Friday, May 1, 2009

"The Rapture" Episode Recap

The "Then" recap at the beginning of the episode highlighted the two things we'd be exploring this episode, and they were biggies -- how Castiel came to be in that human vessel he wears and more about Sam's demon blood sucking.

First off, let me say that it takes way longer to watch an episode when you're pausing the TiVo every few seconds to jot down thoughts on your notepad so you don't forget anything important.

~~~~~~SPOILER ALERT~~~~~~~~

After the recap, we launch into the...uh...non-action. Dean is sitting on the end of a pier beside a peaceful lake fishing. It was such an odd image that my brain didn't really engage until Castiel suddenly popped up next to Dean and Dean realized he was dreaming. Cryptic Castiel says he wants to talk to Dean but that it's not safe to talk in Dean's head -- someone might be listening. He hands Dean a piece of paper and tells him to meet him there, now. Dean then wakes up, and we next see him and Sam picking their way through some appropriately dark and dismal building. It's seen better days, and Dean comments that, "There was a fight here." After they spot a painted symbol on the wall, they find Castiel on the floor. Only...

He's not Castiel anymore. Rather, he's Jimmy Novak from Pontiac, Illinois -- aka the person whom Castiel possessed so that he could be seen and heard by humans like Dean. And considering Jimmy has been possessed by an angel for nearly a year, he's way hungry and is eating himself silly in the next scene. Even Dean, who can put away a lot of food, says, "You mind slowing down? You're gonna give me angina."

When the boys ask him what he remembers, he says only bits and pieces. And worst of all, he doesn't remember what Castiel was going to tell Dean or where Castiel has gone. We see the first of Jimmy's flashbacks to his pre-possessed days. He has a wife and daughter, is a devout man, and falls asleep in front of the TV like just about every other man in America. Only I'm doubting that those guys wake up to find their TV freaking out, then hear a piercing noise, and fall to the floor in a seizure. At least I hope not.

As the Winchester boys are apt to do, they disagree about what to do with Jimmy. And this scene illustrates again how much the boys' viewpoints have swapped places. Dean wants to put Jimmy on a bus home to his family; Sam doesn't want to lose the only lead they have to what has happened to Castiel. Besides, he says, if they want to find out what Jimmy might not even realize he remembers, they can bet the demons do too.

Next, we see Sam standing in the motel room with Jimmy asleep in one bed and Dean asleep in the other. He sneaks outside and takes a hit of demon blood from a flask. Oh, no! My Sammy's a demon blood junkie! :( And he lets Jimmy escape while he's doing it.

Jimmy has made it to the bus, and we see another flashback. This time, it's the radio that is going all super-static. When Jimmy's wife, Amelia, arrives home and finds Jimmy with his arm in a pot of boiling water, she freaks. But when he pulls his arm free of the water, it's uninjured and he says Castiel told him to do it to prove his faith. Of course, Amelia just thinks he's had a mental break, which I really don't understand considering the evidence. I mean, how could she explain the injured arm pulled from the boiling water?

Back in the present, the boys are driving down the road, not talking. When Anna pops into the back seat and says "hi", the boys are understandably freaked and the Impala weaves across the road before Dean shoots off a comment about her calling ahead, and then another about her looking good. Ah, Dean being Dean. But the light moment is short-lived when she reveals that Cas has been dragged back to Heaven because he evidently really ticked someone off. At this point, I started to worry that this might be the end of Cas and very nearly yelled "No!" at the TV. I love his character and Misha's portrayal of him.

While I wanted to see the return of Castiel (and in Misha's form), I did hurt for what Jimmy has given up. It's been nearly a year since he's seen Amelia and their daughter, Claire. When he arrives home, he watches them through the window before going to the door and ringing the doorbell. How sad is it to have to ring the doorbell of your own home? While standing there, we see another flashback in which Amelia tells him to take his pills because she obviously thinks he's lost touch with reality, and if he doesn't she's doing to take Claire and leave. Back in the present, he decides to tell Amelia he's been away at a psych clinic rather than ruin his return by telling her the truth. They decide to take it in small steps, starting with a meal of sandwiches over which he says he will not be saying grace.

But the peace is short-lived. A friend from before he left comes by, and Jimmy is glad to see him. While Amelia goes to get the friend a beer, he leads Jimmy into another room. Wait for it...yep, the friend isn't the friend anymore. He's possessed by a demon who says he's going to kill Claire. When Amelia returns to the room, she thinks Jimmy is still crazy because he's beating his friend, saying he's a demon, and telling her to run. Amelia doesn't believe until the friend grabs Claire and brings a knife to her throat, the guy's wife (also possessed) joins the party, and the Winchester boys arrive just in time to save the day. We see further proof that something is wiggy with Sam because he's too weak to exorcise a lower demon when he previously could take on the likes of Alastair. When Dean later asks him about it and says he's scaring him, Sam admits that he's scaring himself.

The boys convince Jimmy that his family will only be safe if he leaves them behind -- forever. Poor Jimmy, he's facing a Winchester fate of a never-ending battle and life on the road. But wait! There's 20 minutes of the episode left. Jimmy gets a call, supposedly from Amelia. Alas, she's now possessed by a demon too, and the Impala gets turned around so Jimmy can save his wife and daughter. Only, the demon Amelia shoots him in the gut and tells her goons to kill Claire. This time, it's Castiel who shows up just in time, in Claire's body, and takes care of the baddies. A dying Jimmy begs Castiel to take him and let his daughter be because he knows what's in store for her if Cas stays in her vessel. Cas takes him up on his offer, and poor Jimmy's short return to his normal life and family comes to an end. I was glad to have Cas back, but I was sad for Jimmy and his family.

When Dean asks Cas what he wanted to tell him, we learn that the Cas we have now is much more like the version we saw when we first appeared to Dean in human form and not the Cas of recent episodes. He says he learned his lesson while whe was away. "I serve Heaven, not man, and certainly not you." Ouch! This tidbit left me with questions: Did he mean what he said? If so, what did they do to him to change his tune? And if not, when will we find that out? Will we see Castiel fall? That's what I had been expecting before the end of the season, but Kripke and company threw me a curve ball.

The jam-packed episode isn't finished yet though. Bobby calls and tells Sam that he and Dean need to get to this house pronto.

Sam: "What's going on?"
Bobby: "The apocalypse, genius. Now get your asses over here."

When they arrive, Sam asks what the big demon problem is as he walks into a metal cell (Is this the spirit-proof room?). Bobby, with a sad but determined look on his face, says, "You are. This is for your own good," and locks him inside as Dean watches. I have to admit I didn't see this coming until Sam walked in that room. This, combined with the previews of coming episodes, drives an even bigger wedge between Sam and Dean, and I'm afraid of what's to come. I hope we don't have a fifth season with them on opposite sides, coming together only at the end. That would blow.

So, what are your thoughts about "The Rapture?" How do you think this season will end?

14 comments:

MJFredrick said...

First of all, Dean dreams about going fishing. That's pretty funny.

Secondly, I think Jimmy had mental problems before and that's why his wife didn't believe him. The pills she was trying to give him were "his." This was very intriguing to me. Also Castiel kept saying serving God this way was "in his blood." What did that mean?

The look on Dean's face when he sees Sam suck the blood...yikes! Only, a question about the blood. A demon's possessing a human, so how is it demon blood? I can see in Ruby, because she's inhabited that body longer. But "Stunt Demon #3" has the same blood powers? (That was my favorite line of the night, btw.)

Anonymous said...

The season is going to end very, very badly. Dean and Sam are going to be on opposite sides, I just know it. I read an interview on E! online yesterday that said season 4 is all set up for season 5. Ack! Anyhow, I don't like that Castiel appears like he's not on Dean's side anymore. I hope that's not the case. And when Sammy sank his face into that woman's neck and came up looking like he was from a vamp horror movie and wasn't even ashamed enough to wipe away his mouth, I was horrorfied. That and the horrible way he spoke to Castiel about leaving his family forever. Dude's gone off the deep, dark end.

Maureen Child said...

I'm so bummed over the Cas thing. Cannot tell you.

And oh, I'm really worried about how this season is going to end. I want the boys together again! LOL..

Guess I'd better pull out the DVD's.

Trish Milburn said...

MJ, I chuckled at "Stunt Demon #3" too. :) See, about the pills, I think maybe they are new, prescribed for him after perhaps Amelia bugged him until he went to the doctor. I didn't get that they could have been from before.

BTW, I meant to put in my post that I found it funny that Jimmy sold ad time on AM radio -- in light of the previous "angel radio" comments. :)

Trish Milburn said...

Terri, I agree that things do not look to be bright for the end of the season. In the previews for the rest of the season, when Dean tells Sam that if he walks out the door to never come back -- dang, that broke my heart, the severing of the close brother relationship.

But they've just GOT to bounce back before the end of the series. I just hope we don't have to wait all next season. It just will not be the same show without the two of them together, fighting side by side.

Trish Milburn said...

Maureen, I think we're all going to be pulling out our DVDs over the summer, trying to recapture some of the fun and frivolity of earlier seasons (in comparison to this season, anyway).

MJFredrick said...

Hm, you're probably right about the pills. My first thought was that they were his before.

MJFredrick said...

Another question---who drew the symbol on the wall that sent Cas back to heaven?

Trish Milburn said...

I don't know on the symbol. I rewound that part several times and still couldn't hear all of what Dean said. Do you think Gabriel might have been the person who sent Cas back?

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Nice writeup, Trish! I love reliving the show through these.

Typing my thoughts before reading all the comments because I'll get sidetracked:

I loved this episode, but I can't bear it, I can't watch the last two, I want to throttle Kripke yet I also lap at everything he feeds me with a chocolate spoon.

There were a buncha little things that marred recollection of the episode. In our chat last night, someone asked what the point was of Anna appearing in the car, telling them to go after Cas--but not helping them. Where'd she go?

They also all assumed the demon possessed the wife as they left the house, but I hate that idea. I want to believe their goodbye was real. So I'm gonna. :)

Why would Cas choose the child to be his vessel? She wouldn't have prayed for it like Jimmy did. Element of surprise, okay, fastest way to save her, okay...but why say he'll stay there forever?

Mary (whose comment is right next to this box so I read it :) )is right about the Stunt Demon #3 blood. But maybe he only needs a little demon power for the low level of the demon. I would think, since demon possession renders the body whole, at least while it's in it, it can have an effect on the blood.

Dean having a plan and then the plan falling apart so quickly confused me. I assumed he hadn't put the plan into effect and was waiting for it, so I had to rewatch the scene to "get" it. The boys didn't even TRY to fight and save Claire, just stood there wincing, which was weird.

And the whole show was like 6 minutes too short. I think they added the "trap Addiction Boy" scene late because of that. Maybe there were editing issues. Jim Beaver told us at the con in March that he'd just filmed 4.21 (When the Levee Breaks) and still had to film 4.20 (which was obviously just that little bit).

Other than those little nitpicky things, though, there was so much to love. And hate. But lovingly.

Misha Collins shocked me. I never thought I could see him as a Jimmy. He pitched his voice higher, not just than Castiel's but than his own voice, but it sounded natural. He seemed diminished (in part, of course, due to wardrobe and makeup) and wasn't as beautiful as Jimmy as he is as Cas. But when he got back in Jimmy at the end...whoa.

I think what he was going to tell Dean was what Chuck saw, that Zachariah forbade him to tell the boys, and when he was going to tell Dean, on top of his disobedient interference with Chuck, got him punished. Whatever they did, it made him "see the light" (maybe literally!)

So that's my thoughts. Now I'll read the comments and see how redundant I am. LOL

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

I think things will be very bad, but I'm hopeful that the boys, at least, will wind up on the same side at the very end, or at least at the beginning of season 5. I know, I said all season that Kripke couldn't make me buy Sam being bad, and he's not only doing that, but he's making me love everything I hate. But he CAN'T be stupid enough to have the boys against each other for a full season. They'll lose all of us.

Mary, I thought the pills were new, but I think your thought that they weren't is more likely, with the wife saying he needed to GET help (or something that seemed at odds, because the pills would have been getting help).

Trish, I thought the very same thing about the DVDs! LOL

I'm not sure they ever clarified who did the symbol on the wall. It could have been either Cas trying to send back whoever was after him (a la Anna casting away Cas and Uriel when they wanted to take her back), or the angels sent to get him. I got the impression it was incomplete, which would make me think it was Cas--the whole idea of a fight indicates he was resisting, right?

MJFredrick said...

I rewatched tonight, and also was puzzled by the boys' plan falling apart and them not trying to save Jimmy and his family.

I think Misha was awesome. So were the boys, of course.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I, too found it interesting that Amelia was so willing to overlook him BOILING HIS OWN ARM to tell him it was all in his imagination. I've always thought Misha Collins did a great job playing Cas, but watching him make the transformation from Jimmy to Castiel and back again really highlighted his acting chops!

The stuff with Sam was well-acted but dark and, that scene with Bobby and Dean locking him in? Wow. I can't say I'm "looking forward" to the next two weeks, at least not with cheerful anticipation, because I think it will be a bit disturbing and at times difficult to watch, but I am sort of morbidly fascinated with watching the whole thing unfold.

What do we think of Ruby? There's a comment Dean makes in previews about her "posioning him." Do we think it was intentional, an evil agenda, or just that she's willing to overlook the longterm effects on Sam as part of the larger picture?

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

The last is kind of what I've always figured. She has a goal, and Sam is integral to that goal. He's a tool to her like Dean's a tool for the angels. I don't think her purpose is necessarily to harm Sam, but she doesn't really care what happens to him as long as she gets what she wants.