Directed by Duane Clark
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, Peter M. Lenkov & Pam Veasey
"Snow Day" is the 24th episode and finale of Season 3, and the 71st episode overall. It originally aired May 16, 2007.
Synopsis:
After their drug horde is seized, a gang tries to divide and conquer: the leader takes some of his crew to the lab to steal back the drugs while others hold Adam, Danny and two police officers hostage at the warehouse where the bust took place. When the lab's building is evacuated, it's up to Mac, Stella and Sheldon to stop the heist.Tropes for the episode:
- Affectionate Gesture to the Nose: Upon waking up on Danny's pool table the morning after they first sleep together, Danny playfully "boops" Lindsay's nose.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The lab is stormed by the gang who are determined to reclaim their seized drugs.
- Battle in the Rain: A variation. The leader sets off the fire sprinklers, so much of the fighting that ensues is done with everything and everyone soaking wet.
- The Bet: Lindsay bets Danny $100 she can make a certain shot in their game of pool.
- Big Heroic Run: Sheldon, hurrying down the middle of the street to the warehouse to help save Adam and Danny...carrying a large rifle with him.
- Break the Cutie: Both Danny and Adam are severely beaten while being held at the warehouse.
- Bullethole Door: Played rather realistically as it takes a good bit of time for the perps to break into the vault by shooting a circle of holes into the door with a mounted 50-caliber assault rifle.
- Cell Phones Are Useless: Peyton is outside, worried sick about Mac still being in the building and tries over and over to call him, but the network is down.
- Compromising Call: Desperate to get in touch with Mac, Peyton keeps calling him over and over while service is out. When it's finally restored, his phone rings at the exact moment he's sneaking up on the gang leader.
- The Coats Are Off: Downplayed. After the sprinklers kick on, Mac removes his dress shirt (which he had been wearing open, over his black t-shirt), quietly balls it up and sets it aside while discussing tactics with Sheldon & Stella.
- Cruelty by Feet: The gang leader catches Danny about to use his cell phone. He takes the phone, stomps it to pieces, then stomps on Danny's hand as well, breaking some fingers. Danny later screams in agony as he straightens them out enough to use his badge as a temporary splint.
- "Die Hard" on an X: The episode is an homage to Die Hard but set in a Crime Lab. Mac even writes "Find the Bullet" on a dead man's forehead before sending the body down the elevator to Sheldon in autopsy.
- Disguised Hostage Gambit: The gang members at the warehouse make the cops there change clothes with them before blindfolding them and binding them with duct tape.
- Distressed Dude: Adam and Danny are beaten by their captors. Flack & Co. race to rescue them when they realize they're still there.
- Fanservice / Sexy Soaked Shirt: Mac gets drenched while clad in a tight black t-shirt as he and the gang leader are fighting.
- Fingore: During the beatdown, Danny's hand is stomped on.
- Gas Leak Cover Up: The gang infiltrates the lab by introducing a fake gas smell, setting the alarm off, and dressing like gas company workers.
- Hostage Situation: Adam, Danny and some uniformed officers are held captive by a gang of Irish mobsters in a warehouse.
- Kinda Busy Here: When Peyton finally gets cell service again, Mac's phone rings right when he's sneaking up on the Big Bad.
- Laser Hallway: Mac and Stella use supplies from the lab to construct a laser fence around one of the gang members they nab.
- Locked in a Freezer: Sheldon nabs one of the gang in the morgue and traps him in one of the cooling drawers.
- Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard / Idiot Ball: Because the gang confronts expert scientists on their home turf, Mac and Stella are able to construct lasers and a pipe bomb from things in the lab.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Danny and Lindsay have their "first time" on the pool table in his apartment.
- Put on a Bus: The audience will not know for sure until four episodes into the next season, but this is the last time Peyton will be seen...until the bus comes back for one additional episode late in season 6.
- Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: The Irish Mob is the villain of the week, crazy and ruthless enough to storm the NYC Crime Lab to steal several million dollars' worth of drugs the police seized from them utilizing a plan that, as two of its steps, involves killing a man and taking several cops hostage (and torturing Adam for the building's security codes). They also killed, off screen, an FBI agent (and ironically brought the murder gun with them as part of the arsenal for the raid).
- Short-Lived Leadership: The gang's leader is killed by them before the morning raid. His son takes over, but is cornered at the Lab when they try to steal the drugs back. Mac says, "Congratulations on the shortest criminal reign in history." The guy then gets killed in an explosion while trying to escape.
- Title Drop: Danny's chalkboard note to Lindsay ends with, "Enjoy your snow day."
- Took a Level in Badass: Even though he's battered and bruised himself, Adam comes to the disguised cops' rescue, preventing Flack and his team from shooting them by mistake.
