NBC.com

Fear Factor "Best Friends"
Original Airdate: 9/27/04

by Fearless Frankie

Would your best friend face his or her greatest fear with you for a chance to win $50,000? Well, these 8 pals were ready for anything! Up first, the four teams of two would face a water rescue. One player would be locked in a Plexiglas box and submerged underwater, while his or her best friend treaded water nearby. The trapped player would have to undo two bars and pass them to his or her best friend through a slot in the box. The person outside the box would then assemble a handle on the outside of the box, ultimately freeing his or her best friend. Only after both friends had surfaced and swum over to the Fear Factor logo on the side of the tank would time stop. The box had an air pocket to help the person inside of it, but the more breathing breaks - the slower the team's time. The slowest team would be eliminated, while the fastest team would get to choose the order for the next day's stunt. Zach and Justin, friends for 17 years, were randomly chosen to get wet first. They wore matching shirts that said, "She doesn't have to know." Charming.

They stripped off their shirts to reveal numerous tattoos and some hard abs. Justin stayed in the box, while Zach literally chilled in the water. They had good teamwork and soon Zach was assembling the handle and freeing Justin. They both reached the side of the water for a final time of 1:30.7. They warned the others that the water was FREEZING. Twin-like blonde bombshells Amy and Christina were up next. The boys had little faith in their capabilities. As burly Aaron said, "They're hot, but they're going home." Amy provided the first hand-off to Christina with ease. Once Christina had the second bar, however, she dropped it! As it sank to the bottom of the tank, Christina scrambled up for air while Amy scrambled to get her another bar. Meanwhile, Justin and Zach's time ticked by - - guaranteeing them a spot in the next round. Finally, Christina secured the handle and freed Amy. Their final time: 4:12.4.

Confident duo Aaron and Damion took the plunge next. Damion braved the box, while Aaron dove in to await the first hand-off. Immediately, Damion had trouble holding his breath, which slowed him down tremendously. Aaron also had trouble and delayed getting the first handle in. Three minutes passed and only the first bar had been handed off! Guess Amy and Christina weren't so bad after all! The guys seemed like they might actually quit, but the others shouted encouragements that fueled their determination. Damion and Aaron, exhausted but not beaten down, finished with a disappointing final time of 7:28.2! Only if best friends Sonja and Pamela did worse than 7 minutes and 28.2 seconds, would Damion and Aaron continue their Fear Factor journey.

Sonja and Pamela were like freakin' MERMAIDS. They blazed through the first half of the stunt. Then, when Pamela tried to attach the second handle, things took a turn for the worse. She kept turning the handle counter-clockwise instead of clockwise, which ate all of their time. Soon enough, Aaron and Damion's time ticked by meaning Sonja and Pamela were OUT! It was a shocking turn of events!!

For the second stunt, the 3 remaining pairs would face an entirely new kind of shock. No one would be eliminated and the winning friends would receive a brand new Mazda 3 sports sedan and MX5 Miata! Woo-hoo! And they would have to earn those cars, let me tell you. Each team would have to transfer 10 cow tongues from two different vats into a bucket using a buddy system. Zach and Justin, the quickest team from day one, surprisingly chose to go first. Zach stepped up to the lard vat, while Justin got positioned in front of the fish oil. Justin went first and had trouble getting the slippery tongue out. He transferred it with his mouth to Zach's, and then Zach dumped the tongue in a nearby bucket. When Justin finished transferring 5 tongues from his vat, it was Zach's turn to dunk his head in animal lard and repeat the process - with Justin on the receiving end. Lots of gooey, oily-tongue, kissy transfers later, Justin and Zach were done. Their final time seemed good at 3 minutes and 15.3 seconds. They chose Aaron and Damion to go next - and the pals were determined to do better than day one in order to win those new cars. These boys started with the lard and soon Damion was covered in it. Then it was one to fish oil and Aaron was sliding all over the place. He kept taking breaks, which was not good when trying to win a new car! In a last minute surge of energy, they landed the last tongue for a final time of 3:04.7! Would Amy and Christina be able to beat that time? They didn't look too thrilled at the prospect of trying.

The girls, looking momentarily cute in pink tops and jeans, started with the lard tank. Within seconds, Amy was covered in white, chunky lard. I think the guys enjoyed the kiss-like transfer between Amy and Christina! Christina, whose pink top was backless, had to not only navigate fish oil with her head, but also hold her top on. Women are such good multitaskers! These friends continued to impress as they methodically completed the stunt and easily defeated Aaron and Damion. Their impressive final time of 2 minutes and 36 seconds earned these self-proclaimed "Barbie Twins" victory over the boys - and two new Mazdas!

For the final day, the three teams were all pumped for victory. And they were pumped full of adrenaline once they saw the final stunt. While a flatbed semi truck cruised erratically down the highway, the friends would follow in two separate cars, single file. The lead car, or ramp car, was equipped with a ramp (hence the name "ramp car", duh). One friend would position the ramp car as close to the flatbed as possible so that the second friend could LAUNCH their car over the ramp car and onto the flatbed! Sure, no problem. Zach and Justin were randomly selected to go first. After suiting up in safety gear, the guys decided to have Zach drive the ramp car and Justin drive what I'll cleverly call the launch car. Justin did a good job of aligning the ramp car quickly, while Zach waited for the right moment to launch. Zach made the launch but couldn't stick the landing. His car sailed off the passenger side of the flatbed, flipping over in Justin's path. The friends of 17 years were eliminated. Aaron and Damion were next. Would this finally be the stunt they aced?

The guys looked nervous as they fell back into position behind the speeding semi. Aaron got the ramp car into position, despite the swerving semi. He shouted for Damion to hit it, and Damion did. However, just like Zach before him, Damion skidded off the passenger side and into elimination. The two pals took their walk of shame, while the "Barbies" got into their safety gear. Amy admitted she had recently fallen asleep at the wheel, causing a 12-car pileup! Perhaps that's why she was driving the ramp car and not the launch car. All the girls had to do was complete the stunt to win, time was no longer a factor. After finally figuring out how to drop back behind Amy, Christina gunned it and didn't even come close to nailing it. NO ONE DID IT. It was a FEAR FACTOR FIRST! As Joe said, "apparently Fear was a Factor for everybody!" But at least Amy and Christina won their "Barbie" dream cars.