Voltage-A-Rooney

Voltage-A-Rooney is the second episode in season 3 of Liv and Maddie. It aired on September 13, 2015. This episode scored 1.7 million viewers.

Overview
Maddie enlists Liv's help to build a giant Paulie Porcupine head for the Homecoming parade, but Joey and Parker accidentally destroy it while playing around with a stunt-prop from Liv's TV show, "Voltage."

Episode Summary
On a dark and stormy night, an aerial shot of a late-Victorian or post-Victorian clock tower is seen in some random city. Suddenly we see an interior shot of that clock, where an injured and terrified blonde high school cheerleader named Tess struggles to climb down the wrought-iron circular staircase. Off-screen that same young girl is narrating as she describes her ordeal that night. Random bursts of lightning emerge from her skin during the storm, which mysteriously had no effect on her when she climbed down the stairs. Bewildered as she arrives at the bottom of the stairs, she cries out to the heavens over her fate as the lightning outside also becomes more intense. Then just as she whips her long, blonde bangs away from her face, she begins to float uncontrollably in mid-air, while the lightning bolts grow stronger and eventually explode from her body. The scene you've just read about is revealed to be the opening scene from the sci-fi/superhero series "Voltage," starring Liv Rooney. A female director calls for an end to the scene. A confessional with Liv reveals that she's fond of the director, who's also a fan and expert on the comic book the series was based on. She also compares her to Joey, but with social graces. After the scene is finished, Gemma, the director excitedly praises her acting during the scene, but reminds her that she will still have to do more to make her character believable. After the opening theme, we find Liv walking into the kitchen while Maddie is eating, and Joey shows her that he replaced her Space Werewolves movie poster by the staircase with one advertising her new TV series. Though Liv is impressed, she tells him she would've preferred another poster that she made, memorializing Maddie's recent championship basketball game (see "Champ-A-Rooney"). Maddie is flattered but is unaccustomed to the increase in attention that she has been getting. Liv reminds her that she's going to have to get used to the attention because she's leading an upcoming homecoming parade. As Maddie exposes the unfinished cabezudo mask she's supposed to wear at the parade, she asks for Liv's help in finishing the head. Liv reveals that she's glad she was able to get her movie production company to set up shop in Stevens Point so they can engage in such "sister moments," and returns to the studio. Once she arrives, she appears in her superhero costume for the first time and pulls it off quite nicely. The uniform also contains air cannons in the wrists, for scenes when she has to blast lightning bolts towards people. Unfortunately, when she tries to blast one at a tree branch covering a stunt double, the air cannons knock her down on the floor. Eventually she learns to manage her air cannons, but otherwise, Gemma finds Liv's performance to be too routine. She claims that Liv looks like every other superhero she has seen before, and wants her to be the superhero she hasn't seen, but doesn't necessarily give her a clue about what her character should be like. Back at home when Parker is playing a game where he tries to throw popcorn on a sombrero that Joey is wearing, Joey discovers that Pete and Karen left the gift card for "Goofy Gary's" that he and Parker gave them for their 20th wedding anniversary six months earlier, and decide that they should use the card themselves as part of a revenge plot against them. On their way out into the back yard, they discover Maddie is still struggling with the Paulie the Porcupine head she's supposed to wear for the homecoming parade. The two brothers almost seem like they're ready to help her with the head, but then laugh at each other over the thought of doing so, and resume their trip to the restaurant. Later, they come home loaded with toys and other gadgets, including of all things, a musical belt buckle, and bowling shoes that he got in exchange for his student I.D. Suddenly, they are both surprised and impressed to find Liv back from the set of Voltage in her SkyVolt costume. Liv still wants to help Maddie build the parade mask, but she reveals that her real motive in taking her costume home involves homework, which involves seeing their advice on how to get into the character she's playing. Nevertheless after seeing the finished mask, and reading the note, she feels guilty about not being able to help her sister. Pete gets a phone call from Goofy Gary's reporting Joey's student identification card when Karen walks into the living room. He tells her what the two boys did, and both try to decide on what kinds of punishment they plan for them. Karen thinks that they should make it something worse than eating at Goofy Gary's, but Pete praises one of their meals, which grosses her out. As part of their efforts to train Liv, Parker arrives in a makeshift safety suit so that he won't get hurt when Liv blasts him with the air cannons. Parker thinks that going to Goofy Gary's and getting beat up by a superhero makes this the best day ever. Suddenly, Joey comes out in his own makeshift safety suit, imitating a fake super-villain who tries to intimidate SkyVolt. Liv blasts Joey too, and he's as enthusiastic about it as Parker. In the meantime, she tries to ask her two brothers (since both are fans of the comic book), why she can't make an impression on the director. At first, Joey tells her that she's doing great, but she's convinced that he's lying because of a slight squeal in his voice. They both reveal that Liv's trying too hard to seem heroic, and Tess not only never wanted to be a superhero but has even tried to get rid of her powers. Uncertain of how to do, she tries to ask them for advice, but he merely suggests "pretending." In response, she blasts him once again, but he lands on the mask that Maddie was trying to make for the homecoming parade. Much later that night (at 2:00 A.M., in fact), Maddie goes out to the back yard to find Liv struggling to put her mask back together. Liv explains what happened, and vowed to fix it. Maddie is surprisingly forgiving and is impressed that her sister was able to get a Hollywood crew to move to their hometown. She decides they should fix the mask together. The next day at the Ridgewood High Pep Rally, everyone is waiting for the mascot to arrive. Liv finally arrives at school dragging Maddie with her in the Porcupine costume, however, due to the work she put in rebuilding the mask, she only had 20 minutes of sleep, which becomes clear when she falls asleep in her mask. As the rest of the kids and faculty are ready to run to the floats, Maddie goes the wrong way, and Liv has to turn her around. Later on at home, Joey and Parker are playing a card game in the kitchen with a stuffed panda bear they won at Goofy Gary's, when they overhear their parents arrive. Rushing to hide their swag, they try to pretend nothing suspicious is going on, when Karen and Pete pretend to be looking for their gift card, inviting their sons to go with them. The parents sing the jingle to Joey, and he admits that they took the card. Karen demands that the two boys work off the debt from the card, and take them to a restaurant that she and Pete want to go to. Pete tries to suggest some greasy spoon that he's interested in, but Karen is grossed out by his suggestion again. At the studio, Liv is about to shoot another scene from Voltage, but before doing so, Gemma wants to make sure she's ready. Liv explains what she was doing wrong regarding her performance, but Gemma wants to know if her costume and harness are secure. Liv is lifted into the air. The director calls for the scene to begin, and a bad guy is trying to capture some woman in an off-white taffeta dress in front of a green screen. That green screen evolves into a helicopter platform at night on top of a nondescript building. SkyVolt stands on the ledge of the building and blasts herself into the air in order to chase a helicopter. She blasts lighting bolts at the chopper in mid-air, struggling to keep it from leaving the vicinity of the building. A warning buzzer beeps from within the chopper as if it is ready to crash far below into the streets. The woman who was being dragged off is removed from the chopper also floating in mid-air. SkyVolt manages to bring her to safety on the helicopter pad but is exhausted from her rescue of this woman. The segment from the show winds up on a TV screen in the Rooney household. The entire Rooney family and Gemma are impressed with the sneak peek of the series and want to watch it again. Karen asks Parker to pass her the remote control for the TV, and he does so with his own air cannons. He tries it again with a bowl of popcorn and knocks it off the table right in front of where Liv is sitting.

Main Cast

 * Dove Cameron as Liv and Maddie Rooney
 * Joey Bragg as Joey Rooney
 * Tenzing Norgay Trainor as Parker Rooney
 * Kali Rocha as Karen Rooney
 * Benjamin King as Pete Rooney

Guest Cast

 * Chloé Wepper as Gemma

Recurring Cast

 * Emmy Buckner as Liv #2
 * Shelby Wulfert as Maddie #2

Trivia

 * It followed Continued-A-Rooney, which also aired on September 13, 2015.
 * As of this episode, Pete and Karen Rooney were married for 20 years and six months.
 * For Kamen Rider fans, Joey is seen wearing a toy version of the Decadriver belt from the 2009 Rider series, Kamen Rider Decade.