Skinner's Sense of Snow (S12, E08-256)

I bet that guy's pay got cut by a couple of very valuable cents.

Plot Summary
A winter storm hits Springfield overnight, and in the morning there has been a sizable snowfall.  Everything is closed for the day... except Springfield Elementary School.  Bart and Lisa go, as do a few select other students, but most of the students as well as the entire faculty don't go as it is the final day before Christmas break.  With such a small size, Principal Skinner just spends the day showing an old movie, but by the end of the day, the continued snowfall has piled up and has essentially barricaded everyone within the school.

Homer and Ned Flanders begin a rescue operation, but Homer haphazardly runs over a fire hydrant, with water immediately freezing over the car.  Homer tries to gas pedal his way out, but something breaks and exhaust fumes enter the car, leaving the two delirious.

With the kids at school becoming unruly, Skinner recalls his army days and takes full control of the situation, silencing Nelson's rebellion attempts.  Bart still can't deal with staying in school, though, and at night attempts to tunnel out via the delivery chute.  Skinner catches him and, fearing a collapse of the tunnel, pulls Bart out and collapses the tunnel himself.  Unfortunately, the tunnel collapses on Skinner, leaving him stuck in a pile of snow, prompting Bart and the other kids to go wild.

Pulling Skinner out of the snow but immediately putting him in a dodgeball sack without Skinner being able to break free during the interim somehow, the kids continue going wild, breaking into the permanent record room as well.  With the kids distracted in there, Skinner sneaks off and puts the school hamster in a ball with a help message, and sends it off above the snow level through the window.

That hamster eventually makes its way to Homer and Ned, somehow flying into and through the windshield.  That allows the exhaust fumes to escape, and the two recover from their hallucinations.  Homer, still a bit out of it, recklessly makes his way to the school, but loses control, knocking over a silo of salt at a cracker factory.  In a stroke of lucky coincidence, the cracker factory is located right near the school, and the salt from the tipped over silo pours over the snow blocking the front door, melting it quickly.  Skinner and the kids are freed, both sides eager to forget the unpleasantness, and the Simpson and Flanders kids go home with their dads in the increasingly dilapidated car.

Quick Review
I enjoyed this episode.  The low-budget movie Skinner was showing the students was the best part of the episode, and there were several jokes that worked well throughout (though there were a few that didn't).  As a bit of a curveball as Simpsons episodes go, this episode starts off on a slow note as the circus plotline wasn't really doing much for comedy, but once the snowstorm came in the episode quickly recovered.

Final Score: 8.2