It's raining outside, so the kids have to stay indoors for the duration of the storm. Unfortunately, the storm goes on for five days...
Tropes:
- Anything but That!: By day four of the storm, Miss Grotke's class actually dreads the word "recess."
- Bait-and-Switch: Gretchen rigs a radio to get a weather report. It reports that it's going to be sunny for the rest of the week... in Bombay, India.
- Broken Record: On day four, Ashley A. is so bored that she's reduced to saying "Whatever" over and over again in a dull monotone.
- Cabin Fever: As expected by Butch, cabin fever sets in by the fourth day.
- The Cameo: Pluto briefly appears in T.J.'s nightmare, being carried away by the rain.
- Catapult Nightmare: TJ when he wakes up from his nightmare of the entire town flooding during a week of non-stop rain.
- Catch Your Death of Cold: Exaggerated at the end of the episode. Less than a minute of playing outside in the rain has TJ and friends all sneezing and feeling sick by the time they go in.
- Hope Spot: After his Catapult Nightmare, TJ thinks that it's going to be a sunny day. It's still raining.
- Long List: Among the activities Miss Finster forbids are "running, jumping, climbing, whistling, throwing, catching, frolicking, skipping, singing, somersaulting, sliding, tackling, juggling, arc welding, interpretive dancing, experimental film making, or having any fun of any kind." She even has to take a deep breath at one point. However, she allows the kids to play quietly with board games if they want.
- Mind Rape: In this episode, Miss Finster intends to turn the entire student body into mindless zombies through pure lethargy and boredom. Butch even lampshades this by saying that the same situation happened before.Butch: Too weak to talk or play or even think, they became the famous Zombie Class of '89. They just lay there. They were helpless. They were defenseless.
Miss Finster: [cutting in] They were mine. [Evil Laugh] - Nightmare Sequence: TJ has one about the never-ending rain during the week flooding the town.
- Not So Above It All: On day three, TJ's friends are all squabbling with each other, even Mikey and Gretchen. TJ even lampshades this by calling them out on their argument.
- Oh, the Humanity!: Mikey during Gus' Suicide as Comedy scene.
- Pyrrhic Victory: By the end of the episode, TJ and his friends get to enjoy their recess, but they seem to catch colds.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Butch mentions with horror that his big brother Joey was part of the Zombie Class of 1989, and he "barely lived to tell the tale."
- Small Reference Pools: It appears that the only non-fourth-grader to appear in this week-long indoor recess is fifth grader Butch.
- Suicide as Comedy: In the Cabin Fever scene, Gus and Mikey do a "suicide" scene.Gus: That's it! I can't take it anymore! I'm gonna jump! I swear, I'm gonna jump!
Mikey: No! Don't do it! Somebody help him!
Gus: That's it! I'm jumping!
[He jumps off a chair and hurts himself on the floor]
Mikey: Oh, the Humanity! - What the Hell, Hero?: TJ's reaction to his friends arguments is to point out that they're acting exactly like how Butch described the Zombie Class of '89.TJ: Day three, and we're all at each other's throats, but we're bigger than that, guys!
- When It Rains, It Pours: The rainstorms are very heavy.
- Villainous Breakdown: When T.J. and his gang decide to defy Miss Finster by going out into the rain, Finster worriedly tells them that they'll catch a cold, just as as soon the rainstorm finally ends and the students happily run out. Witnessing this, Finster sobs in defeat over her failure to turn the students into mindless zombies.
