At last, here are the synopses of the
Gone Barefoot reality documentary series as they would have aired in the 2015 calendar year.
Notice that for the first time, there is a special episode added at the last of the second season of the calendar year, season 8. This is accounted in part by a late Labor Day.
Season 7
Jan. 4, 2015: "Back Home"
The Barefoots return home from their New Jerusalem show and find there is a lot to do to catch up, and plans to make for the future. Buddy Wayne thanks participants on the latest season of BMN Superfan for helping out with the chores during their absence and congratulated Aubrey Graham for winning the contest; he also updates plans to bring the entire extended clan together in Meadow. Braylor McPatter delivers several awards for the Dixie Rising show; "Best Overall Performance," "Best Command Performance" (turns out Jesus was watching after all), and "Best Breakout Act" for Hambone. At the end of the show, a holler comes over from a few yards away; who could it be - and why?
Jan. 11, 2015: "Extreme Makeover Meadow Edition"
It turns out that the holler came from Popeye's brother Labell, and it was to tell everyone that he, his wife Allene, and their 20(!) children need a new house to replace the series of trailer parks at which they have lived. Needless to day, the project is huge and they need as much help as possible to build it. B.W. and Popeye immediately adjourn to discuss the plans for renovation. Shortly after that, the clan attends Brandy's dance recital at Lena Peacock's school in Meadow; here we meet Hylton Tripp, a man in his mid-20s from Greenville and East Carolina University graduate with a clear down-home lifestyle away from the dance floor.
Jan. 18, 2015: "Brawl Game"
The Barefoot family softball team has a chance to do something it hasn't done in over 30 years - win the local league championship. To clinch the title, it has to beat the Beasley family team, the perennial favorites led by fast-pitching ringer Juanita. The rivalry heats up before the game when Ralph circulates old pictures of female basketball players wearing uniforms reading "BULL B**CHES." A conflicted Annie - Ralph's mom but born a Beasley - clearly sides with Ralph and joins the Blackies' rooting section to cheer on Harvey and his teammates, which causes a major argument in the stands before the game. During it, the benches clear after Juanita hits Harvey with a pitch. However, just two innings later, Harvey gets his revenge with a game-tying home run. Still down two in the last inning, Robert (grandson of distant relative "Rack") has a single and RBI to tie the score. Beth then comes up and hits a fly ball dropped by a nephew of Annie. Two runs score and the Blackies win the title!
Jan. 25, 2015: "The Makeover Begins"
Work on Labell's family's new dwelling begins. Popeye and Harvey waste no time in planning and building the entire project and dozens of family and friends jump on board in the Southern equivalent of a "barn raising." Hambone, ever the tomboy, joins the crew that's otherwise all-male. Meanwhile, Bryson makes his debut playing for the school's flag football team, and Pink and his wife Elinor show off all eight of their children, contrasting their daily lives with those of subsequent generations.
Feb. 8, 2015: "Move That Bus!"
(There was no show the previous week due to Super Bowl XLIX.)
Labell's new dwelling is finally ready! There is a huge celebration that brings the extended Barefoot family together again. B.W. sings and plays guitar, Hambone does an original performance called "Carolina Slappin'," Hambone's friend Bellamy Wood sings a country hit song, teacher Noah Barefoot reads poetry, and cousin Beth serves a huge cake. "This is better than I ever could have imagined," marvels Labell. (The entire episode is done as a tribute to
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which aired on ABC from 2003 to 2012; the episode title has to do with how the finished projects were revealed.)
Feb. 15, 2015: "Meet Our Hidden Families"
Ralph, Harvey, and Hambone reveal that they were husbands and parents in their previous lives, and make trips to see them. Ralph goes to the Batten Farm in Selma to see his wife, Ellender, and their three teenage children. He recounts his ministry trips around the world and teaches the Batten children how to farm using the traditional methods he learned overseas and at home. Harvey, who was a husband, father, and grandfather, sees his wife Rena Stephenson and other relatives at their home in Elevation. Finally, Hambone shares the heartbreak of giving up on having a family after a miscarriage and a stillbirth; when doctors couldn't figure why they occurred, she gave up on having a family of her own. Instead, she threw herself into her work, and spent the last 18 years before the Rapture working for Johnston County Public Schools. There is also footage of the ceremony a few years back at which she received her GED (high-school equivalency degree).
Mar. 1, 2015: "The World Is Waiting"
(There was no show the previous week due to the 87th Academy Awards.)
Brandy and Bunky get the good news: They've been cast for
The Amazing Race, CBS' long-standing reality TV series! As they pack up for the start of the season, Ralph holds a special service to pray for their well-being as they travel and compete. Brandy admits to high expectations for the team: "If we don't win this season, we'll call it a failure." But the rest of the clan is not to be outdone: Jennifer begins work on the second book in the Ella Littlebridge series, Hambone turns Halloween into a friends' night out, and Bryson scores his first touchdown in flag football.
Mar. 8, 2015: "The Blindside"
It started as just another night at the dinner table, until Hambone says, "Tonight, I wish to tell you that I will be leaving this place in just a few months." There is literally a minute's silence, as if someone dear to them had died. Once that ends, B.W. asks pointedly, "So where are you going?" Hambone: "I'm going to live with 'Uncle Bud' [Bud Strickland] and his family. I'm going to live and work at Camp Paradise full time, but if you need me back here, I'll be on call always. I will always be a member of your family and I thank you for all you've done for me." Ralph, her brother, then led a prayer for the last few months of her sister's time at the family farm and for what she will do in the future. Before then, the Barefoot Boys have their first full performance at halftime of a Meadow Indians football home game, while the entire Barefoot Mommas' Club - 24 strong! - have a meeting and photo shoot.
Season 8
Jul. 5, 2015: "One Wrong Turn"
For the moment, the extended Barefoot family set aside their shock over Hambone's big announcement at the end of season 7 to go on their version of the Amish rumspringa - in which they leave the farm to participate in modern activities. Harvey makes his debut as a mixed martial arts performer at Smithfield-Selma High School. Brenda participates in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus at PNC Arena in Raleigh, but first attends "clown college" in Florida. Bobby Ray, Jennifer, and Belinda head for New York City to see the memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks. Finally, Brandy and Bunky's dream appearance on
The Amazing Race comes to an end when they are eliminated after five legs of the 11 that were run. It doesn't help that another team U-turns them, forcing them to complete both detours.
Jul. 12, 2015: "Christmas in July"
Buddy Wayne goes on a "grand Christmas tour" of New York City, the German Alps, and Bethlehem with his wife Brittany Spears and their daughter Lizzie. As a result, Popeye takes over the farm with the help of some of his siblings and cousins; they take over the annual Xmas celebration with the McLamb Madrigals and "Santa" (Popeye himself). After Hambone returns from a U.S. tour with Steve Hickman and the Lierman Brothers, she's given a bobblehead doll owned by Bud's grandson Kenny that contains some advice for her, as stated by the star of Duck Dynasty, Willie Robertson. She then makes the decision to blow up the car B.W. got for Christmas (season 1, episode 8).
Jul. 19, 2015: "A Dumb Butt Gets Lucky"
Before Hambone can destroy Buddy Wayne's Christmas-gift car, she must find it. First, she asks around the farm and Camp Paradise, but no one claims to know where the car is. She then ventures out to seek the car at every barn in the area; after all, she's heard stories of vintage cars that have been found in barns. At the end of the show, she finds it - behind a distant relative's house four blocks from home! Of course, by this point everyone comes back to start the spring planting season and Annie introduces pawpaw trees, which are said to produce fruit much like bananas. Also, Belinda makes a Little Jill Horner doll that visits the dollhouse for "acting lessons."
Jul. 26, 2015: "We Are the Good Pirates"
As a reward for the students at the Overshot school, including Bryson and Belinda, at the end of the year, Popeye organizes a cruise of Mill Pond and a mock pirate attack. The unsuspecting victims are actually Kate Lynn (a distant relative) and other professional actors. After the "invasion," the school brings in Bellamy Wood to perform country songs past and present. Meanwhile, Hambone gets help in planning the Buddy Wayne car blowup from an unlikely source - softball rival Juanita Beasley! As for B.W., he receives news of his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Aug. 2, 2015: "Executive of the Year"
Hambone brings together her immediate family and friends Sammy Bizzell and Bellamy Wood to reveal her plans for the event at which she will blow up Buddy Wayne's car. She will hold a bonfire barbeque and campout for a group of invited guests; at the end, B.W. will be brought in, thinking he is being honored for his work as a TV executive. Meanwhile, B.W., Belinda, Bryson and Amy (cousin of B.W. and Bryson's school crush) go to Bentonville to visit a petting zoo and watch pig races; and the Barefoot Mommas' Club's latest party celebrates the height of British power in the Victorian age of the late-19th century.
Aug. 9, 2015: "Scratch...Golfing"
Buddy Wayne, Bobby Ray, and Jennifer play in the Bud Strickland Family Golf Day in Smithfield, at the invitation of Dina Strickland (B.W.'s aunt and Bud's daughter-in-law). As expected for first-timers, let's say their golf games need a lot of improvement, but in the end everyone had a great time. Meanwhile: Popeye shows yet another talent by creating a portrait of John Noah (his father and the only common ancestor of 10 of the 13 residents), Annie learns how to use the BeDazzler after getting lessons from a leading designer and author, and Hambone leads a tour of her new, very modern guest room in Bud Strickland's house.
Aug. 16, 2015: "Breakin' Down Bone"
As the time approaches for the bonfire BBQ and car-explosion party, Hambone receives shocking news: Camp Paradise is closing down! Bud Strickland explains that, due to the fact that all the necessary re-training has been done and all clients are now running their own subsistence, family-based farms, there is no longer any need for their services. Hambone is weeping as she thinks about herself and other colleagues who have lost their jobs; Bud responds, "Those should be tears of joy. Everyone can take care of themselves now." From tears to turmoil: Buddy Wayne goes to the county athletic department in Smithfield to appeal a decision that made him ineligible to play or coach Meadow's basketball team; it was based on his growing up in nearby Benson, which now has a team of its own. Fortunately, he's able to show paperwork showing he has permanently relocated to the farm, and his place on the team is restored. Finally, it's back to Hambone as she finishes her preparations, as the freshly-killed pig is smoked and the detonation area is selected.
Aug. 23, 2015: "Live Blow-Up Episode"
"Hambone's Big Bonfire BBQ" takes place live from the Camp Paradise set. The pretext of the destruction of Buddy Wayne's gift car is an "ultimate cast reunion" from shows that the Barefoots' in-house TV network has shown over the years. They enjoy food, activities, live music and clips of Hambone's time on the network. About two-thirds of the way through the scheduled 90-minute show, Bunky hits the detonator and BOOM! the 3,500-pound car Buddy Wayne got for Christmas is no more. B.W. then shows up and, after expressing concern about the car no longer being there, he has some huge news: She doesn't have to leave the house after all! Instead, Hambone is offered a new job as the farm's director of global outreach and entertainment. She will have four months off for outreach followup and special shows around the world, and in addition she will have her own guest room to which she can invite younger family members and her friends. The only condition: "You still have to clean the poop and milk Mildred every day," B.W. insists. Despite that, Hambone accepts, and her new life at the farm officially begins. At the end of the show, Hambone sums up, "So redneck logic is right after all!" at which point
Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson makes a surprise cameo. (Hambone had appeared earlier in the calendar year as a special guest on the A&E show.)
Aug. 30, 2015: "Goin' Big"
Highlights of all the family's special events so far are presented with new commentary from the farm residents. They include holiday celebrations, B.W.'s vow renewal ceremony, the New Jerusalem show, and the explosion of the Christmas car.
Oh, and what is that "redneck logic?" Before I answer, I will disclose that I got the contents from, believe it or not, a talking bobblehead doll of
Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson I won at Dave & Buster's. Here is the quote:
If you want to take something away from him, blow it up. He'll be so enamored by the fire that he'll forget all about what he's losing.
