I wasn't nuts about this episode. I think in part I was put off a bit by the wackiness (all the goofy animals at the police academy, for examples), and the anthropomorphizing of SLH, which is OK in small doses but hard to apply to a whole episode (compare Family Guy's "The Thin White Line," with the much more human Brian). This also took away a bit from the emotional impact of Bart's part of the story... and the python part was just odd. Overall, it probably would have been more interesting/gripping if the tone and/or focus was shifted just slightly. Anyway, still looking forward to next week's double-header!
DYN: ...another new sax solo in the opening? (I'm pretty sure it is not the same new one from last week - see below) ...at one point in the couch gag (when the third family came in), it was particularly like the infamous 1F01 couch? (Well, 8F24 and AABF23 come to mind too...) ...2D Barney seems to shift around slightly on the 3D maze? ...a bottom third promo for the 400th episode?? (This is surprising, as the show's been free of these since about season 14!) ...this episode features two "snake"s? (rim shot!) ...locally, Milhouse/Bart/Nelson fit Skinner's lineup pattern (120, 105, 94, I believe)? (It's not perfect; certainly Lisa should be in Bart's place as well)
Previous episode references 2F03: Homer attempts to break straight through the maze (compare Bart with chainsaw) AABF18, GABF10: Stephen Hawking appears (in this case, with his helicopter chair from AABF18) 2F21: A Simpson joins the police 2F32: A snake on the loose inside the school Police dogs: 2F17, 5F18, CABF22, 4F16, CABF02 (Officer Scraps), DABF11 (Sergeant Scraps) SLH stories that come to mind: 7G08, 7F14, 8F17, 4F16, EABF14
Notes Despite what Lou says, there appear to be 6 Air Bud movies, and the fifth one (they're not numbered) is "Air Bud: Spikes Back." As I said last week, I'll need to name the new sax solo(s). Any ideas?
According to Wikipedia:
I'll also note that if the maze is suitably constructed, you can also find your way out by constantly following the right (or left) wall. It takes a while, but it'll work, and doesn't require drawing on the floor.