"A Cold Day at X" is the ninth episode of Fillmore! It originally aired on November 23, 2002.
Summary[]
Mrs. Cornwall's Pre-Algebra final exam looks like it's going to be a tough one; however, four of her students have decided to take more extreme measures beyond studying. Fillmore sleeps over in the school to safeguard the exam, but an unexpected blizzard and Professor Third's headcold leaves him standing alone to face a desperate gang of determined exam thieves.
Parodied crimes: Burglary and taking of hostages, and also petnapping along with Die Hard's "lone cop vs. gang of villains"
Plot[]
Act One: At The Edge of Winter[]
The episode opens with the Safety Patrol busting a delinquent attempting to extort a student out of their baseball card collection in return for their stolen retainer with help from a small remote control robot Ingrid made. The culprit offers to give up some information in exchange for a lighter sentence: Mrs. Cornwall is going to give an extremely difficult Pre-Algebra final and some students are planning to steal the test answers. Fillmore warns Mrs. Cornwall of the planned theft, but instead of hiding the test answers, she announces that she is going to leave it in her desk drawer with both it and the classroom being unlocked. Mrs. Cornwall explains that she follows the school's honor code from when she was a student "All students are responsible for conducting their academic affairs with honor and integrity," and that she is trusting her students to live up to it, not caring if they do cheat. Fillmore protests that leaving giving students a chance to cheat is unfair to those who want to take the test earnestly, but Mrs. Cornwall explains honor is not something that can't be enforced and that people must be given a chance to do the right thing. Ingrid is called home when his father and sister get sick and Fillmore meets the quartet of kids planning to steal the test, all motived by desperation to avoid failing and lead by George .Before any theft can be attempted, Mrs. Cornwall arrives and the quartet leaves. Fillmore decides to stay overnight to protect the test answers while Ingrid is stuck at home. The next morning, Fillmore discovers it has snowed overnight and school is shut for a snow day, leaving it open for the quartet to try and steal the answers.
Act Two: White Squall At Sunrise[]
The quartet raid Mrs. Cornwall's desk and discover Fillmore has taken the answers to keep them from being stolen, but they deduce he hasn't left the building. Fillmore plays cat and mouse with the quartet to buy time and calls Ingrid for help. Even though she's stuck at home, she gives him some remote assistance and guides him to an air vent to escape. Exiting in the school archives, Fillmore finds a book from Mrs. Cornwall's year as a student and reads about how she was honored after taking a makeup test honestly when the teacher accidentally the answers on the chalkboard. While telling this to Ingrid over the walkie talkie, the quartet listen in on another set and use it to corner Fillmore.
Act Three: Echoes Of Honor[]
The quartet lock Fillmore in the interrogation room when they learn he doesn't have the answers on him and set out to find where they were hidden. Ingrid uses her remote-control robot to free Fillmore and he escapes the school, planning to head home. However, the quartet resort to taking Fillmore's pet goldfish Miles hostage and demands an exchange for the answers. Fillmore agrees, taking the answers out of the hiding place in Mrs. Cornwall's yearbook, and meets the quartet on a bridge. When the trade starts, George reveals the reason he wants the answers: it's because he despite all his work and studying he only has a C average, and he feels like he deserves an A for all the hard work he did. Fillmore tries to convince him to take the honorable path, but when one the quartet accidentally slips on ice and shatters Miles' fishbowl, everyone drops their hostilities to save him. Once Miles is safe, Fillmore give the quartet a fair chance to look at the answer sheet or take the test honestly. The quartet choose the latter and leave to study and Fillmore contacts Ingrid (who caught her family's cold) to thank her for the work. Mrs. Cornwall arrives and Fillmore admits she was right.
