Wipeout: A Family Affair

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Wipeout "The Family that Wipeouts Together" (S04E29): 12 family teams begin - 2 members per team. Aflac is now a sponsor of sorts, with an Aflac safety zone for families to watch the Qualifier from, plus an Aflac duck sitting on the fourth big ball that, if grabbed, wins that family $2,000.

Qualifier: Double Bubble Trouble (run, use a diving board to jump off and through hoops that come around to land on an unstable platform... then do it all again), Driver's Ed (get across an area that has pedals popping out, steering wheels spinning, and air bags popping out), Big Balls, Jiggalator (jump onto a vibrating platform, then onto another one, through a hole, and avoid some props while trying to jump to a steady platform), Double Barrel (a large rotating oval has two circles carved out - jump into one, ride it around, then jump out and land on another platform). SquabblingSiblings waste a bunch of time at the beginning because they argue over who should go first... and they laugh at each other quite a bit. They do grab the Aflac duck though. So do CaptainandCadet. [I rather enjoy watching the Double Bubble Trouble. It's new, different, and fun.]
Round 2: [I actually was happy for the six teams that made it this far - they're all entertaining folks. This rarely happens.] Total Carnage (everyone starts on one platform and they have to jump across a dozen or so platforms while dealing with a sweeper arm coming around - one side has three spinning rings hanging down, the other has a crankshaft) is the obstacle. The first three teams to have both members make it all the way move on. JonandKatePlusHate, CaptainandCadet, and DadandGrad move on.
Round 3: WipeoutPlayset (everyone slides down onto a spinning platform. Then, ride sweeper arms across platforms, then use a diving board to jump through a windmill and onto a small slide). The first two families to get both members to the end get to continue on to the final round. The first part - the slides - really trips up the contestants. Jon makes it across first, with a fairly simple run. Cadet gets across next, with a nice wipeout on the sweepers. Dad is next to get through. Grad really struggles on the beginning slide [and looks like she's going to cry after awhile]. Captain makes it, and Kate is the last to finish. [Cadet yelling at Captain was a bit disturbing. The diving-board-through-windmill-to-slide seemed really easy this time for some reason...]
WipeoutZone: Flume of Doom (7-story drop to the water), Iron Maze-In (vertical, spinning maze that contestants must enter through one end, climb through, and exit through the other end), Axel of Evil (ride three rotating prongs on a sweeper from one platform to another), The Great Wall of Fall (cross a wall made up of cylinders that pop out and retract). Jon from JonandKatePlusHate [I do giggle each time I hear the team name!] is first. He struggles on the maze but still finished on the first try. He doesn't land correctly off the Axel of Evil... twice. He still finishes with 7:36. Cadet is next, who makes the Iron Maze-In on the first try but also takes two attempts on the Axel of Evil. His time is 7:43, making it a close race. Kate doesn't make the jump out of Iron Maze-In on time on her first try, but has a great ride hanging by a thread on the Axel of Evil. The combined time for their team is 17:00. Captain has a slow start getting to the Maze-in and climbing through it, but she falls out, wasting a lot of time. She gives up at that point, leaving JonandKatePlusHate the winnings! [it always disappoints me when people give up midway through a round.]