Episode Recap: Supermobile

The challenge this week is to team up with a partner and create a superhero and their sidekick inspired by a distinctive vehicle. After the contestants hear their partnerships announced and choose their vehicles, they're joined by Season 2 winner Rayce Bird. Everyone's thrilled to hear Rayce's thoughts on their projects, and he wishes them the best and lets them get to work.

But in the shop, optimism fades as Alana can't sculpt the face piece for her character in a way that satisfies her, and Tommy is similarly frustrated with his creative progress. Day one ends and they both realize they'll have to scrap their looks and start fresh, which is exactly what they do on day two, with their partners' help.

Alana is paired with Roy - they're working with a Dodge Charger with flame decals, so she's doing the tall, beautiful superhero, Fire, while Rod does the goblin-esque sidekick, Chaos. Roy advises Alana to make the flames on her character more fluid and alive, and she takes his wisdom and runs with it. Tommy relies on his partner later in the game when his prosthetics and costuming fall apart. She helps him find elegant solutions so that they can keep moving forward.

Rod may also be in trouble, since Ve explicitly tells him that his character, with its bulbous nose and droopy jowls, looks too much like his other work so far. He starts to change it, and as she leaves, she comes back and tells him that it's not enough - he really needs to overhaul the character.

On elimination day, it's Derek's turn to fall behind - he has to save a lot of his work for last looks, and his chin piece keeps slipping down the model's face. The judges notice this, and he and his partner, Sarah, are placed in the bottom. She didn't sculpt enough of an actual character, and though guest judge Kevin Smith loves the insignia they created, the consensus is that their work shows little influence from the motorcycle and sidecar that were the inspiration.

Although Tommy and his partner, Laura, are in the top looks, it's solely due to Laura's glowing green goddess. Tommy's sidekick, a chunky muscle man, is too full of technical errors to pass muster, and bears no resemblance to the armored truck the duo drive. Also in the top are Roy and Alana, whose design points straight to their vehicle of choice. Rounding out the bottom are Rod - who did not implement Ve's advice strongly enough - and his partner, Jason, who covered his muscle man character with a jacket and overpainted his face prosthetic. The judges find the concept weak and - once again - unrelated to their vehicle (a vintage chauffeur-style sedan).

Since Jason's design left them most creatively hungry, the judges decide he must go home, but Kevin Smith softens the blow with humor and kind words. Alana wins the week's challenge with her superhero of flame, and is over the moon about it.