S04.E20: The Rapture

[DittyDotDot]

Castiel is ordered back to Heaven, leaving his vessel to rediscover his life.

 

I'm totally ambivalent to this episode. I like the idea of taking a closer look at Castiel's vessel and Misha really knocks it out of the park here, but we're nearing the end of the season and I'm not sure that I really needed to take a break for an episode to explore Jimmy's life. Although, they did manage to keep the story moving and Dean learning what's up with Sam is some good stuff, so whatever, right?

 

Seriously though, Misha was fantastic. Not only showing off his mad pepper-chopping skills, but played a level of subtlety and nuance that it becomes a thing of beauty to watch.

[AwesomO4000]

I would've liked the closer look at Jimmy and his life more if after they gave us all of this background, it actually amounted to something later on. But it was pretty much relegated to this episode... so much so that I never even really figured out what happened to Jimmy and when. If they were going to make such a big deal of Jimmy, they should have

at least mentioned - somehow - the fate of his soul eventually. They could've had Castiel make a passing reference to not feeling Jimmy's soul anymore or something, but nothing really.

[GirlyGeek]

I have a strange affinity for this ep and liked it on re watch too. Misha is awesome and it was, the first time, so jarring to see the huge difference between how he plays Cas and how he plays Jimmy. I felt bad for Jimmy and his family, too.

Watching Sam's addiction play itself out was pretty heartbreaking, as was realizing that Ruby was so manipulating him by leaving him on purpose. I mean, I knew she was bad news the first time around, but I don't think I realized just what she was doing until I realized she had ditched him to fend for himself and 'crack out'.

I loved Jimmy begging Cas to take him instead and leave his little girl

who later turns into a complete brat, but I digress

. The little girl actress was better as Castiels vessel than she was as the little girl, lol

Finally, Sam taking a bite out of the demon right there in front of Dean... Wow. I was so shocked the first time and even on re watch my mouth hung open. Deans face was perfect, perfect mix of fear and dread and sadness.

When Sam raised his hand and Dean flinched, the momentary look of betrayal on his face was perfect. And heartbreaking.

Love that Dean and Bobby concocted the story to lock Sam up, too. Just a good solid episode, imo, that, while maybe a little out of place, was needed to set the stage in a lot of ways.

[Hanahope]

Yeah the story of Jimmy was meh (yeah angels can be real dicks), but great reveal of Sam's drug to Dean, especially his just taking a bite to the neck and blood all over his mouth just like a vampire. 

[bettername2come]

I like that Dean was just peacefully dreaming about fishing. He wasn't even drinking! They had some great lighting in that scene. Disturbing that Cas needs a place more private than Dean's head to talk. Misha does very well playing Jimmy in his first scene. It's immediately clear that this person is not Castiel. Nice description of being possessed by an angel as "like being chained to a comet." It's a vivid image. Dammit, Sam, you can't keep Jimmy from his family. Stupid ends justify the means mentality. You see what happens when you act like a blood junkie, Sam? You lose your prisoner. "Was is a refreshing Coke?" Pretty shot of Jimmy on the bus. Heh, Dean calling Sam "ginormo." Nice shot with Jimmy in the light no matter how many previouslies it's been in. The light, the trenchcoat, the barely falling snow. Aw, that moment where Jimmy sits down to dinner with his wife and kids crying and not saying grace. Well played Misha. Nice job beating up the demon, Jimmy. A for effort. Dammit, Sam, be nicer to Jimmy. The Claire actress was one of the better child actors on the series. She played Claire's emotions well and was a decent Castiel. Gah, Sam, you blood-drinking psycho! Jimmy, you beautiful self-sacrificing man. Sam, you idiot! Bobby and Dean, I love you. Wait, was this episode just a huge waste of time up until that moment? Eh, fine, well-acted, non-stupid waste of time, I'll take it. 

The Novak family deserved better. 

[RulerofallIsurvey]

I'll bet Misha enjoyed getting to use his regular voice.  And take off the trenchcoat.  :)  "By some miracle" Jimmy was out.  I guess no one ever told him about the 'revoking possession' clause.  So sad to see Jimmy lose his faith - not saying grace, and then the raging at Castiel was especially heartbreaking.  But Jimmy's family would be in danger whether or not he went with Sam and Dean.  Demons (and some angels - and heck, some humans*) would still use them as leverage.  I'd forgotten Jimmy got shot and that this was when Dean first saw Sam drink blood. (I thought that was in a scene with Ruby.)  But once Sam powered back up, why didn't he expel the demon from the other vessel too, instead of just stabbing her?  I don't think he only had enough juice to exorcise Amelia's demon.  Castiel could have healed Jimmy without possessing him again.  It was kind of jerk thing to do, leave him to die after all he'd done.  

Spoiler

*Cole

If someone could listen in in Dean's head when he was asleep, couldn't they also listen in when he was awake?  I liked Anna as a rogue angel.  I liked that Dean had obviously worked out a plan with Bobby ahead of time.  

[DittyDotDot]

8 minutes ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

But once Sam powered back up, why didn't he expel the demon from the other vessel too, instead of just stabbing her?

I'm not so sure blood junkie Sam was necessarily in the right frame of mind to be making reasoned decisions, though. Also, you do know that logic and reason really don't belong here, right? ;)

11 minutes ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

If someone could listen in in Dean's head when he was asleep, couldn't they also listen in when he was awake?

Yeah, I don't get that either. Plus, if someone was listening in, wouldn't have they heard Cass say to meet him somewhere else and then wouldn't have they just followed Dean. The whole set up is a bit nonsensical, but, it helps if you remember the above. ;)

[RulerofallIsurvey]

2 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

Also, you do know that logic and reason really don't belong here, right? ;)

I know!  I know!  But it's the darn engineer in me!  It's a sickness - like Sam's demon blood.  I want order! ;)

[Wayward Son]

This episode remains one of the finest demonstrations of acting skill by Misha Collins throughout his time on the show! The subtle (and not so subtle) differences between his general portrayal of Castiel and his portrayal of Jimmy highlight a more nuanced performance than many give him credit for. The highlights of his acting in this episode were; a) the talk with Jimmy and Amelia about his desire to return home to his family. Misha's performance here is both nuanced and heartfelt and I really feel he pulled off the mixture of guilt and hope currently experience by Jimmy. B) His outburst at Castiel for failing to uphold his promise to his family. The emotion here felt real and Misha managed to hold himself back enough that it didn't come across as over the top and overly dramatic. C) The scene where Jimmy is seen beggining Cas!Claire to take him instead! He does a wonderful job of both portraying Jimmy's physical pain as he lies dying and his desire to protect his daughter from the suffering he has endured. All in all, I'm rather fond of this episode for the fine Misha Collins acting if nothing else.

 

Other highlights of the episode include; Sam struggling to cope without the 'high' provided by the demon blood and Dean finally discovering the depths his brother has sunk to. Jared did a great job of highlighting Sam's unsettled behaviour and  Jensen did a wonderful job of portraying the range of emotions Dean was experiencing in that moment. 

 

On 7/3/2017 at 6:29 PM, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Castiel could have healed Jimmy without possessing him again.  It was kind of jerk thing to do, leave him to die after all he'd done.  

I think that was the entire point of the scene, to convey the fact that something wasn't right with Castiel. Earlier in the episode Anna had spoken of how he had just been forcibly dragged back to heaven in a manner she described as "awfully. painfully bad". Now he is shown to behave in a manner that is clearly cold and utterly manipulative to achieve his goal namely having a vessel, be it Claire or Jimmy, to fight the war. This is of course in great contrast to the love of humanity he spoke of as early as It's the Great Pumpkin Sam Winchester and the empathy and doubt he displayed during On the Head of a Pin. It was a jerk thing to do. We are supposed to see it as a jerk thing to do, as it comes as a result of his time in heaven.  Time that we know from later episodes 

 

Spoiler

involves intense mind control and brain washing via Naomi and her elk. 

 

So I think Castiel's jerkish behaviour makes sense here :) 

Edited July 18, 2017 by Wayward Son

[Iju]

woah! misha is AWESOME, playing jimmy's voice! SO different from castiel. the wife plays the villain in S2 of agent carter. i liked her acting in that show.

honestly. my family must be so sensitive because we can't bear to watch sam with his blood indulging. we had to look away. and we just stared motionless when sam pulled away from the demon and all that...mess was all on his mouth. and dean...he was probably looking the sam as us. speechless. and his look when he shut the demon door, man oh man.

[The Companion]

I have been saying the angels are demons with better PR, so I am not surprised by the gross disregard for Jimmy and his family, but it still made me irrationally angry. I get that vessels are not plentiful, but are you telling me there aren't any vessels with no family to speak of? With terminal illnesses? Jimmy asked that his family be taken care of, and I don't think barely saving them from demons is what he had in mind. Castiel takes over, says something traumatizing to the daughter and, as far as I can tell, never thinks about them again. 

Castiel said he had the body with consent, and that is technically true, but there is no doubt that it wasn't informed consent either time. Jimmy doesn't have a clue what he is agreeing too the first time (and his life is already screwed up because people think he is crazy), and the second time is even worse. His options are to die and let his daughter endure the same misery or to take it on himself. That isn't exactly a choice. And do we think Castiel was actually going to use the daughter in that way? It is pretty hard to navigate the world as a little girl. I suspect he used Jimmy's daughter as much as the demons did.

Blah blah the greater good, but it was pretty awful. A different awful than the demons, but not exactly better. At least throw the guy a cheeseburger, Castiel. Or, if you don't plan on ever letting him have his life back, send his soul on and use his body. I am assuming that is possible for angels. There is apparently no real life after angel possession, so why leave the host trapped in a semi conscious state of suffering.

As for you, Winchester boys, maybe consider a holy water check when demons are about and you lose visual. 😆

What I didn't understand is why the daughter was safe. Did the demons who found the family not communicate, or is the hereditary nature of the vessels unknown? 

The Sam reveal was great. He looked pretty horrifying with blood all over his face.