Game Show NewsNet

Episode 4.8 - October 18

CHALLENGE 1: Last week, we had our stunts on the beach. This week, we start out at night, as our 6 contestants see a spinning wheel by the poolside. The wheel moves the contestants over and under the water, and the contestant's head will be submerged under water for a few seconds. They have to unlock themselves from the wheel and get to the Fear Factor Buoy to stop the clock. The 2 men and the 2 women with the slowest times will see their $50,000 dreams spin away. Before we start the clock, let's meet the contestants who want to be buoyed with the money...

Vanessa O'Brien (Boston, MA - Bartender) Isn't pretty or muscular, she's all about the competition.
Rob Garofalo (Saddle Brook, NJ - Systems Administrator) is muscular, but he isn't a muscle head (well, he says that) and the muscles are all show.
Kristin Nash (Orlando, FL - Student) is a pretty blonde, but she insists that
she will prove everyone who said that she wouldn't make it on Fear Factor
wrong - which is pretty much everyone.
Allan Wu (Singapore - Actor/Host. Host?) is tall and lanky, but he came from Singapore to show that you can win the money from anywhere.
Sandra Sargent (Woodland Hills, CA - Sales Associate) is small and cute, but she's also stubborn, and she won't stop until she gets what she wants. She sort of sounds like Veruca Salt, doesn't she?
Eric Morgan (Sneads, FL - Marketing) says to bring on the mind games, since he is the master of it. If he pisses people off, they know where he lives, since his shirt has 'Sneads, FL' written on it.

Vanessa starts off - and her fish hook tattoos on her arms represent Boston. She represents the people who don't like water as well, as she is holding her nose to prevent the water from coming in. Well, it works, but she is wasting time as she gets it done in a 59.4 second time that seems beatable. She thought that the stunt was awesome and her time will be good enough...

...but Sandra says that beating the time is no problem. At the beginning of
the stunt, though, she realizes that the holding the nose strategy is the one
to use - and she is much slower than Vanessa. She is done in 1:46.2 and that time is really beatable.

It's all up to Kristin, who decides not to bother holding her nose. By dealing with it, she is blazing much quicker than even Vanessa, but she can't find the final chain to let her off the wheel. She does find it, and although she finishes slower than Vanessa with her 59.5 seconds, that's more than enough to send Sandra home. Now her father can buy her a golden ticket, an oompa-loompa and a geese that lays golden eggs... oh wait, she fell down the chute. Never mind.

Rob starts it off for the guys. He doesn't know if he can beat Vanessa's time, but he knows that he can be the best time for the guys. The women say that the key to the stunt it to keep working when you are submerged underwater - something that Rob doesn't do. He does complete the stunt, but at 1:02.8, that could spell trouble, as even Joe makes fun of him for being beaten by the girls. He says that he has a fear of the water - and he started to panic. That's not good...

Allan acts in Singapore dramas (actually one based on doctors working with SARS virus related diseases in 2003). He says in Chinese that fear is not a factor for him - and then goes out and proves it as he gets it done in 46 seconds.

It's all down to Eric, who tells Rob to start walking home. Rob gets his walking papers, as Eric represents Sneads with a time of 49.5 seconds. The water is Rob's Waterloo, as once again, a muscle-head makes their way out in the first round.

CHALLENGE 2: Joe says that they are glad that they had fun for the first stunt, but the second stunt is going to suck. He welcomes everyone to the Fear Factor Bar - and the Fear Factor paint ball gun. You have 100 shots to knock down as many of the 57 bottles as you can. The number of bottles left unbroken is the number of shots that you have to drink of blended maggots, stink beetles, worms, and fisheyes. The three people that can drink their shots the fastest will advance to the finals. This is a stunt that you truly would either get drunk from or wish that you were drunk before attempting this stunt.

Eric starts us off - and he leaves 20 bottles, representing 20 shots, which Vanessa notes look more than one ounce. She's been around in bars, hasn't she? Kevin hasn't as he is taking his time with the shots as Vanessa is talking trash. He gets quicker as the time progresses and he gets it all down in 40.8 seconds - right before he runs to the Fear Factor chuck bucket.

Kristin is next - and she's not as good of a shot as Kevin. She leaves 26 bottles. She holds her nose and it takes her 8 seconds to get the first one down - which isn't good. She immediately runs to the bucket after downing the first one and she quits. "It tastes like death. It was awful."

Now it's down to the other 2 people, and Joe tells them that if they both quit, then Eric automatically gets $25,000 and they'll be competing for the other $25,000 tomorrow. Allan wants none of that and will go after the bottles - and he is close, with 21 shots to drink. He gets them all down like an animal - and then he gets to use the bucket.

Vanessa leaves 25, and she thinks that it's a lot of shots. Joe says that all she has to do is to get it down, and it's noted that she's downed a lot of shots. For the second straight time, she holds her nose for a challenge, but she can't do it as she vomits in the middle of it. Her chances are now sleeping with the fishes (and their eyeballs).

CHALLENGE 3: So we have Singapore Vs. Sneads, FL as we get to the final stunt, which features a helicopter on a surfboard. Hang Ten! Whoever can stay on the surfboard the longest wins the money.

Eric goes first, and he hangs on for 40.2 seconds. He's not happy with the time, and although it's decent, it's beatable. Will Allan beat it? He uses a higher center of gravity, and that costs him as he falls into the water in 38.3 seconds. By a matter of seconds, Eric wins and he can send a package of $50,000 to his hometown of Sneads. Then again, based on what he went through to get the money, maybe not.