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Fear Factor Episode 404 Original airdate: November 10, 2003

Joe greeted six new players under cover of darkness, near a HUGE water tank. Each player would be handcuffed and sealed into a water sack. Then, they would each be lifted over the tank and dropped into the freezing water. As they sink to the bottom of the tank, players must free themselves from the cuffs and the bag, plus release a Fear Factor flag on the side of the tank. The four fastest players would advance. Rachel was up first and was not thrilled about going first. First Rachel stripped to her bathing suit, and then her hands were handcuffed in front of her. After she had laid her body down inside the clear plastic sack, Joe handed her the key to the cuffs and put some goggles on her. Once she plunged into the water, the bag was suctioned around her body like plastic wrap. Only after she sunk to the bottom did the pressure equalize, allowing her the chance to unhook the cuffs. But could she hold her breath? Rachel admitted hating the water. She struggled with the cuffs and the zipper on the bag. She had a brief freak out and had to quit after 39 seconds. Rachel was headed home and Aaron was next. He quit in less than 30 seconds, and never even got the cuffs off! Aaron said he didn't have enough air…so he choked and panicked.

Melody, a former competitive swimmer, was next. Since the first two players had quit, the remaining four only had to complete the stunt to advance. Time was not an issue. Melody thrashed around instantly and quit seconds later! In tears, Melody explained how badly it freaked her out. Joe gave the remaining three players a "stay calm" pep talk. Would it help John, a bull rider, finish the stunt? He saddled up and took the plunge. John was totally calm and slowly tried to unlock the cuffs. Over 30 seconds passed and he still couldn't do it. At 40 seconds, he quit. Only two remained…and if they completed the stunt they would compete for $50,000. If only one of them completed it, that person would win $25,000 and the others would return to compete for the remaining $25,000. Stacey wanted that money, but would that be motivation enough? While waiting for the bag to equalize, she quit. Later, she said that she had swallowed water, which took her breath away. And then there was one...Dwayne.

Dwayne got the cuffs off in 20 seconds, and unzipped the bag…he bolted to the surface, then leisurely swam over to the Fear Factor flag. He had done it! His final time of 46 seconds was irrelevant, but the glory was all his! Dwayne knew he had won $25,000 and the others were about to find out they were all coming back to compete for the rest of the cash. Hopefully, day two would be a little better for everyone.

The six players returned to face a box filled with Nightcrawlers, millipedes and hissing cockroaches. While hanging upside down, they would have to sort out the cockroaches and millipedes using only their mouths. This would be a head-to-head competition, with the loser of each round going home. Stacey and Melody competed first. They had 90 seconds to sort as many creepy crawly hissing things as possible. Melody had a technique right off the bat. Stacey, an admitted bug-o-phobe, wasn't as confident. She wound up quitting, while Melody powered through.

Rachel and John were next. Before they started, John pulled out his partial to show how many teeth he's lost riding bulls! Soon they were both face first in worms, roaches and millipedes. Roaches to the left, millipedes to the right…over and over. When time was up, John had 13 roaches and 12 millipedes for a total of 25. Rachel had only five millipedes, but 16 roaches for a total of 21. Rachel was heading home. Dwayne and Aaron faced off next. Dwayne made lots of grunting noises as he wrapped his mouth around bug after bug. Meanwhile, Aaron was blazing on his own stash of stinky, slimy bugs. Aaron had six millipedes and 14 roaches, for a total of 20. Dwayne had a grand total of 25, which meant he was that much closer to claiming the second half of the money!

On the final day, John and Melody were competing for $25,000. Dwayne was hoping to bring his total wins to $50,000. The final stunt involved a spinning quadrant of glass and steel. The T-shaped structure, suspended high about the ground, offered players only a three-inch narrow ledge on which to navigate around the four corners collecting flags. Cowboy John ponied up first. He clung to the Plexiglas wall like you would a rock wall and tried to navigate along the tiny ledge to reach the first flag. Now he had to slide all the way back to the outside ledge, release a flag, round the corner and inch back to the next inside ledge to release a flag…then repeat the whole process, while spinning! John was moving very slow, but was focused on the goal. His final time: 3:58. Melody was confident she could beat that time and predicted a two-minute time. She almost did it with a final time of 2:58. She was a full minute ahead of John. Could Dwayne top that and add to his winnings? He got off to a great start, but missed the first flag and had to backtrack! This gave Melody all kinds of hope! But Dwayne was a true champ and blasted through in less than two minutes!