The staff of the 4077th are in a bad mood after getting clobbered by a local USMC company at softball; Col. Potter particularly blames Margaret for the loss. However, an offhand comment by Klinger convinces the CO that they might be able to outdo the Marines at bowling, and Col. Pitts, the Marines' CO, agrees to face the 4077th on the bowling alley a week later. Unfortunately, after six days, Klinger tells Potter that there are no bowling alleys in Korea, so they decide to make their own in the mess tent.
Meanwhile, Klinger gives Hawkeye a letter from home, the news in which is bad enough that Hawkeye immediately tries to call Maine. Charles overhears the conversation while on duty in Post-Op and learns that Hawkeye's father has gone in for surgery; he provides his bunkmate with moral support as he tries to get through to the hospital in Portland... just in time to learn that his father is already under the knife for a pheochromocytoma.note Charles spends the night keeping vigil with Hawkeye, who fears the worst; while calming his fears, Charles admits that his relationship with his father is much more distant, and he admires and envies the closeness the two Dr. Pierces enjoy.
Ignoring Margaret's eagerness to join the team, Potter recruits B.J. (who placed third in his grade school league but has hardly bowled since) and Father Mulcahy (who has never bowled in his life) to join him and Klinger, only to learn the Marines have brought in a Super Ringer, Sgt. Marty "The Trenton Tornado" Urbancic. The colonel tries to persuade Margaret to use her feminine wiles to ruin Urbancic's game; though initially enraged, she ultimately decides to put the unit's prestige ahead of her personal feelings and spends a night flirting with Urbancic and getting him fall-down drunk. Unfortunately, this does nothing to impair his bowling game.
A group of wounded arrive, interrupting the game, and Mulcahy is forced to drop out after aggravating a blister on his thumb; Hawkeye agrees to take his place. Meanwhile, a batch of methylene blue has arrived for one of Charles' patients, and he and B.J. trick Urbancic into believing they are "pep pills" and taking one, thereby turning his urine blue. The two surgeons then persuade Urbancic that he has a fictional disease and cannot bend at the waist for a week, causing his bowling game to crater. When Hawkeye finally gets a call back from Portland, he withdraws from the game, and Potter finally agrees to a livid Margaret's demands to join the team... allowing her to get a strike to hand victory to the 4077th. Hawkeye, meanwhile, shares an emotional conversation with his recuperating father.
At the victory celebration, a relieved Urbancic tells Charles and B.J. his urine is back to normal, while Margaret admits to Potter that Urbancic taught her everything she knew while she got him drunk. As for Hawkeye, he buys Charles a glass of cognac, and they share a toast to their fathers... and their sons.
Attention all personnel! The following tropes will report to the chow hall for bowling practice!
- Athletically Challenged: Margaret is established as highly enthusiastic but incapable of performing in most sports. In this episode, Margaret insists to Col. Potter she can bowl, and ends up bowling the winning strike, but in The Tag, she admits she had to have Marty show her how.
- Bookends: Both the first and last scenes of the episode are set in the Officers' Club as the losing team in a sporting contest betweeh the 4077th and the Marines buys the winning team drinks, while the latter engage in some Unsportsmanlike Gloating; the only thing that changes is which teams are the winners and losers.
- Chekhov's Gun: Early in the episode, Klinger finishes a phone call to Sparky and tells Col. Potter that not only are there no bowling alleys anywhere in Korea, but a shipment of methylene blue that Charles needs for one of his patients is MIA. The methylene blue arrives later in the episode and is key to Charles and B.J.'s ploy to ruin Urbancic's bowling game.
- Crash-Into Hello: Col. Potter orders Margaret to get Marty drunk in order to slow him down. Margaret's disgusted by the request, but ends up pulling this trope by "accidentally" running into him at the Officer's Club so they can get friendly later.
- Everyone Has Standards: No matter how much grief Hawkeye has given him during his time at the 4077th, and even with their antipathetic relationship, Winchester was not going to let Hawk suffer alone with the potential loss of his father to cancer.
- When Potter asks Margaret to use her "feminine wiles" on Ubancic, she interprets this as him asking her to sleep with the Marine. He quickly clarifies that he just wants her to keep him drunk and distracted so he's not bringing his A game.
- Funny Background Event: When Kellye laughs at Hawkeye's comment about having a perfect score at Lover's Lane, Lt. Shari almost does a Spit Take of her beer.
- Fun with Acronyms: In an example plucked from real life, Hawkeye is confused when he is told that his call to Maine is being routed from Guam to MARS - Military Affairs Radio Service, as Charles explains.
- Interservice Rivalry: The bowling plot of the episode focuses on a match between the M*A*S*H and a Marines Corps unit. That being said, while the game is treated as Serious Business, the two units immediately drop all rivalry when wounded come in, the Marines assisting however they can (probably moving litters, assisting with basic first aid, etc).
- Literary Allusion Title: To the novel Sons and Lovers.
- Not So Above It All: Charles is the one who comes up with the idea of giving Marty methylene blue (while telling him it's a "pep" pill), and then lying to him about not bending over, so Marty will stop bowling so well.
- The Patriarch: Charles Winchester II is established as such in this episode, although Charles makes it clear that, unlike other examples, it was always clear to him that his father loved and cared for him, even if it wasn't shown outwardly.
- Super Ringer: Marty, the bowler the Marines bring in to ensure they win against the 4077th.
- Walkie-Talkie Gag, Over: A rare time it's Played for Drama - Hawkeye is trying to contact his father and his call is routed through a radio communication point, requiring him to communicate this way. Unfamiliar with it, he asks for clarification:Hawkeye: So I'm supposed to say "over"? (Beat) Wait, wait, wait, that wasn't an official "over"!
- What the Hell, Hero?: Klinger is initially like this when Charles and B.J. offer Marty the "pep" pill, as he wants to know why they're helping the opposing team, until Charles and B.J. assure him they're doing nothing of the kind (see Not So Above It All above).
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: After Charles tells Hawkeye about how his own father is compared to Hawkeye's:Hawkeye: Charles, you never told me anything like this before.
Charles: Actually, Hawkeye...I've never told you anything before.
