wife has also been brought back. Eventually her son begins to turn and kills and eats her husband. She works with Sam to kill the remaining zombies left in the town.
6.04 Weekend at Bobby's
Sheriff Mills shows up at Bobby's house with an FBI agent, Agent Adams, just after Bobby helped Rufus bury the body of an okami in his yard. Agent Adams is looking for Rufus on suspicion of murder. Sheriff Mills tries to distract him, but Adams is persistent and he finds the spot where the okami was buried. Fortunately, there is no longer any evidence of a crime because the okami is gone. Unfortunately, Rufus didn't stab it enough times to kill it, and it is loose. Later in the episode, Sheriff Mills extradites Rufus, who has been arrested for stealing Gavin MacLeod's signet ring, and allows him to "escape custody" so that he can deliver the signet ring to Bobby. She does this as a favor to Bobby even though it could mean the end of her career.
7.02 Hello, Cruel World
Sheriff Mills is in Sioux Falls General Hospital recovering from an appendectomy. She is surprised when her surgeon Dr. Gaines forcibly sedates and removes her roommate in the middle of the night. She goes after him to investigate, and discovers that the doctor is a Leviathan that has eaten the other patient. She collapses in the hallway when a nurse confronts her, and wakes up in her hospital bed. The Leviathan posing as a doctor orders the nurse to sedate her. After the nurse and doctor leave, she pulls out her IV and calls Bobby on her cellphone. He helps her get out of the hospital and into a cab, and promises to check on her after investigating.
7.06 Slash Fiction
After his house burns down, Sheriff Mills tracks Bobby to Rufus' old cabin and goes to check on him and thank him for saving her at the hospital. She invites herself in, and offers to make him some food and straighten up the place. Bobby is reluctant to accept, and she orders him to let someone do something nice for him. Later, as Jody is cleaning the cabin, she spills some cleaning fluid that seeps through a crack in the floor and lands on the Leviathan that Bobby is holding prisoner in the basement. The liquid, sodium borate, burns the creature, and is the first substance that Bobby has seen do any damage to it. He runs upstairs and kisses the surprised sheriff, before eagerly asking what chemical she is using. Before she leaves, Bobby asks her to take the severed head of the Leviathan and throw it over a bridge. She tells him to call her if he needs help, and he kisses her on the cheek.7.12 Time After Time
Sheriff Mills calls Sam and Dean about some suspicious deaths in Canton, Ohio, and asks them to investigate. Dean disappears, sent backward in time, so Jody meets up with Sam to help. She brings along the contents of Bobby's storage locker, and sorts through it with Sam. They find and drink a bottle of whiskey that Rufus gave Bobby after losing a bet. Jody is able to use her sheriff status to pull strings during their investigation. The two of them discover that Dean was pulled back in time by Chronos, and that at some point Chronos attacks and tries to kill Dean. Jody finds a spell to summon Chronos in Bobby's notes, but they must summon him at the exact time he has a hold on Dean or Dean will be trapped in the past. After learning the time from Lila Taylor, they summon Chronos at the instant when he has his hands on Dean, successfully bringing Dean back to the present. Jody goes to help the collapsed Dean while Sam kills Chronos who proclaims that the future is covered in thick black ooze.
7.22 There Will Be Blood
When they leave Emily in a motel room, thinking they've saved her from being the Alpha vampire's captive, Sam gives her Jody's number to call if they're not back by dawn.
8.23 Sacrifice
Jody goes on a date with Crowley, going under his ostensible human birth name of Roderick. The two get along great and Crowley claims to have lost someone special too, reminding Jody of the deaths of her son and husband, and she starts to cry. Jody goes to the bathroom to calm down, but finds a hex bag and falls under a spell Crowley casts that causes her to choke on her own blood. Sam and Dean call Crowley and demand he stop and he offers them a deal, using the little time Jody has left to force the issue. The deal is that if they stop the trials to close the Gates of Hell and give him the demon tablet, he will stop killing Jody and everyone else they've ever saved. Dean agrees on the condition they trade the angel tablet for the demon tablet and Crowley agrees if they say "I surrender." As Sam and Dean are shown meeting with Crowley to finalize the deal, it appears that Crowley spared Jody at the last second.
9.08 Rock and a Hard Place
Investigating mysterious disappearances in Hartford, South Dakota, Jody calls in Sam and Dean because there is unnatural strength and flashes of weird light involved. Jody introduces Sam and Dean to the only witness, whom they question. Jody tells them that the victims are all virgins and part of a church chastity group, leading Sam and Dean to theorize that they are dealing with dragons. When Sam returns to the motel room, he and Jody realize that all of the victims are not virgins but are actually people who have broken their chastity vow, which rules dragons out as the culprit. After failing to reach Dean at the apartment of Suzy Lee, Sam and Jody investigate, to find the apartment a mess and the two gone. Searching for possible culprits, Jody finds Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth, who buries virgins alive who don't keep their promise. Sam gets a call from Dean, but it cuts out quickly. He has Jody look up train schedules after hearing a train whistle in the background. Figuring out that Dean must be at an old farm from the timing of the only train going by the area, Sam and Jody head out to get the blood of a virgin for an oak stake to kill Vesta. When the virgin, Tammy, refuses and threatens to call the cops, Jody punches her in the nose then collects some blood on a tissue, telling her she is the cops.
Jody and Sam investigate the barn on the old farm and Sam calls Jody over after finding an old fallout shelter where Dean and the victims are. Sam is knocked out by Vesta, who confronts Jody. Jody reveals her knowledge of Vesta's true nature and taunts her about her actions. As Vesta ties her to a table, Jody tries to kill her with the stake, but Vesta overpowers her and tries to kill her with it. Sam saves Jody, but she is still non-fatally stabbed. While Vesta is distracted with Sam, Jody stabs her from behind with the stake, killing her. She and Sam then go to rescue Dean and the other victims, only for Dean to break free and ask them what he missed. Later, with her arm in a sling, Jody says goodbye to Sam and Dean and thanks them for their help.
9.19 Alex Annie Alexis Ann
At the police station, Jody finds a vampire named Cody harassing a young woman who had been arrested. Acting quickly, Jody decapitates Cody with a fire axe. Knowing more vampires will be after the girl from what she overheard Cody tell her, Jody calls in Sam and Dean for help. While Sam and Dean check to see if the girl is a vampire, Jody does a DNA check on her and finds out that her name is Annie Jones and she was kidnapped eight years before. Annie, demanding to be called Alex, explains that her vampire "family" took her and that she ran away, but she refuses to help them hunt the vampires down. Sam and Dean figure out that the vampires are probably in O'Neill, Nebraska, from a bus ticket Annie had and ask Jody to take her someplace to protect her. Jody agrees to take Annie to her old family cabin in the woods.
At the cabin, Jody orders Annie not to run away and is annoyed by her cold attitude even when asking about Jody's dead family. Annie slowly warms up to Jody who tells her that her grandmother, her last living relative, is dead. Later, Sam and Dean call her to warn her about the vampires coming after her and what they have learned about Annie. However, the vampires arrive at that moment and attack the cabin. Jody tries to keep them from taking Annie, but is knocked out in the struggle. When Sam and Dean return in the morning, they inform Jody that they learned that Annie is used as a lure by the vampires and is not as innocent as she seems and tell her they intend to raid the nest with rescuing Annie being a secondary priority. Jody refuses to be left behind and joins them in hopes of rescuing Annie.
At the nest, the three split up and Jody follows moans into the basement where she finds Annie, turned into a vampire. Jody is horrified and while she is distracted, the "mama" vampire Celia knocks her out from behind. When Jody wakes up, Celia tries to get Annie to feed on her to finish her transformation, but Annie refuses because Jody was so nice to her. Jody realizes that Celia lost a daughter named Alex and kidnapped Annie and renamed her to fill that void in her life which she admits she's been trying to do too with the void created by the death of her family. Celia admits this, but then beats on Jody and goes to drain her of blood. Jody is saved when Annie injects Celia with dead man's blood, incapacitating her. Jody, telling Annie not to watch, decapitates Celia as Sam and Dean, having dispatched the other vampires, come to help her.
Afterwards, as Annie didn't drink human blood, Sam and Dean are able to use Celia's blood to cure her and Jody takes Annie back to her cabin to recover. Sam and Dean warn her that it will be a rough few days for Annie, but she should be fine and apologize for what they said about her. Jody admits that they were right about her trying to use Annie to fill the hole in her life and tells them that she intends to take care of her. Jody talks to Annie who is sick from the vampire cure and tells her that she will be there for her as she understands what it's like to lose your entire family.
10.08 Hibbing 911
Jody is forced to go to a sheriff's retreat in Hibbing, Minnesota, by the mayor of Sioux Falls despite having Alex to look after and a lot of work to do. On her way in, she meets Starr whom she gives some money to get lunch. Inside, she meets Sheriff Donna Hanscum and is disconcerted by Donna's overly-friendly attitude. However, she is more annoyed by Sheriff Doug Kontos' rudeness to Donna and Donna explains that Doug is her ex-husband.
After talking to Alex and trusting her not to throw a party while she's gone, Jody finds that she has to partner with Donna for the duration of the retreat. While seeing what activities there are to do at the retreat, Jody gets interested when another sheriff mentions that a body was found eaten nearly whole with no clues and the local police believe it to be an animal attack. Recognizing that it might be a monster, Jody excuses herself and calls Sam and Dean. Jody is happy to hear that Dean is back, but is annoyed that Sam didn't tell her he was back. She jokes that Alex is the head of the cheerleading squad, but then reveals that she's really doing drugs but Jody is happy she is not luring men to her deaths anymore. Jody tells Sam and Dean about the body, but refuses their help and says she'll call if she needs them. Despite this, they decide to come anyway.
Wanting to check out the body, Jody goes to the morgue but the coroner, Shelly, refuses to let her in. However, Donna arrives and convinces her to let them see the body. While Donna examines the body, Jody asks for the man's personal effects and is surprised to find that his pants have no belt. After Donna tells her that she can't recognize the bite of what killed the man, Jody grows worried as she knows it must be a monster after all and not a wild animal.
Wanting to know if the sheriff knows more, Jody and Donna approach him, but he is unhelpful until his deputy pulls him away to tell him about another victim under the guise of telling him about a raffle. Jody doesn't believe him about the raffle and is disgusted at Doug's actions, telling Donna that he seems like a "dick." Donna tells her she still cares and then heads off to get away from the disgusting display. After Donna leaves, Jody confronts Len who admits that someone else turned up dead and he is trying to keep it quiet to not spoil everyone's good time. Afterwards, Jody calls Alex and is annoyed with her, especially when she hears firecrackers in the background. Donna arrives and points out how Jody's life isn't perfect either and then gets annoyed as Jody was leaving without her until Jody explains there was another attack and she was going to go check the morgue until she realized it was probably closed. Jody explains that she's grown frustrated with her inability to get through to Alex and Donna comforts her about it. While Donna suggests they hang out together, Jody decides to go to bed instead.
When Sam and Dean show up the next morning, Jody is at first annoyed to see them as she told them she could handle it. While she was planning to head to the morgue again, Sam informs her they just went and all the flesh was eaten off of the second victim too. When she finds out that the victim's wallet was missing, Jody tells the Winchesters about the missing belt on the first victim. When Sam and Dean recognize Donna, Jody is surprised and they explain that Donna nearly blew a case for them. Jody explains that while Donna has been helpful, she's been trying to keep her from learning the truth to protect her and while annoyed, agrees to distract Donna for them. When Donna comes over, Jody gets her to go see the weapons that are on display to distract her. While there, Jody is unimpressed with the weapons the man shows them until Doug shows up to make fun of Donna again. Eventually Jody can't take anymore of it and tells Doug off which annoys Donna who tells her to keep quiet about her husband until Jody loses one of her own. This causes Jody to flash back to the death of her husband and Donna realizes that she did lose a husband. Though Jody forgives Donna for her mistake, she won't talk about it with her.
After the body of another sheriff is found killed in an apparent animal attack, Dean asks Jody if she's seen Sheriff Len Cuse and she realizes she hasn't in awhile. She then asks about him as she heard about him going off on his own for awhile. Dean assures her that it's nothing he can't handle and she promises to listen if he ever needs someone to talk to. Like Dean, Jody is surprised to hear that the surveillance video of the first attack is deleted, but before she can question it further, Donna pulls her aside to talk. Jody is surprised to hear Donna's description of Len's teeth and realizing that he's a vampire, calls Sam and Dean. When Jody can't get them, she and Donna go to break into Len's room themselves. In the room, Jody promises to explain later about all of Len's sunscreen but before she can examine an address Donna finds, Sam and Dean arrive and Jody tells them Len is a vampire and is forced to explain the truth to Donna. After they figure out where to go from the address Donna found, Jody sticks up for Donna when she wants to go with them and the Winchesters reluctantly agree as a result.
At the farm, after the Winchesters are knocked out, Jody and Donna are taken prisoner by Catfish and the other vampire that was part of the nest besides Star. Jody is annoyed that the vampires steal from their victims as well as kill them and consume every part and that she gave Star lunch money. Star and Len explain that Len turned the nest and taught them to consume everything of their prey but then left after he grew a conscience and went on to protect people to try to make up for his evil past. When Len is ordered to kill them, Jody tells him that he doesn't have to hurt them and when his refusal leads to Star killing him, she is horrified by the action. When Dean breaks free and attacks the vampires, Jody kicks Star to the ground so she can't help the others. As a result, Star goes after her but Donna decapitates Star before she can harm Jody.
Afterwards, Jody tells Donna she did a great job on killing Starr and offers to help her learn how to fight monsters, something Donna accepts.
10.20 Angel Heart
Sam gives Claire Novak Jody's information, telling her she is good people and she'll give Claire a place to crash while she gets her life together.
11.12 Don't You Forget About Me
Jody picks Alex up from school. She watches her, pleased to see she has friends. When she gets in the car, she talks excitedly of school. Jody catches a glimpse of a packet of contraceptive pills in her bag.
They arrive home to find that Claire has called Sam and Dean for help as she believes there are monsters in Sioux Falls and Jody refuses to believe her.
At dinner, Claire explains that three people have disappeared and other people are reporting animals they have never seen before and things stalking their front yards. Alex tells the Winchesters that Claire has previously thought there were monsters when there weren't and Jody tells them the only reason she's not in jail for all the assaults she's committed is that Jody is the sheriff. Annoyed with Alex, Claire reveals to everyone's embarrassment that Alex and Henry are planning to sneak off to Jody's cabin to have sex. Jody gives a lecture on safe sex.
Jody privately reveals to the boys that although Claire has started college, she hasn't gone to classes in weeks, has no friends, and spends all of her time looking for cases and reading lore. After Jody expresses worry that Claire is burying herself in hunting as she feels she has nothing else, Sam talks to her and Claire admits she feels like she's not really a part of Jody and Alex's family since she arrived so much later. Claire suggests that she leave and become a full-time hunter, but Sam tells her that monsters will always be out there, but a chance at a normal life won't be.
The next day, after Mr. Phelps' body is found hanging from the school flagpole, Claire asks Jody about what happened. Dean pulls her aside and tells her off for her behavior, particularly her rudeness towards Jody who has done everything she can to give Claire a normal life.
Later, Claire works with Sam on trying to figure out what's going on. Dean tells them that the weird fiber found at the crime scene was asbestos while Jody tells them that the janitor's alibi checks out. Sam finds that the janitor has a false social security number and a smug Claire informs them that the janitor started working at the school just before the disappearances that Jody didn't believe were weird started. As Sam and Dean go to investigate the janitor, Jody takes Claire to beg the registrar of her school to allow her to reenroll. The two are attacked by the janitor, who turns out to be a vampire, and Claire and Jody are kidnapped.
In the vampire nest, Jody and Claire note the drained corpses nearby and Jody realizes Claire was right about the disappearances. Claire watches as the janitor, Richard Beesome, explains to the captured Alex that the whole thing is revenge for Alex feeding him to her nest three years earlier. Richard takes Claire to feed on her as part of his plan to destroy everything Alex loves, and Alex offers herself in exchange for letting Claire and Jody go. Richard starts to feed on Claire, but stops when he senses Sam coming, and he and Henry go to confront him. As Sam fights the vampires, Claire retrieves a box cutter from a nearby toolbox and cuts herself free. As Richard goes to kill Alex, Claire stabs him in the back with a crowbar, distracting him long enough for Dean to kill him. Claire watches as Alex confronts Henry and punches him in the face before Claire cuts his head off.
The next morning, Claire and Alex attempt to make breakfast for Jody and Claire reassures Alex that what happened to them wasn't her fault. As Sam and Dean leave, Claire tells Sam she realizes what she has in Jody and Alex and isn't going to take off. She promises not to "hunt like a dumbass" and as she doesn't intend on stopping, Jody is going to teach her to hunt properly. Claire is surprised that Alex is planning to leave once she gets her life together and tells Alex she doesn't have to leave to protect them. Alex tells them she isn't, she just can't be around the monsters they hunt. Claire then watches with Jody and Alex as the Winchesters leave.
12.06 Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox
Jody met Asa while he was on a ghoul hunt in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in early 2016, while he was impersonating an FBI agent, which Jody saw right through. The two hooked up a few times until his death in late 2016.
Dean and Sam have dropped in for a visit when Jody hears of Asa's death, and they travel with her to Manitoba for his wake. She is surprised to meet Mary Winchester there, and in a quiet moment gives her support to Dean, acknowledging the mixture of emotions he is having at his mother's return. At the wake, the demon Jael, whom Asa had been hunting, and whom it is presumed killed him, slits the throat of hunter Randy Bull and hangs him from the ceiling above Asa's body. Those present at the wake realize that the demon is possessing each of them in turn.
As Sam is making a devil's trap, Jody approaches him and begins making a paranoid plea that Mary is possessed by Jael. When Sam tells her she doesn't sound like herself, Dean figures out that Jody is possessed. The hunters take turns reciting parts of the exorcism rite while Jael taunts them one by one about what he has learned from possessing them, finally forcing Bucky to reveal that he was the one that actually killed Asa. Finally Mary is able to complete the verse, forcing Jael out of Jody and sending the demon back to Hell.
As the bodies of the fallen are burned on the hunters' funeral pyre, Jody lends her support to Mary, telling her what great men her sons are.
12.22 Who We Are
After killing another hunter, Mary checks in with Mr. Ketch, who texts her a list of names which includes Jody Mills. When Sam and Dean try to reach Jody to warn her and can't get her on the phone, they drive to Jody's house, with Toni Bevell as their prisoner, and find Mary tied up in the kitchen. Toni Bevell pleads for her life, saying the British Men of Letters won’t stop until all the hunters are dead.
Sam decides they should fight, so they call on all nearby hunters so that Sam can explain his plan to take down the British Men of Letters. As the hunters gear up to leave, Dean tells Sam he’s too injured to go, and he believes in Sam’s ability to lead and win this fight. Dean intends to stay behind and search for a way to save Mary. The boys say farewell with a hug, calling each other “bitch” and “jerk” as Alex tells Jody to “kick it in the ass.”
At the British Men of Letters bunker, Sam, Jody, and the hunters mount their assault. In a last-ditch effort to save herself, Dr. Hess reveals she has knowledge of Lucifer and his unborn child, telling Sam he will need the help of the British Men of Letters to deal with the situation. Sam is unconvinced. When Dr. Hess lunges for her gun, Jody shoots her in the head.
13.01 Lost and Found
With Jack on the loose, Dean tells Sam that he is going to check in with Jody and see if she can put an APB out on Jack, while Sam questions the locals for any information.
13.03 Patience
When a wraith begins feeding on psychics, Missouri Moseley reaches out to Sam and Dean. Sam decides to stay and work on training Jack in how to use his powers. He passes the job on to Jody. Dean joins Jody on the hunt, which they determine is for a wraith. Missouri has a vision that her estranged son James Turner and granddaughter Patience, who is also a psychic, are in danger. After Dean and Jody leave, the wraith kills Missouri.
Dean and Jody warn the Turners, but the wraith manages to snatch Patience. While being held, she has visions of her dad, Jody, and Dean being killed by the wraith. When they do arrive she is able to warn them, and they manage to fight and kill the wraith.
Before they leave, Patience says that her father has advised that she ignore her powers, and that they try and live a normal life. Dean agrees, telling her hunting will only bring tragedy and death into her life. Jody takes her aside and tells that she tried to keep Claire safe by stopping her from doing what she wanted, and that hadn't worked out. Jody tells Patience that she should follow her heart. She gives her a card and tells Patience to call her if she ever needs to talk.
13.09 The Bad Place
Patience awakens from having a psychic vision of the Bad Place, Sam, Dean, Jody, and a bloody spear, prompting her to leave her home and head to Sioux Falls. Jody is later seen trying to make contact with Sam when Patience arrives at her doorstep, warning her that something bad is coming.
13.10 Wayward Sisters
14.03 The Scar
15.09 The Trap
15.12 Galaxy Brain
15.19 Inherit the Earth
After everyone on the planet disappears, Sam places a call to Jody, but only gets her voicemail.
When Jack brings back everyone Chuck snapped away, this includes Jody.
Trivia
- Jody was originally called Jenny in the script for 5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.[4]
Sheriff Jody Mills in Fandom
- @SheriffMills - Jody Mills roleplay account on Twitter
- Fanfic featuring Jody Mills on Archive of Our Own