Game Show NewsNet

Episode 3.11 - November 25

They say that Fear Factor can be fun for the whole family. In essence, that's what it is, as we have parents and kids of all genders and combinations - Michael (ex-marine for 22 years) and Lauren (no last names) are from Whitehall, Ohio. Dad says they are the team to beat since he install the marines into her kids. Kevan and Dakota are the only all-male group - and Kevan the dad is full of trash talking. In the Stephanie (mom) and Jake (kid) combo - they say that nothing is going to stop them. Tess (mom) and Morgan (daughter) say that Morgan is the smart one of the group - but they are a great team.

We will see very quickly how much of a team these people are in the first stunt - there are 3 rafts being carried by a motorboat. The kid has to bring a flag with him and jump from raft to raft to the adult, who must, in turn, jump back up to the kids raft. The slowest adult/parent combo will be getting into their first family argument off of the show.

Michael and Lauren start first - Lauren says that dad teaches her discipline from the Marines. Joe - "I feel sorry for your first boyfriend." Both adults and kids are talking smack about the adults - and the adults are talking about the kids. Tess - "I'll kick (Morgan) in the water if it will improve our time," adding that Michael will be the first adult to choke. No he won't, but his jumping from raft to raft sends Lauren into the water. They did transfer the flag before she fell, so the fall doesn't count as he and Lauren complete the stunt. The time was a little slow (28 seconds) but at least they completed the stunt.

Dakota, who said they would suck, now says that they will do better anyways. This is the kid that we're talking about - but it's not his turn to go - it's Tess and Morgan's turn. They go at it back and forth, and after Morgan says that she wants to take the inflatable gloves and hit her, mom says that she's turned into the bad mom in 30 seconds.

We continue with the Dakota show as he says that he goes out with 15-17 year old girls - meanwhile, he's only 11. He yells at Morgan 'good-bye' and says that he knows what will happen. No he doesn't - Tess and Morgan fly through it and finish it in 23 seconds - which puts them in first. "It doesn't take a Marine," says Tess, which gets the Marine to stare at him.

But there is one thing that they all have in common - they all want Dakota to fall. Dakota tries to rap in front of Joe, and Joe hopes that the Fear Factor skills are better than his rapping skills. Stephanie - "It doesn't surprise me that Kevan is a weekend dad." Parents can be so cruel...

Dakota gets to the end of the raft and gives dad the flag - and then dad promptly throws the kid off of the raft. Nice. But he does finish it in 25.7 seconds - which puts the Marine and his daughter in jeopardy.

Stephanie and Jake can complete the deal and send the Marine home. Jake isn't afraid of the water - or girls - but he's scared of his sister. He should have been more scared of the event, which was a huge mess. First, Jake gets his foot caught on the rope and then he slides under. She thinks that he's caught under the raft, which breaks her concentration. She bounces around the rafts, but she's distracted and she winds up falling off without completing the stunt. Jake winds up ok, but they get themselves knocked out of the game. It does have it's upside, though, according to Jake, "I don't have to hear Dakota ever again."

Tess/Morgan and Michael/Lauren have to, as they all go to the next stunt. Morgan says that she can eat mom's cooking, so she can handle anything. Joe says that in this stunt, no one will be eliminated - and they are playing instead for a 7 day trip to the Caribbean (Curacao, specifically) if they win. Nice. To win the trip, they have to crawl through a tunnel of lard and pig parts. Not so nice now, eh?

The kid gets to carry a cow tongue, slosh through the tunnel, and hand it to their parent, who has to slosh through the other side of the tunnel and drop the tongue in a bucket. Whoever can get 7 tongues through the fastest gets to go on the trip.

Morgan and Tess start - and the mom may be wishing that she got knocked off of the show. They are moving very very slow, while Kevin and Dakota are talking strategy. They get it done in 2:19, which Joe says is very fast. I doubt that, but what did save time was Tess throwing it from far away into the bucket. Will that strategy come back to give them the trip?

Michael and Lauren are next - and while Joe is yelling at them to move faster, Lauren is muttering that she'd like to see Joe do this. Heh. He doesn't have to - but dad needed to go faster - he didn't throw it into the bucket and they get stopped after only getting 5 pig tongues in the bucket.

Dakota can talk all the way to Curacao if their strategy pays off. Dakota gives a rap about how Jake is a fake. How real is Dakota? The jury is still out, but Kevan's strategy is sound - he lies on his back and uses momentum to move him through the tunnel. They complete it in 1:51 and the weekend dad has a whole week to spend with his kid. Dakota may take his 15 year old girlfriend. And no, I don't want to hear a victory rap about it.

We are up to stunt #3 - and someone will be having a losing rap. The kids will be cleaning up - well not really - they have to take a shower in syrup and then stick their head in a tank of red worms. The adults have to clean them off, put them in a tank, then transfer the worms from the tank to a scale with their mouth. Yummy. The 2 families with the most amount of worms advance to the last day.

Michael and Lauren start it off - and Michael says that he has something to prove. He has a lot to prove, because his technique is awful. He is not getting a lot of worms off of her, and after 2 minutes, they have a measly 6.5 ounces. Rapping Dakota is next, and Joe calls Kevan a human anteater. That would sound like an advancement for Kevan - and it is, as Tess says "Wow". They have 1 pound 12 ounces, and we get to hear another rap.

"This is a little experiment - let's what happens when you mix worms with mommy's saliva," says Joe, as Tess and Morgan play some Fear Factor science. Morgan gets the technique down as a visibly upset Lauren looks on. A worm gets in mom's mouth, and her gag reflex causes her to quit, with 5 second left. When she's done gagging with the worms, Tess will be celebrating as they get 1 pound, one ounce. Lauren and Michael are sent packing. "At least I don't have to see Dakota anymore - his rap just sucked." Making friends and influencing people...

Its the girls vs. boys as we go to the final stunt - they have to run through a 100 foot tube obstacle course - 100 feet in the air. First one of the people in the tube have to do it then jump out of the tube and swim to a platform, releasing a flag. Then the other teammate has to do the same thing. Whoever gets through the quickest - or the furthest - wins the cash.

Dakota and Kevan are first - and we get to hear another rap. Tess tells Morgan to make sure that she wipes her hands before hitting on the plastic - because they will be sweaty. Meanwhile, Kevan tells Dakota to swing in one good arc and to stay firm while the women are doing their own version of pound. Who's strategy will be better?

The men, to be blunt, are flying - they get it through in 2:21, and the women are visibly concerned, if not shaken. The women pretty much need to be perfect. Morgan misses the trapeze, and it costs her precious time to get through - but she makes it up by swimming to the flag faster than Dakota, which gives mom some time. Mom fumbles on the swinging rope, but she recovers to actually beat Kevan's time on the course. The women finish the stunt in 2:11 - which gives them the win and the $50,000 - and thankfully, no more rapping.