Summer of 4 Ft. 2

"Summer of 4 Ft. 2" is the twenty-fifth and final episode of Season 7.
==Synopsis==
After realizing that none of the kids considered her friends in school care enough to sign her yearbook, Lisa decides to use the Simpsons' family vacation to Ned Flanders' beach house as an opportunity to ditch her nerdy persona and be a cool kid.
==Full Story==
It's the end of another school year at Springfield Elementary School. Milhouse asks Bart about what kind of sprinklers he likes, then runs out when the bell rings while insulting Mrs. Krabappel. Unfortunately for Milhouse, summer vacation begins at the end of the school day, not the beginning and ends up being taken back to class by the Springfield Police, thanks to their inside man, Martin Prince (who gets glared at by the rest of the student body for being a snitch).
Meanwhile, Lisa and the yearbook club have finally received the yearbooks and are proud of how it turned out. When the yearbooks are handed out they go wild and leave a mess where they were. Even with her academic track record and accolades in the yearbook (she edited the entire thing after Mr. Estes died), Lisa becomes very disappointed when nobody wants to sign her yearbook. Bart, on the other hand walks away with signatures from everyone, thanks to setting up a yearbook signing booth where everyone, including Principal Skinner, can pay for a non-personalized message. 
Later that day, Flanders makes a deal with Homer to watch over his beach house in Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport while he serves jury duty. The Simpson family prepares to head for the beach house, with Marge suggesting that Bart could bring Milhouse and Lisa bring a friend, too. While packing for the trip, Marge comes into Lisa's room and asks if any of her friends are coming with her. Lisa laments that her only friends are the books she reads that are advanced for a girl her age. When Lisa asks why she has no friends, Marge offers to be Lisa's friend, while grateful for the offer Lisa says she wants friends her own age. Marge tells Lisa that the best way to get friends is to be herself, which Lisa finds to be terrible advice. Seeing this as a chance for a new beginning, Lisa decides to change her image. She repacks her bag, removing her swim cap, nose plug and her microscope (which she angrily questions).
The next day, the Simpsons and Milhouse head for the beach. When they arrive at the house, Marge sees a note from Ned saying he left a few notes around the house with instructions. When they come inside, the house is covered with sticky notes. Lisa soon reveals to Marge that she "forgot" to bring anything including a swimsuit (Homer also forgot to bring a swimsuit, although he "improvised" by wearing the welcome mat over his otherwise bare crotch and butt, which gets him in trouble with the police off-screen). 
Marge, Lisa and Maggie go to the store to get some new clothes for her. Unfortunately, most of the clothes that Marge suggests are for little girls which she is trying to steer away from. She gets a cool new look at the beach, and, after walking around, finds some skateboarding friends: Erin, Dean, Rick and Ben. Trying her best to fit in, she tries skateboarding herself and humiliates Bart by telling her new friends that he is a nerd when he tries to show off to her friends to get in. Erin and her friends however don't let him in saying that he "tries too hard," and that the slingshot he has makes him look like Dennis the Menace. Angered, Bart leaves and blames Milhouse for ruining his chances at befriending the beach kids. Later that night, while Bart and Milhouse play a board game with Homer and Marge, Lisa goes for a walk on the beach with her friends and shares both her knowledge and love of nature (which Lisa covers up by saying she heard it while watching Baywatch), which Erin and the others begin to appreciate.
With the family vacationing there during the 4th of July, Homer chooses to go buy some illegal fireworks at the Li'l Valu-Mart to celebrate the holiday. To cover up buying illegal fireworks, Homer buys an array of risque personal hygiene and sexual items (condoms, Old Harper, porno magazines, some panty shields, and two disposable enemas). After making sure everyone else was out of the store, the clerk (who looks like a Sikh version of Apu) then directs him to a secret closet containing lots of fireworks, and Homer buys the M-320 firework at his recommendation. At the beach house, Lisa and her friends are hanging out in the living room all discussing what they normally do on the Fourth of July (with one of them mentioning that he celebrates Bastille Day because his mom is French). Lisa suggests a beach party which Erin supports and others suggest what would help. Upon returning to the cottage, Marge picks through the bag, disgusted over the purchase Homer made and wonders if he even bought any food. Homer and Bart attempt to launch the M-320, but Bart has no matches or a lighter. Homer then tries to use the gas stove to light it, only to burn too much of the wick off, causing a short fuse. He quickly tries to find a place for it to explode, and ends up putting it in the dishwasher (he would have put it in the refrigerator, but there was beer in there), where it ruins the plumbing and the dishes and causes sludge and dead fish to bubble out of the drain. 
Later that night with Lisa and her friends down on the beach, Bart and Milhouse sit on the porch with Bart complaining that this is the worst 4th of July ever. He and Milhouse decide to join Lisa and her friends on the beach but Marge tells Bart to let Lisa be with her friends. Bart then claims that they're supposed to be his friends and that Lisa "stole" them by copying him. Marge however still won't allow it, with his jealousy getting stronger, Bart attempts to ruin Lisa in the eyes of her beach friends by showing them Lisa's accolades in her yearbook. Meanwhile Lisa gets a friendship bracelet from Erin and she gives Erin a seashell necklace. Lisa is soon celebrating with her friends happy to be liked. Unfortunately it does not last long as Bart shows up and shows everyone Lisa's yearbook. While the beach kids are shocked that their new friend is a nerd, Lisa runs away in tears, thinking that they don't like her anymore.
The next day, Lisa confronts Bart for humiliating her. He tries to defend himself by saying that it is important to be herself, but Lisa shows how sore she is with him by nearly blinding him with honey. He starts to feel guilty over it, but tries to defend himself. The family attends the carnival that evening, where Bart and Lisa continue to battle over the previous night's events. Finally having had too much of her brother's torment, Lisa dejectedly leaves believing that he will never let her shed her nerdy persona and walks back to the beach house. Bart watches this and realizes he went too far in hurting her. While walking home, Lisa believes that she's just not meant to have friends, as being herself didn't work, nor did being someone else. 
When she gets home, she finds the beach kids around her car and think they're playing a mean joke on her. The kids reveal that they're decorating the car with a farewell message and that they don't mind that Lisa is a nerd girl, because they learned a lot from her about nature and it doesn't diminish the fact that she's nice and fun to be around. Lisa is touched by the gesture, but the heartwarming moment is ruined when Homer comes out and yells, "SWEET, MERCIFUL CRAP! MY CAR!"
As the family leaves the next day in their car, various seabirds attack the car due to the presence of shells. Marge, irritated by the seabirds pursuing the car, insists that Lisa's friends should have cleaned off the shells before gluing them on. Bart gives Lisa's yearbook back to her, he reveals to Lisa that before they left he showed it to her new friends, who signed little messages inside. Lisa smiles and thanks Bart for the kind gesture, as the Simpsons and Milhouse head home.
== Citation ==
fr:La Bande à Lisa
pl:Summer of 4 Ft. 2
pt:Verão quente
ru:Лето на пляже
Category:Season finales
Category:Lisa episodes
Category:Bart episodes
Category:Travel episodes
Category:Episodes featuring guest stars
Category:Lisa seeks understanding episodes
Category:Milhouse episodes
Category:Bart vs. Lisa episodes
Category:'Of' Episodes
Category:Episodes with a alternative Gracie Films logo
Category:Episodes on DVD
Category:Episodes with alternate end credits
Category:Directed by Mark Kirkland
Category:Written by Dan Greaney
Category:Highly Rated Episodes
Category:Last day of school episodes
Category:Summer episodes
Category:Episodes where Lisa cries