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Fear Factor Episode 405 Original airdate: November 3, 2003

This special all-female edition of Fear Factor put six fearless women to the test! The first stunt definitely relied on girl power. Each girl would hang by their ankles from a helicopter and get dunked repeatedly head first into the lake. The goal was to retrieve as many flags as possible during the dunking. Nicole was up first. She grabbed a bunch of flags on the first dunk, but would she be able to hang onto them and grab more? Then the copter began to spin, and so did Nicole. After her fourth and final dunk, Nicole emerged with an armful of flags. She later admitted, after counting her nine flags, that she hadn't opened her eyes until she was back on the boat and out of the harness! Jennifer, a young wife and mother, was up next and was aiming for 18 flags (!). She seemed to have a big batch, but it was nowhere near 18. Try eight. Catherine was next and brimming with confidence. Her strategy was to loop the flags around her arms to allow her to grab more flags with each dunk. Catherine totaled out at 10, which automatically advanced her to day two. Keirsten strapped in and dunked in next. She emerged with an armful, but dropped some back in the water! Still, she wound up with 10 flags, even to advance. Professional cheerleader, Paula, was pepped up for her shot. Paula got a few on the first dunk, but dropped some while trying to hook them onto her head and arm. Her final dunk netted her a whopping 10 flags. Jennifer, with her eight flags, was out. If Lisa beat nine flags, Nicole would be going home. Initially, Lisa used her ample assets to store flags - but wound up hooking the flags on her arms in later dunks. Her final tally of 9 flags meant that both she and Nicole would advance!

On day two, the girls descended a dark stairway to find Joe waiting. In front of him was a long conveyer belt brimming with nasty things including Blended Cow Snout, Pig Uterus, Cow Spinal Cord and Cow Brain. The girls would have to transfer the items from the moving plates across the room into a container using only their mouths. The three players that transferred the most items (measured in weight) in the allotted time would advance. Fearless Catherine was first and weighed in at the end at 5 pounds! Paula was next to plant her face into platefuls of brains and worms and other such disgusting items. She was a big talker, but had trouble actually landing the mouthfuls into the container. As more and more plates slid by, Paula kept taking baby bites and dropping things along the way. Her final tally was only 3.55 pounds. Lisa bellied up next and started out with a chunk of spinal cord. She turned away from the night crawlers, but dug into the cow spleen. Lisa weighed in at 3.75 pounds, which narrowly edged out Paula. Keirsten faced the gross buffet next and had the potential to send Paula home. Keirsten moved slowly, but was methodical and focused. That focus netted her 5.2 pounds, which advanced her and bounced Paula. Now Nicole only had to get more than 3.75 pounds to send Lisa home. She succeeded, and sent Lisa packing.

The three finalists met up on day three at a loading dock. There before them was a huge, 8-inch wide rotating circle (think hamster ball) suspended over the icky water. As the circle spun faster and faster, the girls would each have to maintain balance. The female who lasted the longest would leave $50,000 richer. Catherine was first and positioned herself inside the wheel. She was allowed to hang on to a rope suspended above her with one hand. The longer she stayed, the faster she spun. After one minute and 29 seconds, Catherine fell. Nicole was next and said she would "be one with the wheel" and get two minutes. she kept repeating "I got it" over and over, and managed to keep at it for two minutes! Catherine was out. Keirsten was last but not least. Would all of her ballet training come in handy? The wind was picking up, but Keirsten was confident. She bobbled after a 10 seconds, but held on. As she approached the two-minute mark, Nicole was trying to psych her out, but it didn't work. Keirsten passed the two-minute mark and jumped triumphantly into the water below!