Game Show NewsNet

Episode 3.12 - December 1

We are back to a 'normal' Fear Factor - and the normal trash talking. Molinee Martillini wants to beat the boys, Tony Brown calls himself a winner, Dawn Miracle thinks that she has the mental edge, David Spicer isn't worried about the competition, Lindsay Gannott is a tomgirl and Skip Harris, credits his fishing heritage for his eye-have coordination. Yep - a normal Fear Factor.

But as we all know, the stunts are far from normal - like the first one, which is to jump from platform to platform of 2 speeding motorboats which are traveling at more than 30 miles an hour. You have to transfer 6 flags from one boat to the other, and the man and woman who's the slowest is eliminated.

Tony is contestant #1 - and we'll see how much of a winner he really is. He says he doesn't have much competition as he dusts himself off. The trash-talking has already begun and the rest of the contestants are already hoping that he falls off of the boat. They get their wish - he screws up the first jump and into the water he goes.

Maybe you should change the word 'winner' to 'whiner', as he first accuses the boat of cutting off (which it didn't), then accusing Joe of not doing the stunt - and just accusing everyone of screwing him over instead of the real culprit - himself. Tell him, Joe - "Your ego is ruining yourself for millions of people... you jumped, you missed, you fell in the water, you're eliminated - you can't say it's the boat's fault." Tony challenges Joe to do the stunt, which, of course he won't do. Tony, as he walks away, says that Joe owes him $50,000 as Tony is the dumb-ass move of the episode.

Well, with the self-proclaimed whiner gone, Joe is offering $1,000 to the guy who can do it the quickest. David is first - and he gets the stunt completed in 2:07. You would expect fisherman Skip to really move - which he does - but he is very hesitant at the start, and that costs him $1,000. Time of completion - 2:09, and David wins the money. Skip is happy about it, because he knows that Dave needs the money for his kids. A warm, gushy moment on Fear Factor? Blah.

We are done with the warm gushy moment - and on to the reality that a woman will be joining Mr. Whi...I mean Brown. It probably will not be Molinee who's going home - she gets it done in 2:07, which ties David for best time in the event so far. Lindsay is next - and she has a tall order to fill - will she get the best time of everyone? She says that she has gymnastics experience - but she needed to work a little more on the jumping apparatus. Playing the role of Skip is Lindsay, who also gets it done in 2:09 - ouch. She couldn't find one of the flags, and that could be the cause of her going home.

That's still a tough time to beat - and Dawn will need a really good effort to beat it. Dawn is going slower than the first 2 women, and she knows it. She tries to pick up the pace, but she slams into the side of the boat and down she goes. While the eliminated Dawn is sobbing about how she is going to pay for grad school, Molinee and Lindsay rejoice about moving on to the next round.

Will they be rejoicing after the second stunt? Joe wants to celebrate the rejoicing by offering a glass of wine - but the wine wont be made out of grapes - they'll be made out of NIGHTCRAWLERS!!! Just like in wine country, the contestants have to jump in a vat of worms and squeeze worm juice into a glass. Once the juice gets past the line, they have to drink the glass of juice. The 3 people who do this the quickest will advance, and I am wondering why the ASPCA isn't complaining about the insufferable cruelty of the poor worms that have to die in a disgusting fashion.

Molinee doesn't care about the poor worms, as she is stomping up a storm. Her stomach was concerned as she stalled a little, but she gets it done in 1:21. It's a decent time, but her stalling on the drinking makes it a beatable time.

The worst thing that Skip has eaten is the innards of a raw codfish. Ewwwwwww....Skip says that this shouldn't be a problem for him. His problem is stomping on the worms, but he gets the pattern going quickly enough to finish it in 1:15. David ate worms in Louisiana, so he also doesn't think that this will be much of a challenge. Skip is rooting for them all to win - and Skip is actually a nice guy. Well, whatever he said, it worked - Dave gets it done in 1:08.

"Your excellent time of 1:21 isn't so excellent anymore." Way to state the obvious, Joe. The spot is Lindsay's to lose - and she said by seeing everyone's technique, she isn't going to lose. She did get the technique down - by staying in one place, she gets the best of the juice, and she gets the glass filled in 34 seconds, blowing away everyone else. She needed some of it, as she gagged, but she gets it done in 49 seconds, which is good enough to send Molinee home. Any last words? "Thank you for feeding me." Uhhhhh...yeah.

One of the contestants' wallets will be fed with $50,000 - if they can get past the last stunt, which features two big rigs. Standing between the trucks, the contestant has to transfer flags from one side of the truck to the other as they are balancing on an inch and a half ledge on both sides of the truck. Whoever gets the most flags over before falling - or whoever gets it done the quickest, wins the $50,000.

Nice guy Skip is the first person to go. Skip is blazing with 11 flags - but he does drop one, and that could come back to haunt him. All Lindsay the gymnast has to do is to get all 12 flags over to take the lead. She is taking her sweet time, so she better get all of them in order to stick around. She gets them all - and although it's much slower (1:12), she does complete the stunt, and the nice guy (who will probably finish in last), will be finishing without the money.

The good news is that David only needs to be a little quicker - but the bad news is that he can't make a mistake on the transferring of the flags. He does complete it - but was it quick enough? The time was...1:09! By THREE seconds, David wins, as neither fear - nor speed - was a factor, as his total (with the bonus at the beginning) is $51,000.