Neither a Borrower nor a Speller Bee

Neither a Borrower nor a Speller Bee
Season:	2
Episode:	12 (season) 38 (series)
Production Code:	209
Originally Aired:	April 14, 2006
Previous: "Twins at the Tipton" Next: "Bowling"

"Neither a Borrower nor a Speller Bee" is the 12th episode of the second season of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Cody attempts to win the district spelling bee, while Zack owes a debt to the semifinalist who is against Cody. Meanwhile, London is earning all the credit for charity work that Maddie and the other students are doing.

Story

The episode starts off with Cody practicing for the Spelling Bee and Carey coaching him. When Cody spells the word right, Carey tells him that she could have won first place if it wasn't for misspelling the word "politics". Zack comes in and asks for money from Carey to go play in the game room, but Carey refuses.

Mr. Moseby is getting everything ready for the Spelling Bee that is going to be in the Tipton. Out in the lobby, Maddie asks London if she is going to wear her outfit to their volunteer work, but London doesn't remember that. Maddie just takes her to the bus to go do their project. In the game room, Zack loses in the game he's playing, so he borrows money from a boy named Maynard to continue. He insists that it is just $1, but at the end, he borrowed $30. As a result, Zack has to figure out a way to pay off the debt to Maynard, "or else".

In a hotel, Maddie and her friends are doing all the work while London is just painting her nails. When someone calls London, Maddie has enough and takes the phone, telling them that London is busy working. But then the teacher comes in and catches Maddie on the phone, and she gets in trouble. The teacher asks why Maddie can't work like London, who just started painting with Maddie's brush. Later, Maddie gets on the ladder to fix a chandelier, but London takes a newspaper from the bottom and makes the ladder fall over, causing Maddie's overalls strap to get caught on the chandelier. The teacher comes to see Maddie swinging by her overalls strap, and thinks she is playing around. Maddie accidentally gets paint on her friends, so they have to work until lunch while London takes a break. London ends up earning credit for the volunteer project due to the teacher coming in at the wrong times, much to Maddie and her friends' frustration.

In the Spelling Bee, Barbara misspells a word and is eliminated, which leaves Cody and Maynard as the finalists. Maynard tells Zack that he can pay off his debt by making Cody lose on purpose (since Cody is Maynard's biggest competition to win the bee). When Zack tells Cody this, his brother declines. Zack then goes to the lobby and tries to borrow money from Maddie, Mr. Moseby, and other employees, but they refuse because he owes them too. When he asks London, she gives him some bills that are "wrinkly" and "old". Zack is initially pleased but the money is promptly collected by Maddie, Moseby, and all the employees he owed, putting him back at square one.

Later in the Spelling Bee, Cody hesitates when he has an opportunity to beat Maynard, much to Carey's concern. However, Zack has a change of heart and encourages his brother to win, and Cody spells "pneumatic" right.

In the lobby, London proudly shows off the article featuring her involvement in the charity project, brushing off an exhausted Maddie's points that she didn't actually help anyone. The family from the apartment arrives to give Maddie a cake as thanks for leaving them toys. London sees this and asks Maddie why they didn't bake a cake for her. Maddie explains it's because London didn't do anything for them. London replies that she gave them publicity, but Maddie points out that was just for London herself. However, London starts feeling guilty.

Cody comes into the lobby, chanting that he won. When Maynard arrives, Zack decides to face him alone and Cody runs off to "get a first aid kit." However, when Zack requests to at least be beaten up in the park, Maynard reveals that his big "or else" wasn't hurting Zack at all; he was going to tell Zack's mom about what he did. Zack is taken aback at this and tells Maynard off for being "the worst bully in the history of bullies," confidently claiming that he is not afraid of his mom. Carey approaches behind him and retorts, "You should be!" Maynard reveals to Carey that Zack had borrowed $30 from him and won't pay him back. Carey gives Maynard the amount Zack owes him and scolds her son for disobeying her by being careless with borrowing money. Zack acknowledges that while what he did was bad, he at least didn't make Cody throw the Spelling Bee like Maynard tried forcing him to do. Maynard's parents happen to overhear this and he gets into trouble for trying to win the Spelling Bee through cheating. Maynard is forbidden from crossword puzzles for a month by his parents, and he is hauled off. Zack still gets into trouble and is hauled off by Carey as well, though not without trying to reason that what he did was minor compared to what Maynard did.

London arrives at the apartment while wearing plain black clothes and a mask to bring gifts for the family. She takes off the mask and gives the bag to the family. The mother asks what she can do to thank her, and London says, "Bake a cake and take it to the Tipton and ask for London." She then leaves but briefly comes back and lies, "By the way, she is not me." The episode ends on that.

Quotes

• Zack: Come on, Mom. Think of all those coins just sitting in your purse doing nothing. They could be in the game room having fun right now.
  • Carey: Forget it. "Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be." William Shakespeare.
  • Zack: "I just need a couple of bucks." Zack Martin.
• Carey: Oh, don't worry. He knows his word. Oh, Zack, your brother will finally stop thinking of himself as a loser.
  • Zack: Who calls him a loser?
  • Carey: You do.
• Cody: Zack, this spelling bee is important to me. It's a chance for people to stop calling me a loser!
  • Zack: Who calls you a loser?
  • Cody: You do!
• Zack: If you're going to beat me up, can we do this in the park? That way, at least when I fall, it'll be on grass.
  • Maynard: Beat you up? Why does everyone assume that I'm violent?
  • Zack: You're a building with feet.
  • Maynard: Are you trying to make me violent?
• Mary Margaret: Hey, princess!
  • London: It's heiress.
  • Mary Margaret: Whatever, heiress. The rest of us are busting our humps painting.
  • London: I am painting!
  • Maddie: Fingers don't count!
  • London: You're right! I'll do my toes!
• London: I am so proud of myself for helping that family!
  • Maddie: Do you honestly think that you helped those people?
  • London: Of course! I'll bet a picture of their apartment was never in the paper before. Now they'll be the envy of all their pathetic neighbors.
• Mother: Excuse me, we're looking for Maddie Fitzpatrick.
  • Maddie: Oh, that's me. How can I help you?
  • Mother: We live in the apartment you and your friends fixed up. And we just wanted to thank you for all your hard work.
  • London: (looks up) Oh, it was my pleasure!
  • Mother: Right. Uh... anyway, Maddie. We just wanted to thank you for the toys you left for the kids.
  • London: Toys? What toys?
  • Maddie: You're welcome. But how did you find out they were from me? They were supposed to be anonymous.
  • Mother: Well, we noticed the toy oven had "Chef Maddie" written on it, so... well, we baked you a cake.
  • Maddie: So you baked a cake in an oven that uses a light bulb?
  • Mother: No, our real oven. Which is even more amazing.
  • Maddie: Thanks. (to kids) You guys want a piece? (the mother starts cutting cake)
  • London: Psst, Maddie. Why didn't they bake me a cake?
  • Maddie: Because you really didn't give them anything.
  • London: I gave them publicity.
  • Maddie: That was for you.

Trivia

• The title of the episode, "Neither a Borrower nor a Speller Bee," is a homage to William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, where Polonius says, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." The line itself is referenced by Carey.
• This episode was aired on April 14th, 2006. It is exactly the 94th anniversary for the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
• Morals:
  • You shouldn't borrow if you are unable to return it.
  • Cheaters don't prosper.
  • It's not a good idea to take credit for someone else's performance.
  • There's a difference between doing good deeds for publicity's sake and doing actual good deeds for society.

Goofs

• At the conclusion of the spelling bee, Cody spells the other contestant's word right and he wins; this scenario is not representative of the real rules in a spelling bee. If there are two contestants left and one of them spells a word wrong, the other contestant has to spell that word right, as well as another word.