NBC.com

Fear Factor
Original Airdate: 10/04/04

by Fearless Frankie

Babes, bikinis and The Roadkill Café…Fear Factor does not get much better than this, people! Not surprisingly for an all-female episode, the first stunt involved cold water. Each bikini-clad lady had to start the stunt shackled to a huge platform that dangled beneath a helicopter. The girls who could free themselves and jump off the platform into the cold lake below in the fastest times would advance. Harmony, a lanky brunette, went first and the others thought she was too "wimpy" to be a threat. Lying flat on her back, one arm and both legs secured, Harmony sprung into action as soon as her time began. She surprised everyone with a final time of 36.1 seconds. Kelly, a blonde Texan, was up next. The others cheered her on, literally. Nicole bragged that she'd been a cheerleader for 10 years so Joe encouraged her to do a cheer for Kelly. Hey, you do an all-female show, these are the risks you take. There's bound to be a peppy girl in the bunch. Meanwhile, Kelly was unfastening herself and leaping into the water for a final time of 36 seconds - beating Harmony by one tenth of a second! Cheerful Nicole was up next and gave herself a "Go Me!" cheer before taking off.

Nicole gave it the college try and was soon face-planting (ouch!) into the lake for a final time of 29.7. Gimme an "N"! Gimme an "I"! Gimme an... oh, nevermind. The point is that Nicole had secured a spot on Day Two. Colleen only had to beat 36 seconds to join her. Back on shore, the girls were squabbling like 7th graders over who would make it and who would go home. Back up on the platform, Colleen was focused and slammed into the water for a final time of 29.4 seconds. Harmony's status was now on thin ice. Danell talked a big game on shore, but would she deliver while swinging beneath a shaky helicopter? If Danell beat Harmony's time, Harmony was headed home. Danell blew the other girls away with a final time of 22.3 seconds! Harmony took her walk of shame while Krystina got hooked up. And heaven forbid we finish the stunt without another cheer. Danell got in Nicole's face with "There is no competition 'cuz there is no competition," which made no sense but was delivered in a very upbeat manner. Krystina worked the locks quickly and ended with a time of 27.5 seconds - which sent Kelly packing, and guaranteed Danell the right to pick the order of the next day's stunt.

Welcome to The Roadkill Café! While a cute, real possum scampered across a desolate highway, Joe greeted the remaining ladies with assorted dead animal organ meat. First, each girl would have to chuck a "roadkill victim" (ie: fake dead animal) across the highway into a bull's-eye using a shovel. If their "roadkill" landed in the large, blue outer ring, they would have to eat a large portion of guts. If it landed in the yellow inner ring, they'd be eating a smaller portion. And if by some miracle of shoveling skill they got a bull's-eye - they wouldn't have to eat any of it! Joe was sure to point out that Colleen was a vegetarian, which may have been why Danell chose her to go first. Colleen apparently didn't have a lot of shoveling skills and landed her roadkill in the blue area. Faced with a large plate of guts (and a few live maggots) after not having meat for 7 years, Colleen was gagging after the first bite. She got the biggest chunk down first and Joe talked her through the rest of the disgusting mixture. Krystina started making barf noises in the background, which definitely slowed Colleen down. The players had a limited time to choke down the mixture and Joe was seriously the only thing that seemed to keep Colleen going. She finally finished - securing her a spot in the finals.

Danell chose Nicole to go next. Nicole used an overhand technique to fling her "roadkill and she kept missing the target. Ultimately, she "scored" a large portion and had a hard time even starting her "meal." In fact, she quit before any of it touched her. As she took her walk of shame, Joe shouted "See you later…see, see, you later!" Should he ever give up hosting duties, Joe would make a great Raiderette! Krystina was up next and landed in the yellow/smaller portion area. Colleen tried to throw her off her game with gagging noises, but Krystina remained focused. During her final bite, she confidently opened her mouth to show Danell what she had to look forward to. After finishing, Krystina promptly puked - which inspired Colleen to do the same. Oh the joys of Fear Factor. But Danell still had to complete the stunt. After earning a large portion, Danell started choking down guts. Every bite was a struggle and time began running out. However, Danell picked up the pace and forced down the few remaining maggots to secure her spot in the finals.

Day three was yet another bathing suit/cold water stunt. All three finalists seem very confident, even after seeing the stunt. Four steel beams suspended from a single rig would spin faster and faster as each girl leapt from beam to beam to release flags. Timing and balance were the keys to victory and $50,000 was at stake! Krystina was randomly chosen to go first. There was a whole method to getting the flags, but it really came down to who got the most flags in the fastest time. Krystina started getting yellow flags during her first pass, then red on her return trip to the final flag - which was suspended out over the water. The beams, which continued to increase speed, had to be carefully navigated to avoid falling into the water and failing the stunt. Over a minute had passed before Krystina started her return journey and red flag retrieval. After successfully navigating the gauntlet of beams, all Krystina had to do was leap out and grab the final flag before landing in the water. Sadly, she missed the flag! Where was Nicole when the ladies needed a cheer the most? Krystina got 7 flags in one minute and 49 seconds, but because she didn't get the final flag any of the other two could beat her regardless of their times. Colleen was up next and fell getting from beam two to beam three! It was a quick and painful-looking departure for Colleen - and a moment of joy for Krystina. Danell was ready to prove to everyone that she was a winner. She was very timid on the beams and had a hard time standing up, much less getting from beam to beam. Danell practically laid down to maneuver between the beams, which slowed her down a lot. Plus, the beams began spinning faster and faster, only adding to the challenge. It was soon clear that Danell wasn't go to beat Krystina's time, which meant she had to get the final flag. But on one of her final leaps, she slipped and was left clinging to the side of the beam. Despite her valiant efforts to pull herself back up, Danell slipped into the sea making Krystina the newest Fear Factor champ!