NBC.com

Best Friends Fear Factor (5/2/05)

by Fearless Frankie

How far would you go for your best friend? How far would you go for $50,000? These were the tough questions facing this week’s crop of contestants on a special Best Friends Fear Factor. Matt & Sam were both bouncers from Nashville and wore cowboy hats. Chase & Chelsey, pals from Los Angeles, not only had compatible names but also had matching yellow shirts. Bree & Danielle, “models” from Arizona had matching, well, I’ll let you use your imagination. Dorothy & Dexie, friends from Louisiana, called themselves the “Double D” team, but not for the same reasons Bree & Danielle might’ve. The four sets of friends were ready to stare fear in the eye – or balance fearfully as the first stunt would reveal.

A large nearby contraption would put one friend on a top beam and the other on another beam directly below. While streams of water jetted onto the lower beam, the wet player had to make his or her way to one of four large valve handles. Only by hoisting the handles up to his or her partner one at a time, could the second friend attach the handle to the appropriate valve and stop the powerful spray of water. The friends who completed the stunt would move on, those who failed or completed the slowest would be eliminated. Bree & Danielle, who said it was unusual for models to be friends, were up first. Is it unusual because usually one model needs a non-model friend to translate for him or her? Was that mean? Do I care? Anyway, luckily for our male viewers the stunt required bathing suits. And speaking of “Double Ds”, Dorothy & Dexie gave their female competitors about 10 seconds before falling. Danielle was on the top beam, while Bree was on the bottom getting hit with water. On “go”, Bree started across one end of the beam towards the handles. Once she returned and hooked the handle on a rope, Danielle was able to carefully pull it up, attach it to the first valve and shut off the first stream of water. Bree, meanwhile, had to turn around and repeat the process three more times. The model friends were doing a good job, but they were moving really slow. Danielle hoisted up the last handle and shut off the last of the water for a final time of 4:39. Take that, Double D!

Sam & Matt, who wisely removed their cowboy hats for the stunt, were up next. Interesting side note: Sam lives in an RV without running water. So, you’d think this would’ve been a good shower opportunity for him, but Matt chose the water route. He almost slipped off on his way to get the first handle, but successfully got it to Sam. These two pals were on a similar pace as the gals, so it would all come down to the final handle turn. Final time: 3:36. The guys pulled off a quick advancement to day two. Chelsey & Chase, friends since high school, were up next. Chase chose water pressure, while Chelsey took the high road. Chase sidestepped quickly across the beam to hook the first handle; however, Chelsey got the rope tangled while she was turning the handle and had to start over! Major time suck Chelsey! Despite the setback, Chase & Chelsey finished with the fastest time so far, three minutes flat! Could the “Double D” team top it?

Dexie took the bottom position and had a tiny shuffle technique that had me worried from the get go. Why not side step like all the other successful teams had done? Dorothy had the rope in position before Dexie even had the first handle. The two friends were in constant communication – if that’s what you call yelling at each other. Dorothy turned out to be the slower friend, which made the race to finish that much tighter. On the final handle, Dorothy got nervous or lost focus or something because the rope got tangled, the handle wobbled. It seemed to take forever. Their final time: 4:02.1. They knocked Bree & Danielle out of competition! At least the model friends looked good on their walk of shame.

The next day, teams arrived at a quaint restaurant, complete with vinyl booths and red-checked tablecloths. But “quaint” in Fear Factor terms usually means “vomit inducing” and this was no exception. The three teams faced six covered “entrees” and would have to blindly choose their Fear Factor lunch. The only good news was that no one would be eliminated. Instead, the “winning” team got to choose one of three Capital One credit cards, each with a different amount up to $20,000. Chelsey & Chase got to pick the order since they had the fastest time in the water stunt. In an interesting strategy, they chose to go first in order to “get it over with.” I think the better logic was that they weren’t stuck with whatever entree was left – they had better odds on not getting the worst of the worst. (Or worst of the wurst as the case may be!) They stuck with the plates in front of them, which served up Stink Beetle Sausage for Chase and Leech Sausage for Chelsey. Yes, nothing signals “sausagefest” like live bugs and leeches encased in an intestine. On “go” the two friends bit into their meals. Immediately beetles fanned out across Chase’s plate like the Yankees taking the field. Chelsey, meanwhile, had a dozen slimy bloodsuckers squirming in front of her. Now here’s an experience most best friends don’t have. College keggers, sure. Senior Ditch Day, of course. But, not “hey, remember the time we ate live bugs and leeches on Fear Factor?” After about four minutes, Chelsey choked down the last of the leeches. Chase, meanwhile, was still herding stinkbugs but he eventually finished. They chose Matt & Sam to go next.

The Tennessee cowboys lifted their plates to reveal Worm Sausage and Fish Gut Sausage. Yummy! Matt licked his lips (not really) at the prospect of chowing down on red worms, superworms and nightcrawlers. Sam, meanwhile, couldn’t wait to dig in to fish guts, rotten squid and maggots. You know, there should be a Fear Factor cookbook! It could provide food recycling tips and new summer recipes all in one book. Eating those sausages looked as if it was the toughest thing in the world that these two macho bouncers had ever had to do. Forget throwing drunken meatheads out of a Nashville bar, Matt & Sam were choking and crying and coughing and spitting with every bite of their Fear Factor meal. Joe moved the “chuck bucket” into position, just in case. It wasn’t close enough; however, when Sam upchucked onto his plate – eliminating the duo from the Capital One prize. The “Double D” team wasn’t looking so dangerous at this point. They had been squirming and shrieking just watching the other teams attempt the stunt. Dorothy lifted the lid on her entree and was immediately bleeped by the Fear Factor censors! She physically jumped back in her chair shouting some type of obscenity when she saw her sausage stuffed with Madagascar hissing cockroaches. (I hear they plump when you cook ‘em.) On Dexie’s plate was something a little different. She had a red-colored sausage. Why was it red, you ask? Because it was filled with pig eyes and pig’s blood, which gives new meaning to "blood sausage"“! When the snacking started, Dexie took a brave bite of pig’s eye while Dorothy wouldn’t even pick up her sausage! Finally, with Joe and Dexie’s goading, Dorothy picked it up only to have the sausage split open -- sending giant cockroaches running for their little insect lives! Dorothy tried to grab a couple of them, but you could tell she was not going to do this stunt. She screamed and flung the tablecloth at the critters, then told Joe she quit. Chelsey & Chase were the ONLY friends to finish the stunt and had earned the $20,000 Capital One credit card!

The final stunt had less critters, more cars. Teams arrived at Irwindale Speedway to see their last stunt – and their last shot at $50,000. Joe no sooner said, “Here is your final stunt,” when a huge explosion rocked the speedway. Everyone jumped back in shock when they witnessed a giant fireball erupt nearby. Each set of friends would drive cars towards each other and launch them off of separate ramps amid a giant burst of flames. The friends that could flip and slide their cars the furthest would claim Fear Factor victory. The “Double D” team was up first. They suited up and revved their engines. Soon they were both flying towards their ramps and as they started to roll the tower of fire shot up from the ramps. Both girls were now upside-down in their cars and skidding towards what they hoped would be victory. Their combined distance came to: 252 feet, 11 inches. The cowboys, Matt & Sam, were up next and truly believed that men were better drivers than men. Um, maybe on horseback. They were soon launching and flipping amid their very own fireball. When the smoke cleared, they had a combined distance of only 228 feet! Take that, male drivers! Apparently, those cowboy boots were made for walking. Chelsey & Chase, victorious in the previous two stunts, were determined to steal the cash from Dorothy & Dexie’s clutches. Once their own little flip, fire and roll was over, Chelsey & Chase returned to the group to hear how they’d done. Had they beat 252 feet, 11 inches and claimed the top prize? Or had the girls who quit the second stunt actually pulled out a win? Chelsey had skid 128 feet, 11 inches. Chase had stopped after 157 feet, 2 inches. Now if you know your math, you know that brought their total to 286 feet, 1 inch. Chelsey & Chase were the Best Friends Fear Factor champs, adding $50,000 to their previous $20,000 winnings!