Bobby Singer: Supernatural's Giles?

I wonder if Bobby Singer has ever been called a Redneck Rupert Giles. Because, in a lot of ways, Bobby is to the Winchester boys what Giles was to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Think about it -- who gets called when the main character(s) is/are stumped? Who is surrounded by piles and piles of books about all kinds of supernatural baddies? Who acts as a father figure in the absence of a real father? Despite the contrast between the trucker caps and flannel Bobby always wears and the tweedy professor look Giles prefers, these two characters have a lot in common. Although we've yet to see Bobby and the rest of the Supernatural cast in a musical episode yet. :)

Okay, let's focus on Bobby, played wonderfully by Jim Beaver. I just love this guy. He's funny, smart, tells it like it is, and obviously loves Sam and Dean like they were his own sons. And he's pretty darn handy to have around when you're fighting demons and the like.

Bobby first showed up in the Supernatural-verse toward the end of Season One, after Papa Winchester has been taken captive by meanie Meg. He helps the boys trap and perform an exorcism on Meg, and also explains to them about how the girl Meg was is still trapped inside her body. Bobby starts appearing more regularly in Season Two. The emotions surrounding his scenes run the gamut from touching (when he understands that while Sam is on the surface talking about the Impala when he says it's worth saving as long as one thing works, he's really talking about the near-death Dean) to funny (when he loans the boys the only working vehicle he has -- a minivan!) I can't help but giggle thinking about Dean and the minivan.

Bobby shows just how smart he is about all this supernatural stuff in "Tall Tales" when, after listening to Sam and Dean's wildly varying accounting of events, tells them that they're dealing with a trickster. This is one of the times when you can just see Bobby's mental eye-rolling at the boys.

While Bobby loves the boys, he doesn't always agree with them. One such instance is when Dean refuses to bury Sam after he's killed in "All Hell Breaks Loose," instead choosing to trade his soul for Sam's resurrection.

In Season Three, we finally see that Bobby, like so many other hunters, got into hunting because of a personal loss -- that of his wife, whom he killed when she became possessed. We also see that the Winchester boys are becoming more and more like family to him. As the season winds down, and the attack on Lilith is imminent, Dean tells Bobby that it isn't his fight. To which Bobby says, "Family don't end with blood, boy!"

I think my favorite Bobby moment of Season Four so far is when the boys discover his ghost- and demon-proof panic room. When Dean asks, "You have a ghost-proof panic room?", Bobby, in typical Bobby style, says, "I had a weekend off."

I've heard buzz that someone close to the boys may be killed off, and I really, REALLY hope it's not Bobby. He's just way too much fun. But going back to the Giles comparison, Buffy had to stand alone at some point and not depend on Giles, so Giles left her. He didn't die, but he wasn't there for her to call. So the possibility is there for Bobby to go bye-bye in some way, but I can't say I like it.

What do you think? Do you think Bobby will be around for Season Five? Why or why not?