Skinner's Sense of Snow

"Skinner's Sense of Snow" is the eighth episode of Season 12.
==Synopsis==
The kids of Springfield Elementary get snowed in the day before Christmas break, and Principal Skinner's skills as a drill sergeant fail when Bart leads a student revolution. Meanwhile, Homer "borrows" Flanders' car (and part of his roof) to make a makeshift snowplow to drive through the blizzard and rescue the kids.
== Full Story ==
Homer is watching football on TV when Marge and the kids suggest going to a French-Canadian circus (called "Cirque du Puree", a play on Cirque du Soleil). Homer reluctantly agrees, but when the family arrives, a demonic blizzard hits Springfield, and the performance is cut short. Much to Bart and Lisa's dismay, everyone has the day off, except for Springfield Elementary School. At school, Skinner shows them a boring Christmas film from 1938, called "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't But Then Was". They watch the movie for hours until the DVD overheats and catches fire, but Skinner puts it out. When Skinner dismisses the kids, they find that they are snowed in, trapping them in the school with Skinner and Groundskeeper Willie, much to their horror. Skinner tries to call for help, but the phone lines are down. When the students become uncontrollable from cabin fever, Principal Skinner's army instincts kick in, and he begins ruling them with an iron fist.
At night, Bart tries to escape by tunneling through the snow, but Skinner catches him. Skinner tries to collapse the tunnel, but it caves in on him, burying all but his head. The kids tie him up in a dodgeball sack and gag him. Then they run wild, even getting into a safe with all of their permanent records. Upon learning that Skinner makes $25,000 a year, and knowing that he is 40 years old, they figure Skinner is a millionaire. (40 years x $25,000 / year = $1,000,000) When it's pointed out that Skinner also makes money painting houses in the summer, they amend their estimate of his wealth to "billionaire".
Meanwhile, Homer and Flanders use a "snowplow" (Ned's car with Ned's roofing attached to the front as a plow) to save the kids (with Flanders asking Homer whatever happened to the snowplow business he had on the season four episode "Mr. Plow"). They get frozen in ice after hitting a fire hydrant, and Homer's repeated gunning of the engine causes carbon monoxide to flood the car. Flanders and Homer get high from the fumes and wildly hallucinate. Homer hallucinates about belly dancing women who wait on him. They receive a message from Nibbles, the school hamster send out by Skinner, and head for the school. They crash into a salt silo, melting the snow and rusting up the car. The car exhaust makes Homer hallucinate again, making him see Lisa as a camel and Bart as a dancing girl. As Homer tries to kiss the "dancing girl", Bart tries his best to escape, causing the car to crash. Lisa still a camel, then says  "Merry Christmas from the Simpsons", followed by a grunt to finish the episode.
== Behind the Laughter ==
===Reception===
Following its home video release, "Skinner's Sense of Snow" received mostly positive reviews from critics and fans.
In his review of The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season, DVD Verdict's Mac McEntire wrote that, while he prefers "down-to-Earth" episodes, the more "outrageous" episodes like "Skinner's Sense of Snow" are the ones that are "standouts".
He added that the episode "provides a lot of solid 'cool kids versus dorky adults' comedy", and that the set piece was the best part of the episode. Matt Haigh of Den of Geek described the episode as "gold", and considers it to be one of the season's best episodes. The staff of The Journal, while reviewing The Simpsons - Christmas 2 DVD set, described the episode as "memorable", and John McMurtrie of the San Francisco Chronicle cited it as "great".
Elizabeth Skipper, another reviewer for DVD Verdict, wrote that most episodes that center around Skinner are "a sure thing", and that "Skinner's Sense of Snow" is no exception.
Both Aaron Beierle and Jason Bailey of DVD Talk argued that "Skinner's Sense of Snow" is one of the best episodes of the season. On the other hand, giving the episode a mixed review, Colin Jacobsson of DVD Movie Guide described the episode as "mediocre". Although he found the children's revolt against Skinner amusing, he argued that the premise was not used to its full potential. He concluded his review by calling it "a fairly average program".
==Broadcast History==
===United States===
Broadcast date(s)	Channel aired
*December 17, 2000
*August 1, 2001
*December 30, 2001	
*December 18, 2020
*December 21, 2020
*December 25, 2020	
*December 24, 2020	
==External Links==
* at the Christmas Specials Wiki
== Citations ==
fr:À bas le sergent Skinner
pl:Skinner's Sense of Snow
pt:Revolta na Neve
Category:Christmas
Category:Education-themed episodes
Category:Principal Skinner episodes
Category:Episodes named after a character
Category:Bart episodes
Category:Winter Episodes
Category:Homer episodes
Category:Ned Flanders Episodes
Category:Nelson episodes
Category:Lisa episodes
Category:Marge episodes
Category:Groundskeeper Willie Episodes
Category:Sideshow Mel episodes
Category:Superintendent Chalmers Episodes
Category:Kids episodes
Category:Episodes on DVD
Category:Sherri and Terri episodes
Category:Holiday episodes
Category:Christmas Episodes
Category:Written by Tim Long
Category:Directed by Lance Kramer
Category:Highly Rated Episodes
Category:Episodes named after Seymour Skinner