Game Show NewsNet

Episode 3.9 - November 11

Is everyone ready for the cash? They say they are, so we jump right in, as Joe tells everyone that they will be handcuffed and placed in a sack. You will then be dropped into a swimming pool - and you have to uncuff yourself and get out. The man and the woman who is the slowest on getting out and grabbing a Fear Factor flag from the pool (which stops the clock), will be brown bagging it instead of body bagging it.

Rachel Arnold goes first - and she admits that she is not good at holding her breath. She says that she, as a skiboarder, lives in her car - and if she wins the money, she will buy some land so that she will sleep in the car in the land that she parks her car in. Oooooooook. If she wins $50,000, it will be on snowboarding, because although she gets out of the cuffs, she can't get out of the bag and calls it quits. "Oh man," says Joe, "this is going to be tough."

The next contestant, Aaron Marino, is a personal bodybuilder. We all know how good body builders do at this... "The last time I did this, it took me a little longer than I expected." This time around, it takes him a lot longer than expected, as Aaron, who used to have asthma, also quits. "I did not expect that," says Joe, and we may have another Contestant Killer stunt.

"I've always been wet when I'm in handcuffs, so I'm used to it," says Melody Czarnecki. Nice. Joe tells everyone that since 2 people have been eliminated, all you need to do is to complete the stunt. Make it 3 people eliminated - Melody fights the bag and the bag wins. She didn't wait long enough for the bag to equalize - and she hopes that everyone fails so that she can come back.

"If anyone can stay calm, a guy that should ride 70 bulls a year should be calm." says Joe. "Cowboy Up," says John Short. "You have just been eliminated," says me. John waits long - maybe too long - for the bag to equalize, and he runs out of air. "Cowboy Up", by the way, means that you can summon up a little more strength when you run out of will power (see Cowboy U). See, you can learn something here - Unfortunately for Josh, the Cowboys lost a few games this year - and so did he.

With 2 people left, Joe reminds everyone that if they get both through, then they are the only people who compete for $50,000. If only one of them gets through, then they win $25,000 ON THE SPOT. Stacey Storey, who's from Alaska, should be used to the water - but she inhaled a bunch of water while down there, and that's not going to do you any good. It didn't do her any good - she quit.

The good news for the other 5 people is that they come back. The better news for Dwayne Thompson is that if he completes this, he wins $25,000. He's doing this for his unborn son, Todd. He gets out of the cuffs, and unzips the bag. When he gets to the surface, he pumps his fist - and does a backstroke to the flag. He picks it off - and that's worth $25,000. "Now that's how it's done!" yells Joe, as Dwayne is at least $25,000 richer.

He's not done, though - Dwayne wants the other $25,000 - while everyone else has Dwayne on their mind. They better have something else on their mind - nightcrawlers, millipedes, and hissing cockroaches. You have to sort them out and place them into boxes - with your mouths. Oh by the way, you also have to do this upside down.

This is done in contestant vs. contestant format - whoever sorts the least amount from the 2 goes home. In the first heat, Melody goes up against Stacy, who has a big problem putting bugs in her mouth. Sure enough, Melody is dragging bug after bug after bug, and Stacey, who complains that she can't reach the bugs, quits. Joe calls Stacey a big chicken and makes clucking noises as she leaves.

Next up - Rachel Vs. John. John shows us his advantage - he has some false teeth thanks to riding the bulls for too long. "It tasted like the nastiest Cajun food you had to eat," says the cowboy, but he does Cowboy up with 25 bugs (vs. Rachel's 21), which means that he sends Rachel on her little pony and sends her off.

In the last heat, we see Dwayne Vs. Aaron. Dwayne has already won $25,000 - and he will have a shot at $25,000 more, as he gets $1,000 a bug - for 25. Aaron only gets 20, so he leaves and the field of 6 gets cut to 3.

"There's no way I'm going to let this negative cowboy and this motorized Barbie doll take my $25,000." That comes from Dwayne - and he can back it up if he can get the flags the quickest on a rotating vertical board. There is a 3 inch ledge to walk on as you rotate around the vertical ledges to grab the 8 flags.

John says that with the bull-riding experience, this shouldn't be a problem. Of course, he said the same thing on the first stunt, and apparently they don't do bull riding 100 feet in the sky. John takes his sweet time, and even Melody is making fun of him. "Dan Hicks would be angry at you!" He gets it done in 3:58, and barring both of the other competitors falling off like a bull, he is Cowboy Done.

Melody wants to make hamburger out of that time. She does get it done faster - a while minute faster in 2:58. "Not only did I lose, I got showed up by a girl" says John, who is Cowboy Gone.

Will Dwayne do the same to Melody? If he does, he wins the other $25,000 - for $50,000 total. He wants the title of Fear Factor champion, and despite Melody yelling, "You already have money, go home!", he is progressing nicely - until he misses a flag. Joe yells at him to get it - and he does - and now he has to blaze. Despite the screw-up, he gets back on track, and he gets the last flag in a time of...1:50.

Fear was not a factor for Dwayne, but Joe was, since without him, Dwayne would have blazed right past the flag and would have lost to Melody. Dwayne wins $50,000 - but he needs to give Joe a chunk of the second installment of $25,000 - or at least take him out for a nice dinner.