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Fear Factor Episode 412 Original airdate: January 19, 2004

The couple competition continued, first with a reward stunt then with an elimination stunt. The remaining 7 couples met Joe at a large water tank late at night to witness their next stunt. They were all relieved to learn that this would not be an elimination stunt. Instead, the couple completing the stunt in the fastest time would win his and her Jeep Wrangler Xs! For the stunt, the couples each had one ankle chained to an underwater platform. They would sink into the water and have to unlock the chain using one of several keys available. After freeing themselves, they would have to resurface and swim over to a nearby buoy. Time ended once both members of each team reached the buoy. Sounds simple, but it proved to be quite a challenge.

Jim and Melissa were up first and determined to maintain their winning streak from the previous endurance stunt. Their main goal, however, was to prevent Adam and Meg from winning! Jim and Melissa took deep breaths and took the plunge. They each worked the locks on their ankle chains, trying both keys before finally releasing themselves. Like synchronized swimmers, they surfaced at the same time, swam to the buoy and ended the stunt in33.9 seconds. They made it look so easy. Gina and Tommie were next and Gina didn't seem too confident. Tommie, on the other hand, was thrilled to do another water stunt. Once underwater, Tommie was done quickly and swam up to the buoy while Gina continued to struggle. At one point, Gina tried to swim up, but hadn't completely undone the lock from her ankle. Safety divers released Gina, and eliminated Tommie and Gina from their chance at new Jeep Wranglers. David and Simone were next. Simone admitted that she had a great fear of being trapped in water. Seconds after the couple submerged, Simone signaled the safety divers to releaser her from her ankle strap. No Jeeps for David and Simone!

Jackson and Monica shared Jim and Melissa's desire to keep Adam and Meg from winning any Jeeps - or anything else. They each worked quickly to free themselves. With no problems or delays, they reached the buoy with a final time of 26.1 seconds! Jackson and Monica were that much closer to winning new Jeeps! Melissa had inadvertently helped them by telling them to expect a lot of swaying underwater. But could Adam and Meg still pull out a win? They knew the other players were not in their corner. Meg almost lost the key underwater, but recovered. Adam emerged first, but both reached the buoy in 24.1 seconds. There was no cheering from the other couples. Silence. Only the two remaining couples could take the Jeeps away from Adam and Meg. Meghan and James made the first attempt - as the couples cheered them on, just to spite Adam and Meg. After a little good luck kiss on the platform, Meghan and James sunk below the surface. Meghan drifted a lot, but was first to free herself. James, however, was struggling and safety divers had to step in! Only Todd and Rachael remained…and everyone but Adam and Meg was rooting for them to win. They gave it their best shot. They released early, swam to the surface and slammed that buoy. Rachael had a little delay when she forgot to completely remove the lock. That minor snafu ate up precious seconds and kept Todd and Rachael from stealing the Jeeps from Adam and Meg. While Adam and Meg celebrated, the other couples expressed how irritated they were by the constantly bickering duo.

The next day was an elimination stunt and it was as disgusting as the gross stunts get on this show. A large aquarium-style tank was located on a raised platform. A trough attached to the tank led to a similar tank on the main floor below. The top tank was filled with cow hearts, floating in a mixture of blended roach, cow and pig parts. One can only imagine the smell. While one partner fished out hearts at the top, the tank would begin draining to the tank below. One by one, the cow hearts would be dumped into the trough, sailing down into the lower tank. The partner at the bottom would then retrieve the heart from his or her rapidly filling tank and dump into a nearby bucket. The couple that transferred 7 pig hearts from tank, to tank to bucket the slowest would be eliminated. The couple that did it the fastest would win $10,000!

Jim and Melissa opted to put Jim up at the top and Melissa at the bottom. Jim began by dunking his entire head into the full tank of blended parts and cow hearts. Initially, Melissa had no problem plucking the hearts out of her empty tank. However, as the liquid transferred from top to bottom, Jim's task got easier while Melissa's grew more difficult. They finished with a final time of 1:36.6. Todd and Rachael also had Todd at the top tank and Rachael at the bottom tank. Todd seemed to have trouble seeing out of his goggles, but he and Rachael soon got into a good rhythm. They were both covered in guts and gook, by the time they finished with a final time of 1:58.2. Melissa and Jim were guaranteed to remain in the competition! David and Simone were next and Simone seemed more than a little squeamish. As time ticked down, she slowed down - plus her tank kept filling with the vile liquid. With David encouraging her, she finally fished out the final cow heart, but their final time was a disappointing 3:08.5. Simone went to throw up, while Jackson and Monica took their positions. They opted to put Monica at the top and Jackson at the bottom. Monica started out timidly, but soon had her whole upper torso in the tank. She picked up the pace the more her tank drained, often hitting Jackson on the head with tossed cow hearts! Their final time was an impressive 1:14.4. They were definitely still in the game and would possibly win $10,000. They were both convinced they'd swallow pieces of cow heart in the process.

Tommie and Gina were next, and chose to put Tommie at the top tank. At one point, Gina practically had her entire body in the tank and wound up spraying Joe with the liquid. They finished with a two minute, thirty second final time - not fast enough for the cash, but fast enough to stay in the game. Meghan, who had been sick with the flu the night before, and James, who had blown the last stunt, were next. Meghan took the top spot and dove head first into the smelly, murky brown liquid. They were moving quickly, but James missed the bucket on the third toss, which meant they'd have to get an extra heart one to make up for it. In the end, they finished in 2:48.5, much to David and Simone's disappointment. If Adam and Meg beat David and Simone's time, David and Simone would be heading home. After arguing over the goggles, Adam and Meg got started. On top, Meg tried overcome her disgust to focus on the task at hand. Several times she paused to scream out. Soon Adam and Meg passed Jackson and Monica's time, making them $10,000 richer! However, with a final time 2.03.6, Adam and Meg sent David and Simone packing. Find out more about the couples, click here.