Recap / Rugrats S 3 E 12 Cuffed The Blizzard

The twelfth episode of the third season of Rugrats (1991).

Cuffed:

Angelica plays with some toy handcuffs that she wasn't supposed to touch, and when she accidentally cuffs herself to Chuckie, she has to find a way out without telling the adults.

The Blizzard:

The babies search for the North Pole, hoping that Santa could fix Chuckie's broken fire truck.

"Cuffed" provides examples of:

• An Aesop: Listen to your parents when they tell you not to touch something not meant for you. You could get into some bad trouble as a result of disobeying them.
• Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: After numerous unsuccessful attempts to get the handcuffs off, Chuckie asks Angelica if its a bad time to mention he has to go potty, to which she replies that it is.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Angelica swipes some toy handcuffs intended for donation, only to lose the key and get handcuffed to Chuckie. She spends the entire episode trying to get them off while hiding them from her parents, only to then accidentally handcuff herself to her bed simply by stretching her arm.
• Chained Heat: Angelica and Chuckie get handcuffed together and lose the key. They eventually find the key and get free, but then Angelica accidentally handcuffs herself to her own bed.
• Chained to a Bed: Non-romantic example. This happens to Angelica at the end of the episode, and the key is just out of her reach.
• Chained to a Railway: A variation; In an attempt to remove the handcuffs, Angelica builds a toy train set and sets her train to the fastest speed as she lays the handcuffs on the tracks. The handcuffs merely bring the train to a halt.
• Comically Missing the Point: This exchange when Angelica can't find the key;
  Angelica: It's probably back at the handcuff factory! Some bozo probably forgot to put it in the package!
  Chuckie: I didn't know Bozo worked at the handcuff factory.
  Angelica: Do me a favour. Just don't say anything for a while.
• Continuity Nod: While Angelica looks for a way to get the handcuffs off, one of the toys in her toy box appears to be the Mr. Friend doll from "The Mysterious Mr. Friend", who, for some reason, is holding an axe.
• Creative Closing Credits: The music that plays when Angelica attempts to weld the handcuffs with her toy arc welder plays during the closing credits.
• Fingore: Angelica tries to smash the handcuffs with a hammer. She misses and hits her thumb.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: As Angelica opens the box of toy handcuffs, if you look closely, you can see the key fall out of the box. You can also see Chuckie pick up the key and clench it in his fist before he and Angelica hide the cuffs in the hand puppet.
• Here We Go Again!: After finally getting the handcuffs off, Angelica accidentally handcuffs herself to her bed, and the key is just out of her reach.
• Hooking the Keys: Angelica swipes some toy handcuffs intended for donation and handcuffs herself to Chuckie when the latter comes over to visit. Angelica loses the key to the handcuffs, so she has to find a key that will unlock them without Drew noticing. At one point, Angelica uses a broom handle to push some keys hanging on some hooks on the wall off them. None of the keys she uses fit the lock to the handcuffs.
• Laser-Guided Karma: The episode ends with Angelica accidentally handcuffing herself to her bed, and the key is just out of her reach. She begs for Chuckie to come back and help her, but Chuckie refuses, since she had told him earlier never to speak to her again.
• My Little Panzer: Subverted. All of Angelica's toys are ironically safe and harmless, which proves inconvenient when she's trying to break the handcuffs with them.
  • Although Angelica does pull out a Mr. Friend doll who's holding an axe.
• Never My Fault: Angelica blames Chuckie for getting them handcuffed together, even though it was her idea to steal the handcuffs in the first place. She then chews out Chuckie for holding out the key after finding it (which he had tried to inform her about but got ignored) and tells him to keep far away from her. This backfires. Instantly.
• No Matter How Much I Beg: At the end of the episode, when Chuckie and Angelica finally manage to free themselves from being cuffed together, Angelica tells Chuckie to go and never speak to her again. But when she accidentally cuffs herself to her bed with the key just out of her reach, she tries to call Chuckie back to help her.
  Angelica: Come back, Chuckie! Come back!
  Chuckie: Oh no, Angelica. I know when I'm not wanted.
• Noodle Incident: When Drew tells Angelica that Chuckie is coming over to visit, he reminds her not to cover his glasses in peanut butter like she did the last time he visited.
• Rewatch Bonus: On a second viewing, you can actually spot the key for the handcuffs falling out of the packaging as Angelica rips it open.
• Scream Discretion Shot: Before Angelica screams in pain from hitting her thumb with a hammer, there is a cut to Drew outside in the hallway.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Near the end of the episode, it is revealed that Chuckie found the key under the puppet that Angelica hid the handcuffs in. When Angelica asks him why he didn't tell her before, he tells her she wouldn't let him.
• The Dog Bites Back: When Angelica handcuffs herself to her bed at the end, she begs for Chuckie to come back and help him after rudely dismissing him shortly before. Chuckie just keeps on walking and refuses on the grounds of knowing when he's not wanted.
• You Didn't Ask: Angelica asks Chuckie why he didn't say something sooner when he found the key, to which Chuckie replies that she wouldn't let him.

"The Blizzard" provides examples of:

• Braving the Blizzard: When the babies experience their first snowfall, they have an Imagine Spot where they travel through a blizzard to the North Pole in search of Santa so he can fix Chuckie's fire engine.
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: This exchange when the babies take shelter in an igloo:
  Lil: I'm cold!
  Chuckie: I'm hungry!
  Phil: I'm cold and hungry, and I think I need a new diaper!
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: When getting to the "North Pole", an angry Angelica complains about there being "no presents, no elves, not even a lame ol' reindeer turd".
• Character Development: After having met Santa the previous season, Chuckie is no longer terrified of him and is disappointed that the fire engine he got from Santa gets broken.
• Hair-Trigger Avalanche: An avalanche is triggered when Phil hiccups.
• Imagine Spot: Much of this episode's events are those of the babies.
• Malaproper: The babies and Angelica constantly mispronounce words in this episode. Notable examples would be, "We faced the elephants^note elements", "Cross miles of frozen plunger^note tundra", and "The Bom-dible/Abdominal Snowman^note abominable".
• Manchild: Stu. At breakfast, he runs into the kitchen, screaming, "Yippee, school's been cancelled!" after a big snowstorm, at which point, Chas reminds him that he's 35 years old and doesn't have to go to school anymore. He and Lou nonetheless enjoy playing in the snow as much as him.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Angelica helps the babies on their quest to the North Pole, since the North Pole is where Santa's workshop is.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Near the end of the episode, the babies have inadvertently travelled to the South Pole instead of the North Pole. Fortunately for them, Lou fixed Chuckie's fire engine, so they didn't have to bother Santa.
• Snowball Fight: Stu and Chas have one as Lou builds a snowman.