History Recap / SupernaturalS04E20TheRapture

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Castiel tells a dying Jimmy that he'll live forever in Heaven. [[spoiler:Although there's some confusion as to when Jimmy actually dies, Season 10 reveals that he did get into Heaven, where he's joined by his wife Amy.]]

* MyGreatestFailure: Despite many more large-scale mistakes, Castiel eventually comes to believe failing to protect Jimmy and his family is is greatest failure.

On the bus home, Jimmy remembers hearing Castiel’s voice through a radio commanding him to stick his hand in a pot of boiling water. He’s unharmed, but his wife Amelia is terrified. Meanwhile, Anna appears in the back seat of the Impala, and she is concerned that Jimmy is already dead. She tells them Castiel has been dragged back to heaven, which is bad.

A forlorn Jimmy watches his family through their front window. He remembers Amelia trying to give him anti-psychotic meds while he insisted that Castiel is real. Jimmy also remembers speaking to Castiel and agrees to be his vessel on the condition his family is kept safe. In the present, Jimmy reunites with a skeptical Amelia and later Claire, claiming to have been in a mental hospital. During a family dinner, Jimmy’s best friend comes by for a reunion. He’s possessed by a demon and after he threatens Claire, Jimmy attacks him with a beer bottle. Amelia believes Jimmy is insane until she witnesses Claire being threatened by the demons possessing their former best friends. The Winchesters show up and Dean kills both the demons since Sam’s powers aren't working.

Castiel tries to give Dean an important message in a dream, but when the boys arrive to speak with him personally they discover instead his vessel, Jimmy Novak of Pontiac, Illinois. Castiel's been recalled to Heaven for something, but Jimmy doesn't know what and just wants to go back to his wife and daughter. But the forces of Hell are after him as a former angelic vessel.

* TheMentallyDisturbed: {{Adverted}}. From Amelia's point of view, her husband appears to have had a terrifying psychotic break. He's hearing the voice of an angel telling him to stick his hand in boiling water and that he has a special destiny. Later, he violently beats up his BestFriend, claiming the man is a demon. Jimmy turns out to be completely sane and only Amelia witnessing the demons possessing her her friends convinces her of the truth.

* AwfulTruth: Despite being a devout Christian, Amy couldn't or wouldn't believe that Jimmy was speaking to an angel. When Jimmy attacks his demon-possessed friend, she immediately panics and tries to get Claire to run. [[OhCrap Then she sees the possessed guy threatening Claire and realizes it was all true.]]
* BackStory: For Castiel's vessel, whose name was even unknown until this point.

* AdultFear: You walk in on your husband with his hand in a pot of boiling water, and he tells you he's talking to an angel. Then he refuses to take antipsychotic medication and disappears for a year, after telling your daughter "I'm not your father". When he comes back, he's the most kind, loving, and understanding person you could want... right up until he starts wailing on your neighbor with a beer bottle and screaming he's possessed by a demon. That the bit about the demon is true is where this trope ends.

* AscendedFridgeHorror: This episode explores the implications of being a vessel - namely, the fact that said vessel is ''constantly'' suffering after having given his consent. Castiel is a powerful ally, but he's still possessing a human at a terrible cost to that ma, and Jimmy only takes on the role again to prevent his daughter from suffering the same fate.

* DutchAngel: When Jimmy is riding in the bus, presumably to [[StrangerInAFamiliarLand show his sense of dislocation]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Sam's addiction to demon blood is basically the supernatural equivalent of a heroin addiction.

* TemptingFate: Jimmy tells his neighbour that he lived through the worst year possible, but he's glad it's all over. Cue BlackEyesOfEvil from the neighbour.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Castiel tells a dying Jimmy that he'll live forever in Heaven. Although his death is postponed, Season 10 reveals that Jimmy did indeed get into Heaven as promised.

* TemptingFate: Jimmy's neighbour comes around to see him.

* MeaningfulEcho: When Jimmy wants to know how long he'll have to stay away from his family, he's told "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it". When he demands a proper answer, Sam bluntly tells him. "Forever". Rather than repeat this to his family, Jimmy uses the bridge crossing line.

* IHaveYourWife: And daughter.

* MeaningfulEcho: When Jimmy wants to know how long he'll have to stay away from his family, he's told "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it". When he demands a proper answer, Sam bluntly tells him. "Forever". Rather than repeat this to his family, Jimmy uses the bridge line.