NBC.com

Fear Factor Episode 210
Original airdate: March 4, 2002

Six confident players strolled the streets of downtown Los Angeles, eager to tackle their first Fear Factor stunt. Two of the three women - Selena and Elizabeth -- had Army backgrounds, which they hoped would give them an advantage. As they stood before a 14-story building, Joe explained the "vertical gauntlet" they would have to complete. Each player would traverse the building along 12-inch-wide support beams. Each beam contained an obstacle. To get up to the roof and capture the Fear Factor flag, they would have to not only cross each beam, avoiding each obstacle, but also climb up to each new level on a shaky chain ladder. And if that didn't suck enoughôyep, they would be rained on the entire time. The four players with the best times would advance.

Selena, a copywriter from Kentucky, was up first and was confident that her Army training would help her zip through this challenge. Level one was no problem - just walking across the first beam and climbing up to level two. Level two involved crawling along the slippery support beam under a narrow overhang, also no problem. However, climbing from level two to level three proved to be too much for Selena and she quit. To make the game more interesting for the two remaining female players, Joe offered the woman with the best time an extra thousand dollars! Money sure motivates! Susan, a first-grade teacher with a deceivingly girly voice was next. Unlike Selena, Susan made it to level three and walked across the teeter-totter obstacle with ease. After that, levels four (with its punching bag) and five (scattered with orange highway cones) were a piece of cake. Susan captured the flag in 10 minutes and 15 seconds. But would she capture the extra grand? Up next, Elizabeth, a Dallas native determined to win. However, Liz was a little slower and seemed to get tired somewhere during the second level crawl. Her 14-minute time didn't net her extra cash, but she still advanced.

Nick was up first for the guys. As a phone repairman, he climbs poles all day and predicted he would complete the challenge in less than four minutes. His backward crawl technique was efficient, and Nick did manage to grab the flag in three minutes and 50 seconds! The incredible thing is that Josiah, who did it for his recently departed grandpa, beat that time with an amazing two-minute, 45-second time! All Nate had to do was beat Nick's time to advance. As Joe and the others gathered on the rooftop, Nate began the gauntlet. Within three minutes and four seconds, he had completed it - knocking Nick out of competition.

A rat-infested, dark underground space met players on day two. Joe revealed the set-up: A Plexiglas box set over a hole in a clear tabletop. Players would stick their head in the box (you know what comes nextô) and while big, gray rats pooped and scratched around them, the players would have to manually sort a batch of white and black rats by color. They would have two minutes to sort as many of the 24 rats as possible. Nate was up first. He got off to a slow start and after sorting 16 rats, ran out of time. His first question was, "Am I bleeding?" and he went to the medic station to find out! While Susan prepared to go next - and complained about the putrid smell - Nate returned with bandages on his neck. Susan sorted all 24 rats, which meant she automatically advanced. Josiah was sure he could beat Nate, and wasn't intimidated by Nate's alleged wounds. In fact, he sorted all 24 rats within the allotted time. All Elizabeth had to do was beat Nate's score to send him packing. When Elizabeth sorted her 17th rat, Nate knew he was out - and peeled off the fake bandages!

The final stunt took place in a dry, desert landscape. Two 18-wheelers met the final three contestants. While the trucks drove in a single-file fashion, players would start on the roof of one big-rig and navigate a narrow, steel "plank" leading them off the back of the truck. After grabbing three Fear Factor flags on the plank, players would have to jump from the back of the first truck onto a platform jutting off the top of the second truck. Wind, speed, balance and agility would all be factors. Elizabeth was up first and waited atop the shaky truck's roof for the horn to sound. She stood up and tried to step out onto the plank, but immediately fell off! Susan, who went second, crawled out on to the plank and quickly captured the flags. After an initial hesitation to make the leap to the other big-rig, Susan went for it. Unfortunately, she couldn't land the jump and slid off the platform and out of the game. All Josiah had to do was complete the stunt to win. He wisely took his time collecting the flags and navigating the plank. He slowly stood up and steadied himself for the leap. A crouch. A jump. He made it!