Game Show NewsNet

Episode 3.18 - January 26

We are down to 5 couples - and by the end of the show... none of them will be eliminated. Well, that's nice, so what's the purpose of this show? Well, let's play along and find out.

The first stunt of this uneventful Fear Factor takes place in a carnival setting - but not everything is festive. The stunt pits the couples against a dunk tank. One of the people will be throwing balls, the other person will be sitting on a ledge, getting ready to be dropped in a vat of cow parts. Somewhere in those cow parts (which include brains, intestines, spleens and skin) are 5 cows tails. The person in the tank has to give the other person the tails (using their mouth, naturally) and the team that does the the quickest will win a trip to Pamplona, Spain, where they can see cow parts - but in action at the Running of the Bulls.

The first couple of the night are Jim and Melissa, but the first bickering Bickersons go to (3 guesses here, and you don't need the first two). Yep, Adam and Meg are once again whining at each other, as Meg refuses to be the person sitting on the dunk tank. Adam is convinced that Meg won't be able to hit the target that would drop him down, but since no onw is getting eliminated in this stunt anyway, does this really matter? It matters to Jim, who gets Melissa into the tank on the second ball and they complete the stunt in 1:55.

Next up are Jackson and Monica - and Monica takes some Meg pills and also refuses to go into the tank. Jackson relents and he goes in the tank - but he has nothing to worry about because Monica can't hit a target to save her life. After time runs out on them, Jackson tells Monica to stop throwing, because it wasn't worth it. Joe Rogan, who wants to see Jackson fall into the dunk tank, runs over to the target and hits it with his bare hands, but Jaskon wants no part of the cow slop and holds on to the top of the cage, effectively stopping him from going into the tank. I can't say I blame him. The fact that Monica couldn't hit the target gives Adam even more fuel to go after Meg with as he tries to convince Meg to take the cow like a ma...er, I mean woman.

While we have the interlude of Adam and Meg STILL sniping at each other, Todd and Rachel go next. Todd hits the target on try #3 and Rachel moves a little quicker than Melissa did. A little quicker was quick enough, as they finish the stunt in 1:50, which puts them in the lead. How do you celebrate? You share a cow kiss! Mmmmmmmmmmmyummy.

Adam and Meg are now up - and Meg FINALLY convinces Adam to sit in the dunk tank. As he is sitting there, Meg throws balls at him - and she gets him in the second try. With the man in the tank moving much quicker than either of the ladies, this could actually be the correct strategy to do - and it very well could be, as Adam and Meg are your new time leaders with 1:48.

Could Meghan and James (who still haven't won anything in this show) pull it out? They also use the 'girl throwing at the target' strategy, but that fails miserably as it takes Meghan down to her last ball to hit the target for James. At that point, it's too little, too late as James only gets 2 cow's tails before time runs out. Adam and Meg win again and get another prize in their list of goodies.

But how many of those goodies will they be able to keep? That's the question that they must agonizingly ask themselves as Joe Rogan provides another little twist in the next stunt - no new prizes are up for grabs, but the winning team gets to take anything they want from the any of the losing teams! Let's do a quick recap as to who has picked up what so far - Adam and Meg - a pair of Jeeps, an African Safari , and a trip to Spain (that's enough right there for a TPIR Showcase).

Monica and Jackson - A $25,000 Capitol One credit card
Todd/Rachel and Jim/Melissa - Nothing to steal, but they each have at least $10,000 in cash
Meghan/James - All they have is the Wheel of Fortune Ceramic Dalmation door prize.

Here's how this stunt works - The man is dangling by their ankles out of a moving helicopter. He will be holding on to the woman's ankles as she tries to grab as many flags as possible. The team that grabs the most amount of flags (or does so in the quickest time as they swim to a Fear Factor platform), gets to play the Grinch.

Monica and Jackson start off - and they make their intentions known that if they win, they are taking the jeeps, because, according to Monica, 'I hate Adam'. Well, that goes along as smoothly as an unclawed kitten in a silk nightgown, but Adam and Meg won't have to worry much about them, as they only get a feeble 3 flags. What makes it worse is that Monica swam the wrong way, so that anyone that gets three flags is a shoo-in to beat their time of 40.6 seconds.

That should be so feeble that even Meghan and James could beat it...but they can't and the best that they do is tie with 3 flags. In addition to that, Meghan, like Monica, also swims the wrong way - but she corrects herself a little quicker and they actually do beat the 40.6 secnds -barely - with a little bit less feeble 37.1 seconds. Would Todd and Rachel add to the air of feebility? Well, sort of...they do take the lead with 4 flags, but Rachel, who apparently was taking slow swim lessons, completes her jaunty swim in 57.7 seconds.

Adam and Meg can put all of the talk about stealing wtheir wheels to rest as long as they come up with a good flag capture and time. They don't, as they only get 3 flags, which makes the time irrelevant. Say bye-bye to the jeeps...

But who will be saying hello to them? Will it be Todd and Rachel...or Jim and Melissa, who are the final couple to go? They start off the competition, and they also wind up with 4 flags, so it all comes down to the time. Melissa's swim time was....under 40 seconds, which blows away the 57.7 mark set earlier. They win the chance to steal a prize, and of course, they take the Jeep Wrangtlers, which causes Meg to hate the rest of the teams even more.

What's going to add to the lack-of-love fest? Less love, as two more teams will be shown the door on the next episode - and no, not the door of the Jeep Wranglers, either.