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Episode 4.11 (Or: "If I Can Make It There, I'll Make It Anywhere: The 100th Episode") - November 8

'Start spreading the news...I'm leaving today...I want to be a part of it... New York, New York!' well, Fear Factor isn't going anywhere, as they celebrate episode #100, but to celebrate, they will be going to The Big Apple. Let's meet the 6 people who are taking that trip with them...

Kelli Bell (Cocoa Beach, FL - Grad Student), is so excited to be there, she's excited to be on the 100th episode, she's just... excited. Whoopie!

Mark Backeris (Pittsburgh, PA - Medical Student) is waiting for this Fear Factor to be bigger and badder. He says to bring it on - but will he be ready for it?

Nicole Dominguez (Silverdale, WA - Gym Manager) says that she wants it more than anyone else. I'm not sure she'll say that when we see what the gross stunt is...

Timothy Zickuhr (Palos Verde, CA - Longshoreman) doesn't want the money as much as he wants to show everyone that he is the craziest man in the world. Well, getting on the show is a start...

Elizabeth Passarelli (Trinidad, CO - Cocktail Server) tells us that good things come in small packages. We'll see what sort of good things she will have packaged up.

Patrick Tracey (Bronx, NY - Fitness Trainer) sees these people as competitors who are invading his turf, so he will be as cocky as he needs to be to defend it and win the money. Well, that's certainly original...

The 6 contestants are standing on a mini-barge as Joe comes over and tells them the usual rules. He welcomes them all to the 100th episode, and as a tribute, the prize money can be raised up to $100,000 - depending on which Capital One Credit Card they select. Well, there's a new way to get a sponsor.

CHALLENGE 1 - TRAM SPOTTING: Another new sponsor could be the Roosevelt Island Tram, which has a cargo net at the bottom. Also at the bottom are a set of flags which need to be released. The 2 quickest men and women will advance to the next stunt, while the other two people can spend their newfound extra time sightseeing.

Mark gets to go first, and he's talking strategy with Joe. Patrick is just talking, and he wants everyone out of his city. Mark's strategy of using only upper body strength isn't working out too well, so he switches to using his feet, but that strategy is implemented too late and he runs out of gas. He drops out after only releasing 5 flags, and that spells trouble.

Patrick has the opportunity to get at least one national foreigner out of his city, and he immediately switches to hands and feet mode. He looks like he's a goner when his feet slip, but he uses his upper body strength to pull himself back up and grab 6 flags.

Tim warned Mark that he better pray that Patrick gets less than 5, because he won't. Maybe the prayer should have been to pray that Patrick gets less than 3, because Tim will. He only gets three, and the wild man makes a very timid entrance as the first person eliminated. He tells the world that we haven't seen the last of him. Maybe, but we'll see the last of him on the show.

It's the women's turn to reduce their numbers by one. Elizabeth is first, and everyone says that she will do better than Tim. Well, there's a back-handed compliment if you've heard one, but she not only does better than Tim, her 6 flags is done in a quicker time than Patrick. She is looking good...

...but Kelli wants 7 flags. Is she going to get it? She says that she is going to use her spiritual psychology to get herself through the stunt. Her grades may not have been that good, as she only gets 4 flags - and apologizes to mom right before falling off of the tram.

Nicole says that she tells Joe she is going to win - and she says that they may as well stop filming the episode to make everyone's job easier. Well, it would certainly make my job easier, but they are going to make her do the stunt anyways. She gets 6, which eliminates Kelli - and all of the women are officially better than wild man Tim. Kelli says that the money would have helped with grad school, but being that she is the first woman gone, she may need to take summer school classes on that psychology thing.

CHALLENGE 2 - THE RAT PACKED: All of the contestants may need to take culinary classes next, as they are all heading to a hotdog vendor's stand for the second stunt. The contestants are all concerned that a city full of roaches and rats will have something nasty waiting for them in the next stunt - except Patrick, who says that those critters will give him bigger muscles.

We'll be testing that theory, as Joe invites them to a hot dog vendor's cart in Times Square. Joe pulls out a rat - freshly imported. But they won't have to eat the rat raw - they get to see Joe stick it in a blender along with specially made rat broth. "'You want onions with that?" Uhhh....no.

The competition will be man vs. man, and woman vs. woman. Whoever chugs the rat drink down first will move to the finals. This is truly a 'rat race'. Heh, heh, heh...

Nicole visualizes it as oatmeal. Elizabeth visualizes it as a protein shake. As the crowd cheers on, we see that...the oatmeal idea works better. Nicole edges out Elizabeth, who gets to use the Chuck Bucket. Elizabeth regrets getting down the chunky hairy gritty rat a little bit too slowly.

Patrick says that the champ is here, as he and Mark get to see Joe blend up a rat especially tailored for them. As Nicole talks trash, the guys chow down, and Mark's hesitation at the beginning costs him. Patrick has successfully gotten another person out of his city as Mark slinks off. Patrick volunteers to eat Mark's portion, to which Joe offers mouthwash instead.

CHALLENGE 3 - LIBERTY'S LABOURS LOST: They get plenty of time to wash off, as they meet up for the final stunt by the Statue of Liberty. The last challenge features a plastic billboard-like structure being elevated in the air by 2 helicopters. The players have to collect all of the flags on the billboard, then drop into the water. The person who does this the quickest will get to play pick-a-card.

Patrick, who doesn't want any woman from outside to be beating him, wins the coin toss and sends Nicole to complete the stunt first. She is very quick, and gets it done in 1:14. That forces Patrick to collect every flag, but he says that he will get it done in under a minute. Well, he fails the stunt in under a minute, as he drops one of the flags that he's supposed to have collected. Since Nicole collected them all, she is the Fear Factor Champion!

But how much does she win? She picks the middle card and wins... $80,000! That's not $100,000, but that's a nice payoff for eating some rat stew.