Team-A-Rooney

Team-A-Rooney is the 2nd episode in Season 1 of Liv and Maddie. It received 3.6 total viewers.

Plot
Maddie is named captain of the girls’ basketball team just as the school principal announces he is cutting funding for the program. Determined to change his mind, Maddie voices her concern to the principal, only to realize her team has abandoned her. Frustrated with her lack of leadership skills, Maddie turns to Liv to help her earn the team’s respect. Meanwhile, Parker and Joey are challenged trying to find a bevy of tarantulas that escaped after Parker brought them home from school, unbeknownst to their mom.

Summary
The episode begins with the Rooneys in the morning sitting down to eat breakfast together. Liv happily and excited comes downstairs to eat with the family but does not see her normal chair at the table. Maddie reveals it was broken over Joey's back while he and Parker were wrestling. Karen asks Joey to get Liv a chair. Liv, anxious and excited to be seated, is disappointed when Joey instead gives her a trashcan for her to sit on saying, "Welcome to home, Hollywood."

In the next scene, the girls' basketball team, coached by Pete, is outside, coming back from running a mile. Maddie takes twelve minutes after deciding to run two miles instead of one, Cassie gets a personal best time because she was being chased by a squirrel, and Stains comes back wet after being splashed by a school bus that went over a puddle. Pete then announces that Maddie is the new team captain, the first ever chosen sophomore captain. Maddie expresses her excitement in a confessional while Liv tells the audience (in a confessional) how close Maddie is to her basketball teammates.

As Maddie and the team walk back into the school, they find out from Principal Fickman that he is not funding new uniforms for the team because no one seems to care about girls basketball. They are given the old boys basketball uniforms instead. Maddie tries to stick up for her team but no one backs her up. Fickman still refuses to help the girls out.

Next, Parker tells Joey about how he is taking care of the class pets, tarantulas, for the weekend. Problem is, he let five of them out of the cage and lost them. Joey and Parker come to an understanding that their mother cannot find out about it or she will freak out. Just then, Karen walks through the back door and explains to the boys that Maddie's basketball team is staying over for the weekend for their team retreat, and the boys must be on their best behavior.

Maddie expresses her frustration to Liv about how the team didn't have her back when she tried to stand up to Fickman. Maddie begins to doubt if she is really cut out to be captain. That's where Liv steps in. She explains to Maddie that when she was on "Sing It Loud!," she led her cast as a team and used five steps of leadership. 1, Grab their attention, 2, Get them on the same page, 3, Identify your goal, 4, Lead them into battle and 5, Look great doing it. Liv gives Maddie the idea of showing her team she means business by kicking someone off the team. Liv volunteers to join the team and be really bad at basketball so Maddie can fire her own twin sister, showing her leadership. Maddie agrees with the plan, loving the idea of being able to fire Liv.

The basketball team is in the Rooneys' backyard, starting off their retreat. On the retreat, they will prepare for their tournament in Chicago. Additionally, Maddie gets her teammates team bracelets that say, "got your back." Maddie then announces Liv joining the team, something not everyone is too thrilled about.

Liv and Maddie's plan soon commences when Maddie asks Liv to catch the ball and she refuses. Liv says that the ball is heavy and a boring color. Maddie tells Liv that if she can't handle it then maybe she shouldn't be on the team. Liv dramatically accepts Maddie's decision and prepares to exit. But, to Liv and Maddie's surprise, the team agrees that they shouldn't kick Liv off the team and since she's their new teammate, they have to back her up. Liv is put back on the team.

It is nighttime and the girls' basketball team is sleeping in the living room. Parker and Joey are sneaking around singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," trying to catch the tarantulas. They accidentally wake Maddie who tells them wrecking a girls' sleepover is not cool. Since she's awake, Maddie decides to go get a snack and in the kitchen, she finds Liv. Liv apologizes for their plan backfiring but Maddie looks on the brighter side of it, saying that the team had passion for th



e first time when they stuck up for Liv. Excitedly, Liv exclaims it is now time for step two, which is getting their attention. Before Liv can explain the step, a girl is heard yelling "Tarantula!" and all the girls, including Liv and Maddie, run away leaving Parker and Joey to catch them.

The next day, Maddie is disappointed to see how poorly the team is warming up. She explains that the first thing the opposing team will notice is how they warm up. They'll need to know that they think as one and win as one. Liv then comes out to the girls and brings them together to release their inner warrior.

Karen is going through cabinets and she notices dishes covered in cobwebs. Parker and Joey pretend not to know anything. Karen then asks the boys to help serve lunch to the girls: a very long sub complete with meat and condiments. Parker yells for the girls to come and get it and they all end up attacking Karen and Joey for it.

Pete comes outside in his robe where he sees the girls, realizing it was a two day retreat. The girls decide to show him their new warm ups. The team performs a very energized warm up that Pete says that it's amazing. He even says if Fickman could see them now, he'd never say no.

The scene flips to Ridgewood where Fickman is saying "No!". Maddie tells him that they really need it for the tournament but Fickman ends up coming to the decision that they will not go at all.

The basketball team is rallied in Liv and Maddie's bedroom. Maddie is giving a speech about how they will not let Fickman treat them that way. Maddie shows the team what they are being treated like by having Stains model the boys basketball uniforms they were given. The uniform is too big and very dull. Liv comes in to present the new uniform design to them team. The team loves it so they decide to sell the bracelets they have to the kids at school so they can raise money for the uniforms.

Joey quickly tries to stop Parker as he's about to eat a cricket. Parker tells Joey that to catch a tarantula, you have to eat like one. Joey is convinced so he allows Parker to carry on but the two are stopped by Karen. Finally, Parker tells Karen the truth about the tarantulas. Karen orders the boys to find them immediately. As she turns around to go upstairs, the remaining tarantulas are seen crawling up her back. Joey and Parker decide not to let her know.

Back at Ridgewood, some days later, Liv confronts Principal Fickman and tells him that the girls' basketball team took issues into their own hands. A crowd of students stand by Liv and agree that the girls' basketball team does matter. Liv cues Joey to play some music and then the doors to Liv's left swing open. The basketball team dramatically walks in, dressed in their new uniforms. Lights and smoke around them add effect. Principal Fickman admits that he has a new respect for the team and he decides to allow them to go to the competition. Instead, he's going to cut the yearbook for the year. Maddie thanks Liv for her help. Liv officially quits the basketball team and together Liv and Maddie walk away, arms around each other and the basketball team preceding in front of them.

In the end, Willow confronts Joey at his locker, in a very flirtatious way, and tells him she enjoyed hanging at his place that weekend. Joey is very confused. She tells him she "hearts" him and asks if he "hearts" her back. Joey doesn't respond so Willow takes it as a yes. She yells in the hall that Joey is hers and she will crush anyone who she catches looking at him. Willow leaves and Joey is left frightened.