"Castle" 'Cuffed' Recap

In tonight's episode of "Castle" (the last before the winter break!) Beckett and Castle woke up handcuffed to each other in a dark room. It was kind of adorable watching them wake up next to each other--when Kate first woke up she smiled at Castle, and didn't have an immediate negative reaction. It wasn't until she was fully awake, a few moments later, that she was suddenly concerned about how they had ended up in bed together. When Castle was woken up by Beckett he seemed pleased, and unsurprised. It was pretty adorable to see them together as a 'couple', if only for a split second.

The episode continued with a series of flashbacks, which gradually explained to viewers how Beckett and Castle had ended up locked in the room. They had been called to a motel because a body had been discovered. It was a middle-aged man, and his fingertips were burned off. They began investigating separately from Esposito and Ryan. While the others are off investigating an address written on a scrap of paper, Castle realizes that it is written on the back of a ripped off envelope. On the back of the paper is a postage bar code. Without reporting their discovery to anyone, Castle and Beckett head off to investigate. Meanwhile, Ryan and Esposito find out that the man went to the address written on the envelope, a cafe, and met with a random man. A waitress helps a sketch artist come up with an image of that man, which they then tape on the murder board.

Meanwhile, Beckett and Castle remember how they followed the postage code to an abandoned house, and discovered an old woman locked in a cave. They also find out that they were definitely drugged (Castle sees needle marks on Beckett's back). They can't remember anything else. Kate discovers a light switch and a big freezer in the middle of the room. They try to move the freezer into the middle of the room so that they can climb on top and access a hatch door in the ceiling, but it's too heavy. Eventually Castle uses his author-learned locksmith skills to get through the combination lock. Inside they discover a ton of different chains, and a variety of knives covered with dried blood. They're worried that they have been trapped by some sort of serial killer, and hurridly push the freezer into the middle of the room. But they're not tall enough to reach the hatch--even when Beckett climbs on Castle's shoulders. When they do eventually almost open it, a man opens it instead, and they fall backwards onto the mattress. They realize that is not a way of escape.

Esposito and Lanie, who have been bickering throughout the episode, continue to argue. When Ryan and Esposito go down to the morgue they do manage to persuade her to try to retrieve the fingerprints, even though the fingers have not been soaking for long enough. They get partial prints, but when they are combined with partial prints they found on the scrap of letter they are able to identify the man as a trucker.

Ryan realizes what the back of the scrap of letter means, and they go to the house where Castle and Beckett found the old woman locked in the cave. Unfortunately, no one is there--but they do find a hatch in the floor leading to an abandoned holding cell.

Esposito, Ryan, and Sir (aka the new Chief of Police) try to figure out where Beckett and Castle went. They are interrupted by the man that the waitress saw, and he explains that he works for the DEA and that they have been tracking the trucker for some time because they suspect he is trafficking drugs from Mexico through Texas and into New York. He agrees to help them search, and gives them his files.

At this point Beckett and Castle have been trapped together for a while, and they hear an argument in a foreign language through the walls. They hear the word "trafficking" and are worried they're caught up in a human trafficking operation. Beckett hears a whimpering noise through the wall, and thinks it is a girl crying. She wants to break through a weak part of the wall to help whoever is on the other end. At first Castle disagrees, but she mentions Alexis to get him on board. Once they break through the wall they find themselves face to face with a tiger.

Back in the precinct Ryan realizes that the first abandoned house they discovered had been foreclosed by a bank, and that the other houses they have found in the DEA agent's files were also foreclosed and owned by banks. He realizes that they are using a foreclosure list to find safe houses, and uses it find houses where Castle and Beckett may be.

Meanwhile, Castle and Beckett quickly put the metal freezer on its side, and stand precariously on the top. They climb up right before the tiger breaks into the room, and he circles the freezer trying to attack them. At this point Castle could have started blaming Beckett for persuading him to break through the wall (the old Castle probably would have), but he doesn't, and I think that shows how much their friendship has grown. Eventually they realize there is nothing they can do, and start screaming for help.

Ryan and Esposito arrive at the house as the screaming begins, and reach the hatch, opening it just before the tiger attacks. But then they are suddenly surrounded by the smugglers, which include the old woman who apparently was only pretending to be locked in the cage to get the drop on Beckett and Castle. The other smugglers are her sons. Ryan and Esposito can choose going after the smugglers or saving Beckett and Castle, and I think it's pretty obvious which one they choose. But don't worry, the smugglers all get caught. And Beckett and Castle are rescued.

A side story had to deal with Ryan and his fiance driving from New York to Florida. Esposito explains to him that it's a relationship test to see if they can stand each other for such a long period of time in one space. Of course, this directly relates to the fact that Castle and Beckett are trapped together this episode, and serves to highlight the fact that they have a secure enough relationship that they can spend a lot of time together in a stressful situation and not attack each other. In fact, they both admit at the end that if they had to choose one person to be trapped with, they would choose each other. Hopefully this suggests that they can get together soon and be a real couple. Also, at the very end of the episode Castle says "If there's one person I'd choose to be hitched to, it would be you". He grows awkward as he and Kate both realize that 'hitched' is a colloquialism for 'married'. Kate laughs it off, and adds that he is the only person that she would want to be handcuffed to. As she is leaving she flirts with Castle by saying, "the next time we're handcuffed together all night, lets do it without the tiger". Castle perks up at the 'next time', and yells after her "next time? next time?". Beckett just smiles and walks off.

Can they get together now? Please?

'Castle' returns to ABC Mondays (9/10C) in January.