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Fear Factor Episode 406 Original airdate: November 17, 2003

Six players ready to stare fear in the eye, got wide-eyed at their first stunt. A helicopter hovered over a moving, flatbed truck. Players had to stand on the back of the truck and jump up towards the helicopter, grabbing a ladder, which dangled from the chopper. Then they had to climb up the ladder, releasing flags along the way, and get into the helicopter. As always, fastest times meant advancing to round two. Ryne, weird spelling on purpose, was up first. He leapt up off the truck easily and began his climb to the top. He was done in 39 seconds! The others were a bit intimidated, but Shawn was ready to go. As an ex-Marine, Shawn was no stranger to danger. He was also no stranger to speed and finished the stunt in 29 seconds. The pressure was on Land. He would have to at least beat Ryne's time to advance. As the wind whipped Land and the ladder around, Land struggled with the climb and the flags. However, he was in the chopper in 37 seconds! Ryne was headed home.

Up first for the girls was Kristina. She grabbed the ladder with no problem, but had trouble with the first flag. The rest, however, was smooth sailing and Kristina was done in 40 seconds. Would Kristina's trouble on the first flag give the other girls the chance to beat her time? Monica definitely thought so. But she was wrong. Monica was slower and finished in 48 seconds, which meant Kristina was definitely on to day two. Julie was next. She grabbed the ladder, but failed to get her feet on the ladder and wound up quitting only 15 seconds into the stunt.

On day two, Joe wrangled the players at a desolate desert location to unveil their Fear Factor delicacy. Three large containers contained the following: Blended Cow Tongues & Pig's Feet; Super Worms; Rotting Fish Parts. Joe called the most disgusting smell in Fear Factor history. Using only their faces, players had to move the "slop" around to reveal numbers at the bottom of each container. Those numbers were the combination to locks holding chains around each player. Once they freed themselves, they had to retrieve a pig's foot and drop in a nearby bucket. The three players with the fastest times would advance. Kristina was face down in slop first. With the chain firmly in place around her, she approached the rotting fish guts first. The numbers unlocked the first lock. Amidst the super worms, she found the next set of numbers. Finally, after smashing her head around blended cow tongue she found the last set of numbers and freed herself from the last lock. Then she grabbed a pig's foot in her mouth and landed it in the bucket. Kristina's final time was 3:10. Monica was next and was shooting for two and a half minutes. Kristina's strategy was to yell out numbers while Monica was trying to remember the combinations. On the third lock, she had to go back and double-check the number, which slowed her way down. Monica almost gave up, but completed the stunt in a disappointing 5:07. If one of the guys totally screwed up, Monica could still make it to the finals. Shawn took FOREVER on the very first lock. He ate up almost four minutes trying to get the numbers to line up. In fact, he surpassed Monica's time, which landed her in the finals! With a final time of six minutes and 39 seconds, Shawn was not happy. Land, however, was thrilled. He was quick with the first lock, quicker with the second and blasted through the third. Land's final time was 2:17 - giving him bragging rights and a spot in the finals. Shawn was out.

Day three. $50,000 at stake. The three players had to pull a fast one to win. A fast and furious one, to be exact. While a semi-truck sped along a desolate airstrip, players would have to navigate their sports car under the trailer, back and forth as many times as possible. Monica was ecstatic to go first. She approached the speeding semi and slid under tentatively. She made through to the other side and slowed down to move around the truck and do it again. She managed the maneuver six times, increasing speed each time. On the 7th attempt, with road and time running out, she got a little cocky and spun out. Kristina would have to beat six successful passes in a little over a mile. Kristina seemed quicker on the first few passes, but clipped the semi's tire on the third. She managed to keep it together and complete 8 total, in one minute forty-five seconds. Monica was out and Land was next up. Land thought maybe his horrible driving record would finally be an advantage! He made the mistake of hanging way back from the semi, which killed his time. He was quickly running out of road, with only 5 passes. Kristina had won!