The Flood

Plot[]

Mr. Simmons's class gets stuck at PS 118 during a flood, and the kids have a fight and start to get a little restless. Arnold tries to pull the class together and work as a team. It all works out at the end when the class both pull Mr. Simmons, who was stuck on a near broken ladder, and Helga, who was pulled down with him after trying to help pull him back up with her hands.

Meanwhile, Grandpa attempts to save the children, and Oskar hopes to make a quick buck from this.

Synopsis[]

Arnold’s class is stressed as they finished a week of testing and class is about to be let out for spring break. However, when the bell rings, Mr. Simmons asked everyone to remain seated for 10 minutes and think about how they’re like a tribe in order to form cohesiveness. That idea backfires as heavy rain begins to pour due to a flash flood and Principal Wartz announces anyone who is still in school will remain in school overnight.

At the boarding house, Arnold’s Grandpa Phil gets the phone call from Wartz about Arnold. Oscar wants Arnold’s room since his ceiling leaks but Phil denies it to him saying he’s going to rescue Arnold.

At the school, Harold is weeping over the food storage being locked down as Mr. Simmons serves his students rationed peas from a can for dinner. Helga is getting frustrated and talks back to everyone. Arnold tells her that if they’re stuck here, they should try to get along. Helga mockingly agrees and flicks her peas at Stinky which starts a food fight.

At the boarding house, Phil is blowing up an inflatable raft in his greenhouse while Oscar acts surprisingly nicer to Phil by giving him hot milk and offering to blow up the raft.

In the classroom, Curly starts acting erratic saying he hadn’t changed his underwear in 5 weeks and wanting to kiss Rhonda. After Mr. Simmons tries to lift spirits with a song, Helga sneaks out of the classroom as Curly turns the lights on and off. Helga realizes the school doors are chain locked and there’s no escape. She runs into Principal Wartz dancing the Flamenco in the hallway and they both agree to pretend they didn’t see anything.

Back at the classroom, the students are terrified that the pet garter snake got loose. Curly lied that the snake grew a second head and had fireballs for eyes which angers them and they chase him around the class. Simmons tells them to stop but Harold and Helga tell him they’re not listening to him since it’s his fault they’re stuck at school in the first place. Eugene then notices water on the ground and opening the class door causes a swell of water to rush in. Mr. Simmons tells everyone they need to get to the next floor and find an open classroom but Helga reiterates they’re not listening to him as the students push and shove out the door. Simmons knows that he lost control of his class but notices a rescue helicopter outside. Simmons tells Arnold that he’s going to the roof to signal for help and wants Arnold to keep an eye on his classmates even though Arnold doubts they’ll listen to him.

At the boarding house, Phil falls asleep and Oscar’s plan is revealed to be to steal the raft and to charge victims $50 for a rescue. Oscar tries to take the raft and leave but Phil wakes up and tries to take the raft back. During the tussle, they both fall into the water outside. Oscar can’t swim so Phil swims to the raft and pulls in Oscar on condition he helps paddle the raft.

At the school, Arnold goes upstairs to the art supply room where all the other kids are and sees them covered in paint acting like a group of savage Natives. Arnold tells everyone to listen but gets rebuffed until he says that Mr. Simmons has been gone for a long time and is worried something happened to him which finally snaps his classmates back to their senses. After wondering where Simmons could be, the students then hear Simmons singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic and rush to a nearby classroom to find him outside dangling from a half broken rooftop ladder as he was trying to get up to the rooftop to signal the helicopter flying overhead but the ladder broke.

Arnold tells his classmates they need to work together like a tribe to save Mr. Simmons and they come up with the idea of using the rope attached to the school flag in the classroom to save Simmons by throwing the flag to Simmons and then pulling him into the classroom with the rope. They get the rope and flag ready and Helga tries throwing the flag to Simmons to no avail. She gives the flag to Stinky who manages to hit Simmons with the flag. Simmons ties the flag around his waist as the kids prepare to pull Simmons in with Harold acting as the anchor for their half of the rope. After hearing Arnold’s instructions, Simmons jumps as close to the window as he can, but the flood water pushes him away. While struggling, the kids start making progress pulling in Simmons. Helga reaches out to grab Simmons’s hand, but she falls outside into the flood. Fortunately, Simmons reaches out and grabs her before she drifted too far away. The students then manage to pull Simmons and Helga back into the classroom saving them.

The class cheers as Mr. Simmons expresses his gratitude and pride in seeing his class act like a tribe. Stinky spots a rescue boat which turns out to be Phil and Oscar. Oscar tried to reduce his price to 50 cents to no avail. As the students and Simmons board the boat, Principal Wartz is on the roof of the school saying goodbye to them claiming he’ll just stay there and go down with the school as the boat rows away.