Ethan invites Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda to go bowling with friends on the weekend. Of course the girls are thrilled but Gordo isn't so happy--bowling is something he's not good at. In fact, he got so nervous doing it before that his fingers swelled up and the ball had to be cut off his hand! Miranda says she will be Gordo's ""life coach"" for bowling and tries to teach him him a kind of mystical philosophy (""Be the ball!"") Meanwhile, Matt and Lanny are trying to think of what they can do to stop the bully Heywood Biggs from picking on them.

When Sam McGuire hears Lizzie talking about her sort-of date on the phone, he worries that he's not involved enough in his daughter's life. He asks her if she'd like for just the two of them to go out to dinner on Friday so they can spend some time together. Lizzie agrees, but later realizes that the bowling date is the same night! She decides she'll have to ask her father to reschedule.