NBC.com

FEAR FACTOR
Original Airdate: 9/20/04

by Fearless Frankie

Don't be fooled by a glassy lake, that's what I always say. Six diverse competitors gathered lakeside to "stare fear in the eye." A float plane (you know, those little propeller planes that can land on water?) flying over 1,000 feet in the air would be the contestants' platform for the first stunt. They, of course, would be precariously balanced on the outside of the plane as it flew over 100 miles-per-hour. On "go", each contestant would have to traverse from one pontoon (that's the part that keeps the plane afloat when it lands, in case you were wondering) to the other in order to release one flag from each pontoon. The 4 folks that did this the fastest would advance. The two slowest losers were, well, losers. Carlos, a skinny kid from Atlanta, was up first. What Carlos seemed to lack in muscle mass, he made up for in gumption. He told Joe about the time he climbed the Andes in Peru. Impressive, sure. But the Andes don't move while you climb them! Once in the air, Carlos took his time climbing out onto the narrow bar that connected the two pontoons. The others were impressed when Carlos managed to release the first flag. Now it was back to where he started from to release the second flag and stop the clock. Final time: 1:05.4. Not too speedy, but not too bad either.

Barry, who wore a shirt with the word "chicken" across the front of it, was next. He wanted to win the $50,000 to pay off gambling debts - and then make some money off of the balance. Seriously, he said that. Barry blazed through the stunt and flung those flags for a final time of 44.1 seconds! Lucious (pronounced loo-shus) took to the fearful skies next and battled his fear of heights to do it. Lucious moved more at Carlos' speed than at Barry's. He finally released the first flag after 40 seconds and carefully made his way back across the plane's underbelly. He couldn't release the second flag in less time than Carlos, which meant Carlos and Barry would advance while Lucious was headed home.

For the girls, Tiffany - a homemaker from Las Vegas - was up first. She was counting on "mommy strength" to carry her through the stunt. High above the lake, with the wind whipping, Tiffany slowly made her way across the pontoon. And I mean slowly. As Joe said, "she made Lucious look like a speed demon." She had trouble reaching the first flag and after two minutes, she gave up! So much for mommy strength. All Nicole and Stephanie had to do was complete the stunt to advance. Pressure was off, Nicole was still nervous. Nicole, a former gymnast, impressed Joe with a handstand before climbing aboard the most terrifying flight ever. Nicole released her first flag in under 10 seconds! She aced the rest of the stunt for a final time of 26.9 seconds, putting Barry to shame! Stephanie, a self-proclaimed "girly girl" only had to release one flag to advance. She clung to the bar for dear life as she made her way to the first flag. Then, she slipped and had only one leg and one arm on the bar! Would she even get one flag? Finally, using all her strength, she managed to reach up and release the flag. She could not, however, find the strength to make it all the way back to the starting point. A safety guy helped her up, but Stephanie had already secured her spot in the next round.

Cobwebs, steam, grime greeted the four remaining players as they made their way to stunt number two. Joe explained that each of them would truly be in a Fear Factor fishbowl. Sitting with their heads in a helmet filled with giant, slimly eels, each player would have to navigate and unlock 8 separate locks in order to free themselves and stop the clock. The player with the fastest time would get to pick the order for the next day's final stunt. Barry, wearing an armband in memory of Lucious, was up first this time around. Looking like a science experiment from the 1950s, Barry sat on a stool with his head in a giant fishbowl. He put his mouth on a breathing tube as the huge bowl filled with water. Then the eels were added. Giant moray eels all swimming around Barry's head and blocking his view. He tried to work the locks - which were simple screws, not padlocks. Well, simple if you don't have your head in a bowl of eels. Barry's final time: 1:17.9. He later said he had to go entirely by his sense of touch because the eels had his vision totally obscured. Carlos knew he could beat Barry's time, yet that didn't stop him from squealing as the fishbowl filled with water and eels. He did really well, despite the girls trying to mess him up. "You forgot a lock, Carlos!" "You're turning the wrong way, Carlos!" Carlos had the last laugh with a final time of 1:14.5. Stephanie was up next and by now, the eels were getting annoyed. In the water, out of the water…who could blame them? Never the less, Stephanie blazed through with a final time of 1:05.5. Barry was on the bubble! Nicole was prepared to boot him from Fear Factor competition. Nicole moved quickly as Barry saw his visions of victory disintegrate. But Nicole's final time was one minute slower than Barry! They left her sitting there with her head in the bowl and eel coiled around her neck as they departed for the next stunt.

Stephanie had the advantage on day three. Since she had the fastest Fear Factor Fishbowl time, she got to pick the order for the final stunt. The final stunt was like something out of an old-school video game. Six platforms jutted out from scaffolding, three on each side. The piece that could connect the sections across their centers was actually a moving platform that would continuously rise and fall between them. As the center platform aligned with the various other platforms, players would have to jump back and forth placing six flags along the way. And then they had to rescue the princess from the tower and, oh wait, nevermind. Stephanie chose Carlos to go first. Carlos got the first flag and decided to go for the middle platform first. The others couldn't quite figure out Carlos' strategy because once you leap from the platform, you have to quickly plant the flag and leap back onto it; otherwise, you have to wait for it to go all the way up or down and back again. On his third jump, Carlos missed the platform and had to pull himself up - but he wasn't strong enough to do it and fell. Barry learned not to hesitate from watching Carlos stumble. Could he beat Carlos' flag count and time though? It was harder than it looked. Barry copied Carlos' weird strategy, but did it better. Once Barry planted his third flag, Carlos was out. Barry continued, and made a couple of key mistakes that cost him time. His final time: 4:47. If Stephanie corrected Barry's mistakes, she could easily claim the cash and Fear Factor victory.

Stephanie planted two flags in the first 55 seconds, but could she keep up the pace? She could and did! She landed flag number six became the newest Fear Factor champion!