Bowling

Bowling
Mr. Moseby's team at the bowling contest
Season:	2
Episode:	13 (season) 39 (series)
Production Code:	208
Guest Stars:	Dot Jones as Gretel
Originally Aired:	April 28, 2006
Previous: "Neither a Borrower nor a Speller Bee" Next: "Kept Man"

"Bowling" is the 13th episode of the second season of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. After Ilsa beats the Tipton staff at flag football, Mr. Moseby challenges the St. Mark to a bowling contest after learning that Zack is an avid bowler. After Zack gets grounded, the Tipton team is doomed—unless Zack can help Arwin overcome a fear of bowling.

Story[]

The episode starts with Cody having just returned from the shower, half-naked. He then asked Zack if he brought in the newspaper for their homework based on current events. When Zack asked why he needed the newspaper, Cody replies with, "We find current events in the newspaper, ergo we need the newspaper!" Afterward, Zack questioned why Cody just used ergo in a sentence. And Cody excitedly told Zack that it's his word of the day, and Zack responded by saying his word of the day is pathetic. Right afterward, Zack pulls a mean prank on Cody by shoving him out of the room and locking the door. Zack then jokingly says, "Ergo, pathetic."

Later in the lobby, Mr. Moseby and the rest of the Tipton staff complained about how they just got creamed in flag football by Ilsa and her St. Mark team. Soon after, Ilsa shows up to gloat about how horribly they played, which is when Zack jumps into the action by suggesting the Tipton to go bowling against the St. Mark as a rematch. Arwin, for an unknown reason, instantly and weirdly screams and runs out of the room.

But before Moseby and Ilsa agreed on a rematch, the Tipton staff huddled up for a minute. Zack told the staff that he's great at bowling, with an average score of 225! That's when they decided that the Tipton is going to bowl against the St. Mark team, which was also when Arwin screamed and ran out for a second time.

During practice, Mr. Moseby decided to name Carey as captain of the team, just to kick London off the team for her overall terrible skill with bowling. But instead of kicking her out, Carey decided to list London as an alternate, or a replacement just in case someone else won't be able to play. Shortly thereafter, Ilsa showed up with her star player, Gretel, hoping to brag again about how terribly they play. But luckily, Zack showed the St. Mark team up with a strike on his first try! As Ilsa leaves, Gretel whispered in Esteban's ear, "I love a man in a uniform," which left Esteban shaking in fear.

However, after Zack shoved Cody out of the suite while half-naked again, Carey decided to extend Zack's punishment from his previous two weeks of no television to one month of no allowance, along with being grounded and forbidden from playing in the competition. With Zack out of the game, the staff reluctantly chooses London to fill his spot, and then head off to the competition. Meanwhile, Arwin was left in charge of Zack to make sure he doesn't have any fun. While they were in Arwin's office, Zack noticed a bowling trophy Arwin earned a long time back. Afterward, Arwin told him about his days as a professional bowler, and how after accidentally injuring his mother during the championship game, he vowed never to bowl again.

When Zack found out, he begged Arwin to replace him in the competition, because if the Tipton loses, everyone will blame it all on Zack. But Arwin really didn't want to get back into bowling after the incident, but after Zack mentioned a kiss from Carey if they won, Arwin was finally convinced to bowl again.

During the tournament, the St. Mark team was crushing the Tipton again, with Gretel as Ilsa's secret weapon. As an attempt to throw Gretel off her game, Estaban started flirting with her as a way to distract her. But sadly, his plan backfired when Gretel still bowled a strike with ease. Soon after, as Gretel pulled him out of the alley, Estaban yelled, "Oh no, she's taking me to her cave..!"

Right then, it seemed as if there was no way the Tipton could win, but right when Mr. Moseby was just about to forfeit, Zack finally showed up with Arwin, who was ready to bowl. But before Arwin could get in the game, Ilsa pointed out that there are no substitutions in bowling, except in the case of injury. As the rest of the team stares at London, that's when she realized she had to purposefully hurt herself to replace Arwin, by dropping a bowling ball on her foot. But it accidentally landed on Estaban, which left Arwin to fill in for him instead. London apologized with, "I'm sorry, I guess my aim isn't very good."

After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing for the Tipton's team, as Arwin managed to score several strikes in a row and nearly beat the St. Mark team. On his last shot, however, he accidentally bowled a 7-10 split that could either make or break the game, which put him on a lot of pressure. But as he summoned his courage, he managed to send one pin across the lane to knock down the other pin, and managed to score a spare! Not only did the Tipton win the competition, Carey also kissed Arwin on the lips, which made him faint and fall on his back.

As the rest of the team struggled to lift Arwin up in celebration, Carey happened to notice that Zack wasn't smiling, despite the huge victory. Zack explained that he felt happy for the team, but also felt a bit sad because he wanted to be lifted off instead of Arwin. Then Carey told him, "I'm sorry you're disappointed, but you remember this feeling the next time you want to do something mean to your brother. And then next time, they'll be lifting you up."

Quotes[]

• (Arwin runs and raises arm with bowling ball in slow motion)
  • Carey: What are you doing?
  • Arwin: It's just for dramatic effect. If you go slower, the tension builds-- I'm gonna go again.

• Carey: That and I'm grounding you for the month.
  • Zack: What?
  • Carey: Starting now. You are not to leave this hotel, except for school.
  • Zack: But what about the bowling tournament tomorrow? You'll let me out of grounding for that, won't you?
  • Carey: Grounding doesn't have exceptions except for school.
  • Zack: But the team needs me!
  • Carey: Well, you should have thought of that before you disobeyed me.
  • Zack: But, Mom You're the captain of the team. How can you fire your star player?
  • Carey: Because I'm your mom first. You're off the team. That's final.

• Zack: But it says here Arwin Hochauser.
  • Arwin: That's my sister. It's her trophy. She won it.
  • Zack: She has the same first name as you?
  • Arwin: We were a poor family. We could only afford one name.

• Moseby: Okay, so we didn't play our best.
  • Esteban: Oh, sadly we did, and we stunk like a donkey in August.
  • Arwin: How does a donkey smell in say, October?
  • Esteban: Better. Not good, but better.

Trivia[]

• This episode was originally known as "Bowling for Love".
• Due to the episodes airing out of production order, this is actually the final episode to have the complete, instrumental opening theme for the end credits.
• During Arwin's flashback, the voice of Arwin's mom is Kim Rhodes, the actress who portrays Carey.
• When Ilsa says, "I'll get you my pretty... and your little staff too," she is using a line from The Wizard of Oz, where the Wicked Witch of the West vows to get Dorothy, her friends, and her dog.
• Mr. Moseby asks Ilsa "Who's the biggest loser now?", which is a reference to the reality show The Biggest Loser. Caroline Rhea, who plays Ilsa, hosted the first three seasons of the show.
• Carey claims that when she and the boys (and presumably the boys' father, Kurt) were still traveling (before they moved into the Tipton Hotel), Carey was always looking for stuff to do with her sons between music gigs, and every town they stopped in happened to have a bowling alley.
• This episode marks the third and final appearance of Ilsa. She vows revenge after losing, but that ultimately doesn’t happen because after this episode ends, she is never seen again.

Goofs[]

• When Zack pushes Cody out of the room for the second time, he does not lock the door, nor does Cody try it before knocking. Their mom then seems to open the door with a key.
• When Arwin's ball is about to hit the 10 pin, one can see that the pin is actually being pulled aside by a string in order to hit the 7 pin.

Gallery[]

London as a Benchwarmer