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Fear Factor Episode 315
Original airdate: January 20, 2003

Six new players strolled confidently to meet Joe dockside on a clear, California morning. Before them, suspended above the chilly water, was their first stunt. They would each have to climb up a hanging ladder, then cross a girder (monkey-bar style) to retrieve a flag and drop in to the water. The ladder, the girder and the whole contraption would be spinning the entire time, making the stunt that much more challenging. Terra, a former Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, was up first. She ascended the ladder slowly while her competitors yelled taunts from the ground below. She reached the girder after 40 seconds, only to lose her footing and her grip and plunge into the water below. Susan was next and had the added incentive of a thousand dollar bonus if she completed the stunt. After a few fumbles on the ladder climb, Susan got to the third rung on the girder before slipping off. Because she beat Terra's distance and time, Susan would advance to day two. If Melissa did the same, she too would advance. Despite getting turned around on the ladder, Melissa slipped and fell, but beat Terra's time and distance. So while neither Melissa or Susan earned their thousand-dollar bonus, both would make it to day two. Would the guys do better?

Atman, a small-but-mighty guy who was dressed to impress, peeled off layers of jewelry and his fuzzy hat to take his perch on the ladder. Gerald and Suleiman (pronounced Soloman), both beefier guys, felt confident that Atman would be an easy out. Boy were they wrong! Atman scurried up the ladder in under 20 seconds. He made crossing the girder look easy and snagged the flag in 44 seconds. By completing the stunt, Atman earned an instant thousand dollars. Gerald, one of those trash-talkers you love to hate, was next. He climbed the ladder in an impressive 10 seconds, but used a strength-depleting technique on the "monkey-bar" part of the stunt. His kept his arms in the pull-up position, rather than hanging, at least halfway across the girder. Finally, he had to let his arms relax and he almost fell! Gerald recovered and completed the stunt in 47 seconds (which Atman was quick to rub in his face). Suleiman was last up for the guys. If he could beat Gerald's time, Gerald would be out. Suleiman was slower up the ladder and seemed to hesitate more while crossing towards the flag. Meanwhile, the beam and ladder continued to spin faster and faster. Somehow, Suleiman hung on, but missed making it to day two by only one second!

For their second stunt, the remaining players arrived at a small farm area bustling with goats, pigs, ducks and even a rooster! As any Fear Factor fan knows...that is not necessarily a good sign. Sure enough, Joe unveiled the "Breakfast of Champions" that each player would be dining on. First, a delicious bowl of silkworm cereal (with bitter brine replacing milk). Of course, any nutritious breakfast contains eggs...just not usually Balut eggs. Balut eggs contain a partially developed duck embryo. Yum! To wash all this down, no orange juice here. Just nice big glass of liquid pig liver! To determine how many helpings of each breakfast item each player would have to eat, the players used a slingshot to hit milk bottles marked with a 1, 2 or 3. Susan was first. She "scored" two Balut eggs, three glasses of pig liver and three scoops of silkworm cereal. Susan started out brave. She gulped down the first glass of thick, vile pig liver, no problem. The first egg got her gagging, but she persevered. It only took one scoop of silkworms, however, to send her puking. Susan was out. "My stomach just hit a wall," she said. Overly confident Gerald was next and landed the maximum number (3) of each item. Gerald sucked down those duck embryos and even seemed to enjoy his bowl of crunchy silkworms. It was the pig liver protein drink that had him holding his nose and fighting to swallow. The others tried desperately to make Gerald puke, but he held on and completed the stunt with only seconds to spare. Atman was next to the plate, so to speak. While he tried to choke down three eggs, three bowls of silkworms and two glasses of liver, Gerald cranked up the trash talk and made distracting gagging noises. With only three minutes to go, Atman couldn't hold breakfast down any longer. He was out! It was up to Melissa to give Gerald a run for the money. She had nine minutes to eat three Balut eggs, one glass of pig liver and two scoops of silkworm/brine cereal. Gulp! She gagged with every bite and Gerald did not stop talking the entire time. None-the-less, Melissa forced down the last bit of pig liver and advanced to day three!

By the final day, Melissa seemed more determined to shut Gerald up than actually win the money. The daunting final stunt was set over 100 feet in the air. Gerald and Melissa would each have to cross a 60-foot plank while it dangled precariously mid-air. Oh, and they'd have to do it on stilts! Not the old-school wooden stilts, but new-fangled, bouncy high-tech ones. Melissa felt that all her years of wearing high heels would be an advantage. She went first and despite some shakiness she made it across in 24 seconds! Gerald was convinced that beating that time would be "a piece of cake." Now it was time to put up or shut up, with $50,000 at stake. Gerald had such a fast-pace across the beam it seemed inevitable that he would lose his balance and plummet toward the ground below. However, Gerald maintained and zipped across in an amazing nine seconds, making him the new Fear Factor champ!