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Fear Factor Episode 307
Original airdate: November 5, 2002
Special 90-minute episode!


The six players arrived under flashing fire engine lights to a fire tower in Santa Fe Springs, California. The training tower, used by the SFSFD, would be engulfed in flames for the first Fear Factor stunt. After putting on the required, heavy firefighter uniform and oxygen tank, players would climb up a long truck ladder to the fourth floor of the tower. Once they entered the fiery building, their time would begin. They'd have to first locate the fire hose, then follow it to the fire location. After putting out the blaze (burning upwards of 2,000 degrees!), each player would have to brave the thick, dark smoke to locate a rescue dummy then drag the dummy up and out to safety. Once the body landed in the rescue basket, the players' final time would be calculated. Crystal was up first and hit her first roadblock when she couldn't find the fire hose. The fire hose was down a flight of stairs from the level players first entered onôwhich led to delay and confusion among all the players. However, once she found the hose, Crystal had no trouble following it to the room containing the fire. She put out the fire quickly, but had trouble finding the dummy - and her oxygen was running dangerously low. If her oxygen ran out, Crystal would be eliminated. Finally, in the dark smoky room, Crystal grabbed the dummy and hauled it outside to safety. Her final time was four minutes and 30 seconds. Winded and exhausted, Crystal was just happy to have completed the stunt. The others had no idea what they were in for. If either Cherie or Shannon beat Crystal's time, she was headed for the Walk of Shame. Cherie suited up and made the steep climb up to the tower. As Joe said, it was time for the horse trainer/bull rider to "cowgirl up." Unlike Crystal, Cherie found the hose quickly - but lost her flashlight when she stopped to put out the fire. This made finding the rescue dummy a little more difficult. However, once she did find the dummy, Cherie jammed out of the building and beat Crystal's time by 97 seconds. Would Shannon send Crystal home? Shannon got in, got the hose and extinguished the fire in less than two minutes. However, finding the dummy started to eat up her time. She finally found it and "rescued" it, completing the stunt in two minutes and 52 seconds! Crystal was out.

Chris was up first for the guys. Obviously the stunt was more difficult than anyone expected, and Chris seemed to prove that point. He found the hose quickly; however, finding the rescue dummy was a seemingly impossible task. As precious seconds and precious oxygen were consumed, Chris wandered aimlessly through the tower desperately searching. Up and down the steps Chris went. Back and forth in the thick smoke. Soon his oxygen alerts started to beepôand Chris was eliminated. Would Lorenzo do any better? He started out strong and confident. Lorenzo found the fire hose and extinguished the blaze. However, once again, finding the rescue dummy proved to be the real challenge. And once again, the oxygen alerts started to beep. Lorenzo was out. All Aaron had to do was complete the stunt without running out of oxygen and he would advance. Aaron - the one guy that the two remaining women did not see as a threat - was next. He surprised the girls by doing what the other two guys could not do - finding the dummy and finishing the stunt. He also earned an extra thousand dollars for being the only guy to complete the stunt.

Day two was creepy from the get-go. Players arrived in a dark, wooded area where Joe unveiled a shallow grave. The remaining three would each have to climb into the grave, where they would then be covered in 3,000 pinching, biting, poisonous scorpions. But that's not allôwhile they are covered in these notoriously heinous creatures, each player would have to maneuver a joystick to grab scorpions with a robotic arm and transfer them into an adjoining pit. The two players who transferred the most scorpions advanced to the final. Aaron was up first and showed the girls just how tough he was. While the girls were completely psyching themselves out, Aaron hopped into the grave and let the scorpions cover him from head to toe. While they bit and pinched, Aaron used the robotic arm to transfer 15 scorpions in the allotted time of three minutes. Once Aaron was out of the grave and returned from seeing the medic, he made sure to show the girls his numerous sting marks - and to describe his tingling, numb lips, a common reaction to scorpion bites. Tough girl Shannon was next, but wasn't looking so tough anymore. She climbed in the pit wearing only workout shorts and a sports bra. The closer she got to being covered in scorpions, the less she actually wanted to do it. She tried to psych herself up, but the second the first batch of scorpions touched her bare skin she began screaming. And she didn't start. She tried to remain calm for the first thirty seconds of the stunt - during which time players were not allowed to move. But before the thirty seconds were up, Shannon was screaming to get out. Shaking, crying and yelling, Shannon begged the wranglers to get the scorpions off of her quicker. Finally, she emerged from the grave - and walked away from her chance at the money. Having witnessed Shannon's freak out, Cherie was even more hesitant to try the stunt. Now that Shannon was out, all Cherie had to do was complete the stunt. She didn't even have to transfer one scorpion with the robotic arm. Joe tried to motivate Cherie with thoughts of her kids and the challenges of bull riding; but Cherie was getting sick to her stomach just thinking about it. She finally talked herself into getting into the pit, but, like Shannon, it only took one batch of scorpions for her to quit. Since both the girls completely freaked out, Aaron collected another $25,000 to go with his one thousand from day one. The grand prize was reduced to $25,000 and all three players returned for day three.

Sufficiently humbled, players had a new perspective on the final stunt. On a clear, breezy day, the players arrived at an oil field to see what fate awaited. Suspended over eight-stories above the ground was a double-sided climbing wall. Each player would climb the wall while it turned end over end in mid-air. With each new "flip", the wall would turn faster and faster. The player who stayed on the wall the longest, would win the $25,000 dollar prize. Aaron was first and proved to be quick on his feet. Up one side, he perched himself atop the edge while the wall got vertical. Then he scurried down the other side and repeated the process. Then the wall spun faster, forcing Aaron to pick up the pace. On about the fourth rotation, Aaron didn't quite make it to the top and had to hang on to the footholds and hope for the best. He fell with a final time of one minute and five seconds. Shannon was next and employed Aaron's up one side, down the other technique. As the wall spun faster, Shannon hung on, but fell three seconds short of beating Aaron's time. Now Cherie had a real chance at claiming some cash. She clung to that wall two seconds longer than Aaron, and walked way with some scrapes and $25,000 dollars!