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Twins Fear Factor (3/07/05)

by Fearless Frankie

What is the fascination with twins? Are we supposed to believe that their "twin power" makes them better competitors? The twin concept was put to the test in this expanded episode when four sets of twins arrived lakeside for their first stunt. Desiree & Erin had matching Afros, while Matthew & Nathan had matching Mohawks (and hideous white belts). Shawnie & Julie were more like the Barbie twins and Andy & Ryan were Alabama twins complete with matching cowboy hats. Cowboy hats in Alabama? Who knew?

The first stunt involved a helicopter, a water drop, swimming AND flag retrieval! Luckily, it wasn't an elimination stunt. The winning team would win a $20,000 Capital One credit card. Julie & Shawnie were psyched to go first. The girls secured their blonde highlights and got prepped. While one girl dangled by a harness from the bottom of the helicopter, the other sat perched inside. The twin inside the helicopter (honestly, I have no idea which one it was) had to pull a ripcord and release her sister as close to a floating buoy as possible, then she would drop into the water near a second buoy. Both drops went well and both girls were close to their respective buoys. After retrieving flags from the buoys, the girls swam to a nearby ultraboat. Shawnie reached the boat first and looked exhausted. Once Julie climbed aboard, both girls had to hang on while the boat approached a raft. Once they got close to the raft, they dove off opposite sides of the boat and made their way over. Only after both sisters had planted their flags would time stop. Final time for Julie & Shawnie was 2:58.7. Erin & Desiree were up next and very confident that they could complete the stunt in two minutes. It's always so easy to say that when you are standing safely on shore. The big-hair sisters got geared up with Erin in the helicopter and Desiree dangling below. Erin released Desiree a bit early, then did a direct hit for her jump. Both girls were soon swimming towards the ultraboat clutching their Fear Factor flags. They passed the two-minute mark before they even made it on board. Next it was the swim to the raft and both girls seemed totally exhausted. Before they reached the raft, Julie & Shawnie's time ticked by. Finally, they managed to slowly pull themselves up onto the raft and hook their flags. Final time: 4:30! Over double their predicted time!

Matthew & Nathan were up next and peeled off their t-shirts to reveal skinny white boys underneath. Nathan took the dangle position, while Matthew manned the ripcord. The "Mohawk twins" got off to a good start by hitting their buoy targets perfectly. They were both on the boat in just over a minute. The water was choppy from the helicopter as the brothers swam toward their final destination, the raft. Matthew was up first and secured his flag, then reached down to help Nathan up. Final time: 2:39.7. They had narrowly pushed Julie & Shawnie out of the running for the $20,000 prize. The 'bama boys were up next and wore matching pink t-shirts with their cowboy hats. They were just confused boys, I tell ya. However, they told Joe that they did triathlons as a hobby - so swimming from a boat to a raft should've been a piece of cake. Andy dangled, while Ryan manned the ripcord. They both nailed the jump and retrieved their flags quickly. The swim to the ultraboat was good, but Ryan WENT THE WRONG WAY! This of course ate up valuable time and energy. Andy waited at the boat while Ryan turned around and swam back. Next, they jumped from the boat to the raft and tried to make their way up to plant their flags. It was literally down to final seconds, but Ryan & Andy stopped with a time of 2:42. The Mohawk Twins had prevailed! The skinny white boys with no muscles had beaten the triathletes. It was another classic Fear Factor moment.

The next day teams gathered at a dilapidated ranch to face their next stunt - and elimination. Buzzards circled overhead, never a good sign. The teams faced a large, long, deep trench filled with cow parts. And by parts I mean guts, liver, heart, brains, etc. Parts. At one end of the trench was a stack of cow jawbones. As a vegetarian for over 12 years, I might add that this was the first Fear Factor stunt that actually made ME want to puke. Giant cow teeth on a giant cow jawbone, jutting up at the end of the trench. Sick! Using a pulling system, the twins would trade off gnawing meat off the jawbone then trudging through the guts-filled trench to a meat grinder, which they would spit the contents of their mouth into. Then they'd grind up the jawbone meat and drink it back down. Are you gagging yet? It made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like a bedtime story. The Mohawk Twins were up first.

Before they competed, they gave Joe a taste of their band's music. Not bad but they're not "going to Hollywood." Both guys were hooked to the pulley ropes facing opposite directions and waist-deep in slop. Matthew wore neon armbands so everyone could tell the brothers apart. On "go", they moved quickly to either side of the trench. Nathan chewed up jawbone while Matthew waited by the grinder. Then they switched sides so Matthew could eat and Nathan could grind. Joe almost hurled just watching. Nathan filled up about half the glass before the guys had to switch again. Meanwhile, Matthew had mouthfuls of cow to dump into the grinder. His portion filled the glass, and they switched again. Nathan could barely get half the glass full of blended ick down. On the final switch, Matthew was left to finish the drink. He forced it down in between gags for a final time of 13:08. Afterwards, the guys described it as "traumatizing", "agonizing" and "hell on earth." Erin & Desiree were up next. They wore fancy orange unitard things that I guess were bathing suits. It was very "Blade Runner." Erin wore the armbands for their team and faced the jawbones first. She hesitated and tried to find a "good" jawbone. Finally, she started gnawing. They worked the system until the glass was full. Did I mention the jawbones were also covered in maggots? Um, yeah. Desiree was first to taste the glassful of nasty cow juice. Even one sip caused her to heave ho. After much gaggin, the girls wound up quitting. They both fully admitted to having sat at home watching Fear Factor thinking "that's easy." Now, they thought differently.

If the other two teams completed the stunt, the team with the fastest time would get to pick the order on the final stunt. Andy & Ryan were up next, with Andy in armbands (which, by the way, was very helpful for recapping purposes). Ryan filled up on cow meat and maggots first, then switched over to the grinder while his brother chowed down. Ultimately, Ryan took the first sips of vomit shake and could barely get a third down. Andy stepped up and finished the shake - but couldn't beat Matthew & Nathan's time. Could Julie & Shawnie handle it? They didn't even want to attempt it - so they quit! They knew from watching the others that they would never finish, so they figured they didn't need to get dirty and smelly. Once again, the Mohawk Twins were victorious! The boy twins arrived for the next stunt, which was worth $25,000. Since there were only two teams left and only two stunts left, Fear Factor had split the prize in two so both teams could compete to the end. This stunt was a total Cirque du Soleil extravaganza. Both twins started upside down in a HUGE empty space - like an airplane hanger type thing. One twin was secured to the ground, while the other hung over a tank filled with water. The secured twin had to unfasten a series of wing-nuts, retrieve a saw and cut through his rope. Once he was free he would reverse-bungee up towards the ceiling while his twin was released head first into the water tank. The water twin would have to grab as many flags as possible from the bottom of the water tank before coming up for air.

Matthew & Nathan chose Andy & Ryan to go first. Once they were sufficiently positioned so that all blood rushed to their heads, Andy worked the wing-nuts. Soon he had the saw and released his brother into the tank. The triathlons seemed to pay off as Ryan could hold his breath a really long time. He had SIX flags hooked to him before he came up for air. And wasn't just grabbing flags. It was unhooking them from the bottom of the tank and re-hooking them to a belt. Their final time for six flags was 1:14.3. Could the Mohawk Twins beat that and continue their winning streak? Matthew got strung up near the saw, while Nathan prepared to get dunked. Their strategy was to go for seven flags and not worry about time (except for the holding the breath part). In less than 30 seconds, Matthew had freed the saw. Moments later, Nathan was submerged and struggling with flags. Nathan had a good start, but struggled with the hooks. He couldn't hold his breath long enough to get seven flags and came up short. Andy & Ryan had won the stunt and the $25,000.

For the final stunt, the brothers all gathered: Andy & Ryan in their cowboy hats; Nathan & Matthew in their white belts. On a desolate desert highway, Joe revealed the final stunt. Two semi trucks would travel side by side. One was a water tanker and the other had huge rigging on top of it. One brother would be handcuffed INSIDE the water tanker, sloshing around waiting for his twin to come and get him. Meanwhile, the other brother would have to lower a bridge-like plank across the two trucks, then climb down a rope onto the water tanker. Once on the water tanker, the twin would make his way down to the entry point, climb into the tank to find the key to free his brother. It all ended with the brothers planting a flag on a pole on the outside of the water tanker. All this while the trucks sped down the highway!

The Mohawk Twins were up first. Matthew took to the rig, while Nathan got cuffed inside the water tanker. First Matthew cranked a platform bridge across from one tanker to the other. Then he made his way down a knotted rope to land on top of the water tanker. He carefully made his way across the top of the tanker to the entry point. Once inside, he swam over past his brother to find the submerged handcuff key. Meanwhile, the tanker began swerving which created huge waves inside the tank. Finally, Matthew freed Nathan and grabbed the pole from him. Nathan went to get the submerged flag, while Matthew made his way back out of the tanker to assemble the pole. Things were slippery to say the least. As Matthew finished the pole, Nathan made his way across the top the truck - even after his shorts fell off! So, while flashing a BA to the empty desert, Nathan reached his brother and planted the flag for a final time of 4:13.

Next, Andy & Ryan took a shot knowing that another $25,000 was at stake. Ryan moved quickly to crank down the bridge and shimmy down the rope. Soon he was inside trying to get the handcuff key. The jostling from the truck movement and the freezing cold water led to delays. Finally, Andy was able to climb out and start assembling the pole, while Ryan stayed submerged and tried to find the flag. What Ryan didn't realize was that the flag had been unhooked and was near the bottom of the tank. It wasn't looking good for Andy & Ryan at this point. Meanwhile, the Mohawk Twins could barely contain their excitement as time ticked down. When Joe started congratulating them, the brothers jumped up and did a happy dance. Nathan & Matthew were the new Twins Fear Factor champs!