BMN Superfan - episode 3, season 1

The remaining contestants come to Brier Creek Lake, where 11 "treehouses" are set up above the shoreline.  The object of this opening challenge is simple: hang above the water as long as possible.  However, it's not as easy as it looks; producers move the seats back and forth, spray simulated rain on the seats, and even raise the seats at intervals.  Anna "Lil' Bit" Granthum overcomes the obstacles the best to win the challenge.  Dustin Plunkett injures his right elbow due to falling into the water at an awkward angle, but is checked out and is OK. 

Overnight, Anna leads the entire house in a popular song, something about handshakes, hand slapping, and things like that.  In confessional, Lil' Bit says that the mood of the house is better since Ivey McClelland and Barbie Blank have been eliminated.

The next day, Shandi Finnessey comes back to explain their next challenge: make licensed T-shirts in honor of one of three family members.  Three teams will be formed, two of them with four members and the other with just three.  Once they are formed, one of them will be assigned to Popeye, the second to Bryson, and the third to Jennifer.  Teams have only eight hours to design the shirt and send it to a T-shirt manufacturer, which will make prototypes.  The next day, the shirts will be worn by models at a public fashion show and presented for judging.  After that, not one but two superfans will go home.

As winner of the first challenge,  Lil' Bit was given the right to pick all three teams, and not surprisingly she puts together the team of the only women left, then divides the men among the two other squads.  A random draw determined for whom the shirts would be designed:

• Lil' Bit, Brittany Ramos, Megan Turnipseed, Sgt. Lindsay Hall - Bryson
• Jeff Porter, Dustin, Josh LoMonico, Brendon Bump - Jennifer
• Jake Stubblebine, Mikel de Vries, Frankie Meadows - Popeye

At the start of the challenge, teams see an uploaded video message in which Popeye, Bryson, and Jennifer specify what they are looking for in the finished product.  Also, during the challenge, Ross Bennett (contestant on the NBC series Fashion Star in 2012) comes by to help the teams and give them feedback.

The design and shirt manufacture take place at Research Triangle Park, while the show occurs at the Streets at Southpoint, a shopping mall in Durham.  At the mall show, three different versions are modeled by young aspirants - a standard size, a womens' size, and a youth size.  Here are the resulting designs:

• Bryson's shirt has him in coveralls with a cowboy hat on top, holding a lasso; a barn is in the background.
• Jennifer's shirt is highlighted by meteors (shooting stars) in rainbow colors, dropped onto a green meadow from a sky that also has a half-moon.
• Popeye's shirt has a bunch of stars just about the waist, with a thick line above it, and a picture of a bass boat on the top left chest.  All are in yellow with a blue background.

Popeye, Bryson, and Jennifer all attend; all of them appear pleased by what they see.

On the night of the show, the judging from Bennett, Brandon McLamb, and Matt Rogers comes.  At that point, the verbal battle begins.  Bennett accuses the design team behind Jennifer's shirt of making a "perverse mix of 1960s hippies and 1980s Zubaz."  Brendon tries to turn it into a joke: "Then think of it as a tribute to the barefoot family."  Unfortunately for him, no one laughs.  Jeff adds, "It wasn't supposed to look that bad.  I blame the people at the shop for not reading the instructions carefully."  "That...is...no...excuse," McLamb responds.  Judges also pan the design made for Popeye, saying that there are too many graphical elements.  Mikel acknowledges that the busy design was his idea, but adds, "They asked me to do it because I was the only one who knew how."  Only the girls' team making the shirt for Bryson draws mainly positive reviews.  Bennett praised the design for being crisp, concise, and the proper use of personal symbols.  Of course, that shirt design wins and will be available for sale at the Barefoot family website's online store.  Lil' Bit breaks Brittany's streak of individual wins and now inherits immunity.


The two losing teams then face the judges separately.  Jeff and Brendon continue to squabble over their design.  Eventually, Brendon, the Kansas preacher's son, is sent home largely as punishment for his inane joke.  Also sent home is Mikel the South African model, blamed for his poor design on the Popeye shirt.