In the twentieth episode of the fourth season of Supernatural, how dare you do this to me. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
THIS SEASON IS RUINING ME.
What I have to say about “The Rapture” is similar to my thoughts on “The Monster at the End of This Book.” This episode wouldn’t have worked unless the writers took the premise and then committed to it until the very end.
I suppose I never stopped to think about the line in this season’s premiere about who Cas was, but the truth is that he’s always appeared in season four in the body of Jimmy Novak. Unlike the demons on this show, Castiel got consent from Jimmy to enter his body, but that doesn’t mean the transition was easy or problem-free. No, I think “The Rapture” demonstrates just how complicated Jimmy’s life became because of this. Of course, before we even get to this point, there’s a mystery: Why did Castiel visit Dean in a dream and order him to that abandoned factory? What happened between Cas and the alleged other angels that caused him to be pulled out of Jimmy’s body? And what on earth is Jimmy supposed to do now that he’s free of the angel that had taken over his body for the last year?
For the most part, the episode only truly answers the final concern. It’s a sad, difficult portrait of a man who can’t justify the year he spent away from the family he loves, all because he was asked to demonstrate his faith in a way that his daughter or wife couldn’t ever understand. And how could they? Castiel’s conversations with Jimmy were always private, and I imagine they had to be. Castiel had to test Jimmy’s devotion to make sure that Jimmy understood the level of dedication he needed to have. And in that context, it’s going to come across as cruel and unusual to anyone else.
This is demonstrated through Amelia’s reaction to Jimmy’s changing behavior, which we see entirely through flashback. Yes, it’s surreal to see Misha Collins playing Jimmy because I just spent almost a whole season getting used to him as Castiel. But Jimmy’s earnest faith comes across differently to Amelia, who is frightened and concerned for her husband. She believes that he’s suffering from some sort of mental illness that he refuses to acknowledge. And who can blame her for giving her husband an ultimatum like she does when she sees shit like her husband sticking his hand in boiling water? There are no concrete displays of proof of what he’s saying, and she had to look out for the safety of her family.
All of these flashbacks happen in “The Rapture” prior to Jimmy returning home, and they’re necessary to inform to extremely awkward and uncomfortable reunion scene that follows them. Admittedly, a lot of this episode’s emotional connection is related to the concept of truth, both for Jimmy and Sam. Both characters struggle with the unbelievable or shocking truth of what they’re going through, and they take solace in lying to those they care about in order to maintain a facade of peace. Jimmy lies to his wife about where he’d been for the last year; and Sam lies by omission by refusing to tell Dean about his addiction to demon’s blood. What upends all of this is a demonstration of proof. Jimmy’s family is attacked by demons, and his family can no longer deny that he was telling the truth. But what does this sort of truth bring to Jimmy’s life? The truth might have given him a momentary sense of vindication, but Sam has to uncomfortably point out that now, the Novaks are a target. He ends up being right about this, since Amelia gets possessed by a demon herself, and Castiel ends up possessing Claire.
They can never escape this. And Jimmy comes to accept that, knowing that he probably won’t ever be able to see his family again.
I admit that I don’t always understood all the mechanics or logistics of being a vessel. The episode is touchy on details, since Jimmy doesn’t exactly remember all that much from his experience. How much of Jimmy’s personality affects Castiel? Is there no crossover? Will Jimmy ever be free again, or was this truly the last time he saw his family. I have no idea. But there was a sense of finality to this episode, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we never saw the Novaks again. Of course, I’m also confused because the writers purposely refuse to tell us why Castiel was pulled out of Jimmy’s body in the first place. What did he do? What was he going to do? WILL WE EVER FIND OUT?
And then there’s Sam. I had a thought early during “The Rapture” when he first called Ruby to beg for her to come to him. I realized that while the season has been pushing Sam’s addiction, we didn’t actually see much of it. We were just told he was drinking demon’s blood after seeing it happen once. I came to feel that I wanted more from this story. How did it affect him? Why did he need it? Why had we never seen this addiction on screen beyond a few mentions? As if the writers were retroactively reading my mind, though, we see a lot here. We see Sam’s flask dribbling blood; we see his restless movement; and then we watch him ferociously drink from a demon before killing her, in full view of everyone. WELL, THAT’S ONE WAY TO TELL DEAN WHAT’S GOING ON. But as I said, it takes a demonstration of proof for the truth to come out. And the truth is that Sam needs demon’s blood to utilize his powers.
And now, the truth is that DEAN AND BOBBY ARE GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT SAM’S ADDICTION. Holy shit, that ending. It was all a trap for some sort of… intervention? Something like that, I imagine. Lord, I’m not ready for this. I FINISH THIS SEASON NEXT WEEK, Y’ALL. How did this pass by so quickly?
The video for “The Rapture” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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