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COUPLES FEAR FACTOR (6) (2/07/05)

by Fearless Frankie

The Final Four Couples! Craig & Maria, Andre & Amirah, Dean & Ashley and Roberto & Leah had survived many Fear Factor challenges to get to this point. For this week's first stunt they would have to survive a stinky concoction of octopus, lamb brain, pig snout, cod egg sac, hissing cockroaches and a colorful variety of juicy worms, innards and insects. No one would be eliminated, but they would compete for a two-week trip to beautiful Belize! To earn that blissful vacation, each couple would have to eat all 6 POUNDS of their disgusting picnic lunches. The couple that either finished the fastest or finished the most poundage in 20 minutes would win (and rightfully so) two weeks in paradise…if they weren't still vomiting by then.

All the couples were horrified at the task, not to mention the smell. Amirah thought the girls should just be there to cheer the guys on, but Andre wasn't too happy about that plan. Logic might've told smart couples to focus on the heaviest items, thus reducing their overall poundage. Forget the creepy crawling cockroaches and eat lamb brain and pig snout, that's what I say. Predictably, the guys dove right in, while the girl's picked and chose their bugs. Craig & Maria noticed that even the cockroaches were dying, either from the smell or the other critters! After ten minutes, everyone was struggling to keep his or her lunches down. Most held their noses as they continued to choke down intestines and other disgusting parts. Dean & Ashley were soon in the lead, despite Dean's reluctance to eat any eyeballs. Andre was doing 90% of his team's eating, which was no surprise. Craig kept threatening to throw-up, while Maria picked at the octopus like it was, as Joe put it, "a Calamari appetizer." Roberto & Leah were a close second, determined to catch up to Dean & Ashley. As time started to run out, Andre stepped up his snacking and managed to bump Roberto & Leah from second place. It would be a close finish!

Craig called Dean a "cyborg" for his powerhouse ability to continually shovel guts and such in his mouth without puking. The final 30 seconds was really a race between Dean and Andre to finish up as many chunky parts as possible. After time ran out, Joe made everyone spit what was ever in their mouths back onto their plates. Then it was time for the weigh-in. Roberto & Leah had eaten only 5 ounces. Craig & Maria polished off a mere 3 ounces. Dean & Ashley choked down an impressive 1 pound, 2 ounces. However, Andre & Amirah had managed to eat 1 pound, 8 ounces!! They had FINALLY beat Dean & Ashley to claim a fabulous prize. Amirah had tears of joy as she and Andre celebrated.

On day two, Andre & Amirah were thrilled to pick the order for a rain-soaked stunt. The stunt featured a large, square of rigging atop a moving locomotive. As the train barreled down the tracks, couples would have to balance atop the narrow rigging beams. Using only a single piece of rope for additional balance between the two of them, one member of each team would have to support the other as he or she leaned out from the beam to grasp five Fear Factor flags suspended just beyond the train. Teamwork, strength and balance were the key factors in doing well. This time, elimination was at stake and one couple would feel a million dollars slip from their grasp. The fastest couple would win $10,000, while the slowest couple would be eliminated. Andre & Amirah surprisingly chose Roberto & Leah, not Dean & Ashley, to go first! Everyone was totally surprised. Andre thought the stunt was perfect for Roberto & Leah given their height/weight ratio so they wanted to see how they would perform. Huh? Whatever happened to the traditional send-your-biggest-competition-in-first plan? Roberto thought it was all b.s. and that Andre & Amirah just didn't like him and Leah. As the couple suited up, Ashley reminded the group that Roberto had dropped Leah in the previous rope stunt. So, why would he be any stronger on this one? Well, Ashley, the odds of them winning a million dollars had gone up considerably since that early stunt, that's one reason. Roberto & Leah started on opposite ends of the large square. Roberto had to anchor Leah as she reached out to grab the flags. The flags got progressively further away from the rigging. Leah got the first two with relative ease, but the third one was just outside her grasp. She asked Roberto for more slack. She got the third flag and the fourth flag! On the final flag, she nabbed it as she fell off the side of the rigging. All five flags, snagged in 49.5 seconds. It would be tough to beat.

Dean & Ashley were up next. They got off to a shaky start with Ashley yelling to Dean that he was pulling her too hard. On the third flag attempt Dean fell, but steadied himself by grabbing part of the rigging. Ashley managed to grab all 5 flags in 38.8 seconds - but would the couple be penalized for Dean's mistake? Yes, actually. Because of Dean's bobble and grab, any flags acquired after his misstep didn't count. OUCH. Ken & Barbie crushed! So with the penalty, Dean & Ashley's total was three flags in 16.7 seconds. Needless to say, the other couples were overjoyed at Dean & Ashley's misfortune. And somewhere, I'm guessing, eliminated Randy & Tina were doing a little happy dance.

Andre & Amirah decided to go next, leaving Craig & Maria in the cushy final spot. Within the first second, Amirah stumbled and grabbed a hold of the rigging. "Is that it?" she asked. Andre told her to keep going, so the couple completed the stunt, but didn't beat the 3 flags in 16 seconds time. In fact, Andre kept telling Amirah to slow down! I guess he was nervous about falling. They wound up with five flags in 1 minute and 19.6 seconds. Hardly a competitive time. Plus, when they returned to the group Joe informed them that as soon as Amirah grabbed that rigging their time had stopped. They had ZERO flags. Amazingly, Andre kept his cool despite the fact that Amirah's mistake had secured a spot in the finals for Dean & Ashley. Only if Craig & Maria fell off the second the stunt started would Andre & Amirah be spared elimination. The train rolled, the horn sounded and Craig & Maria snagged the requisite one flag with no problem. Andre & Amirah were out. Craig & Maria kept going because if they beat Roberto & Leah's time they would claim the $10,000 cash prize. Maria almost fell while grabbing the 4th flag, but recovered. She jumped and got the fifth flag, but the final time of 53.9 seconds wasn't enough to steal the cash from Roberto & Leah. The final three couples were now one step closer to one million dollars!