Season 1 of Fox’s ’99 to Beat’ guarantees the audience a rollercoaster of tension, comedy, and high-stakes intrigue. At its center are hosts Ken Jeong, who injects his trademark wit, and Erin Andrews, who balances the action with keen insight. The game is easy to understand: don’t come in last. One contestant gets eliminated in each round, bringing everyone closer to the finish line. The grand prize is a staggering $1 million. With 100 aspiring competitors looking for the money, the experience is as much about survival and flexibility as it is strategy and timing.
The Premiere Game Becomes Harsh as Janice Is the Night’s First Victim
As the night of the games begins, the hosts clarify that the 100 players must keep in mind that under no circumstance are they allowed to come in last because it implies that they are out of the game. Ken and Erin get comfortable in the commentary booth while the players get into position for the first game- Lei in a Balloon. For this challenge, a number of balloons are dropped from the ceiling, but there are only 99 leis, leaving one individual behind. Julian and Aggie are a pair of newlyweds from Minnesota who decided to play on the show because the money will be wonderful for their honeymoon, new residence, and even their life together. Another of the players is Tori, who is a school teacher from New Jersey. She tells us that she is the luckiest person in the whole world and has even won her wedding gown, makeup items, skincare, and many more.
But Tori wants to be a bit taller. Janice, a Real Estate Broker from New York, makes it clear that she is thinking only about herself. Frank, on the other hand, is a Florida Clown Wrestler who is anxious and believes that being eliminated first is a nightmare turned reality. While balloons are being released, all the participants charge to pop them and locate their lei. As the pool of participants keeps decreasing, Ken realizes that Frank is frantically worried, but fortunately, the contestant finds a lei. Now the game is reduced to the last three left: Mariama, Janice, and Geraldine. When the three of them make a dash for the balloon at the same time, Janice, being the eldest among them, trips and falls on the ground. In the confusion, Geraldine grabs the last balloon and with it the last lei. It eliminates Janice from the game, who complains about her poor luck since she burst about 10 balloons, but none of them had a lei inside. During her exit interview, she says that she wanted to demonstrate to the younger players that she is still doing well. Even if she is eliminated, she feels positive about herself. Erin says that the prize value is now at $10,000 with the first goodbye. The evening progresses to the second game: Blow the Whistle, in which every player is provided with an ice block that has a whistle inside. In order to mark themselves safe, they must melt the block and whistle blow. Seth, a College Professor from Ohio, especially wished they would play a game like that because that is why he wore a tweed coat today.
Family Members, Closest Friends, and Closest Competitors Clash in the Whistling Game
When Erin asks Ken what approach he can have for this game, he describes that he would like to rub the ice block against his body. The spotlight is then on Richie and Gianna, who are brother and sister from New York. They are warming up through exercise so that it can be of use to them later. Gianna says that even though family is their main value from birth, both of them will struggle for the award. Another participant among them is Sandra from North Carolina, a two-time winner of the ‘Survivors.’ She is thrilled to play but realizes her performance is on a great deal of pressure. Some best friends like Jim and Tammy are also from Texas. At the same time, Arvind, who owns a Tech Company in Missouri, believes he is going to win this challenge since he possesses physical and mental endurance.
Once the game starts, everyone sets to work to melt the block and reach their whistle. Ken notices all of them appearing frantic under pressure. Meanwhile, Chaz sends everyone into awe by being the first individual to blow the whistle. King Davis, an Engineer from California, discloses that he put the block inside his pants on the first chance, and he thinks it may be working. As more contestants succeed in completing the task, only 30 players remain to fight for their spot. Gradually, the game comes down to the final four: Tammy, Sandra, Arvind, and Mariama. While Sandra, Mariama, and Arvind manage to blow the whistle, Tammy regrettably does not get hers out of the block. This leaves her as the 99th contestant to be evicted. Tammy is sad to be going early, but feels she did the best she could. Jim adds that, even though he does not want his best friend to leave before him, he will attempt to speak on behalf of both of them. The attention is then drawn towards Tommy and Phil B. of New York, who in reality are father and son in their relationship. The latter says that, regardless of the nature of their relationship, he needs to defeat his dad. Phil quickly chimes in that he has always boasted he can beat his son at any game. That said, the third game of the evening is announced, which is Guess the Weight. Since most contestants are thinking about what kind of individual knows how much everything weighs, the attention turns to Donnell and Ronald. They are both Firefighters from Michigan. Donnell esteems Ronald, stating everyone knows the latter to be the best at his work.
Guessing Weight Turns Out to be Expensive, Darline Returning Home
Ronald is resolute and comments that he is not heading home since he will just remain calm and keep his composure. Ken descends to the field and announces that the first thing the competitors must guess the weight of is Cacti. The host states that the contestants must go to the box representing how much they believe the cacti weigh, and that is broken down into three possibilities: (a) 90-100 lbs, (b) 111-130 lbs, and (c) 131-150 lbs. Darline, a Florida schoolgirl, reveals that even though she was raised on a farm, she never did any measuring. Also, Adam, the Nevada Flight Attendant, says that while he always checks shapes and size, he does not know how to estimate weights in pounds. As all contestants find their place in the corresponding box and set their response, Ken says that the answer is 111-130 lbs.
The next 28 contestants who have chosen the wrong response proceed to the second round. At Ken’s direction, the second item at last comes, which is a group of referees. While all the participants are trying to decide on their responses, Jared from New Jersey says that he is attempting to make an educated guess, yet is merely a Barista and has no clue whatsoever as to what he is doing. All 28 of them complete selecting the desired one out of the three: (a) 500-750 lbs, (b) 751-1000 lbs, and (c) 1001-1250 lbs. The correct option proves to be 1001-1250 lbs, and it is left with just 7 participants who have given the wrong answer. Finally, the third and last object comes out, which leaves all in amazement because it is a camel. This time around, the choices are: (a) 1600-1900 lbs, (b) 1901-2200 lbs, and (c) 2201-2500 lbs. Wyoming Ranch Helper Leo is the contestant who says he works with multiple kinds of animals and believes it should be more than a horse. After everyone has solidified their answers, the host reveals that 1600-1900 is the correct response. This leaves only Adam, Jared, Leo, and Darline to play in another game. Ken describes that they now have to estimate the weight of all three objects already presented. The player whose estimate is furthest from the correct answer shall be eliminated. When they have to reveal their estimates, it turns out Jared has placed 2,984 lbs, Darline estimates 3,290 lbs, Leo wrote 3,003 lbs, and Adam estimates 3,030 lbs. Ken reveals that the correct combined weight is really 2,905 lbs, and Darline is out as player number 98.
The Pretty Penne Challenge Brings Laughs, Heartbreak, and a Father-Son
Farewell In Darline’s exit interview, she confesses she is a bit bummed because she didn’t want to leave yet. But perhaps it isn’t just the right thing for her, but at least someone will take home the money. With three players gone already, the award value increases to $30,000. It’s now time for the fourth game: Pretty Penne. The players in this one have thin strands of spaghetti, and in one of them, they must pile up the penne that they are given. Sarah K., a Dog Trainer from Pennsylvania, reveals that she is really the pasta queen. She clearly has three pasta tattoos and thinks she’s got an edge. In contrast, Phil B. opens up that he is a Baseball Coach, and he and his son, Tommy, both enjoy winning. Only one of them will make it to the end, though.
Attention now shifts to Cara-Maria from Florida, who is also the titleholder of ‘The Challenger.’ She says that in order to win $1 million earlier, she had to run and jump off a building. Therefore, she believes this game has to be much simpler. When the game starts, Frank doesn’t waste much time in fulfilling the task first. But Cara-Maria is seen struggling as one of her penne pastas has dropped to the ground. She stretches out on the ground while still having spaghetti in her mouth and attempts to locate it with her hand. Ken notices that the opponent might be panicking. The same is true for Adam as he attempts to go nice and slow, but the approach is not working out for him. Meanwhile, Sarah K.’s spaghetti miserably breaks, and she has to begin all over again. Time goes on, and only three contestants remain: Phil B., Adam, and Sarah K. Adam has previously been in the bottom four, and again he wishes he weren’t in the final three. Under the pressure, Sarah K. experiences a recurring dilemma when her spaghetti breaks once more. Although Adam makes it home in the end safely, the other two players keep going neck-to-neck. Sarah K. eventually finishes the game first by eliminating Phil B. When hugging his dad goodbye, Tommy finds himself happy that he was able to do this with his dad. It reminds him of his childhood days when he was a kid playing baseball and his dad was a coach. Phil B. opens up that he played the game to accomplish this with his son, and it is now done. For all the other contestants, the pot just increased by another $10,000, and it is now $40,000.
Teamwork and Tension Clash in the Fifth Game, Eliminating 13 Players
The fifth and last game of the evening is Bucket Head Relay. The contestants are segmented into various teams, and they must work in unison to fill the container in front of them with a bucket on their heads. They can finally triumph only if they fill the container to its full capacity and produce the ball, which is stored in it. In her confession, Aggie mentions that she is a highly competitive individual, to which Julian immediately chimes in that, being a retired Wrestler, he isn’t any less competitive. Attention turns toward David A. and Avery, who are adoptive brothers from Texas. They always just take things as they come along, but both of them are competitive to win. For the initial round, the teams are numbered as Team Blue, Yellow, Pink, and Green. The Green team gets their ball first, winning, who are closely followed by the Blue team.
Since Aggie and Julian are on separate teams, and she observes him struggling, she is worried about it. Team Pink finishes the game too, declaring the Yellow team as the losing ones. For the second round, the remaining players are divided into teams: Red, Purple, Orange, and Turquoise. As the game goes on, Sandra observes that since this is a team game, one has to rely on other people, but it is a hard pill to swallow for many. Erin quickly notices that the Red team is communicating quite well. Even though the Orange team finishes first, the Reds do not get sidetracked and do likewise immediately after. As David A.’s team has yet to complete the game, Avery becomes more anxious. In this round, the Turquoise team manages to rescue themselves, which results in the elimination of the Purple team. The last round will determine which team will stay in the running and which teams will be eliminated. This time the teams are team Yellow and Purple. Once they have a good plan, the groups get down to work because this time they need to take the ball above the line level in three containers, and these containers range from smallest to tallest. Julian is on team Yellow and floats from one container to the next. But Erin comments that the Purples lack teamwork. David A. starts getting anxious because Avery belongs to the latter group. Sadly, the Yellow group bags the victory, removing their opposing group from the game. 13 players, such as Avery, Sandra, and Aaron, say their goodbyes to the game. Avery laments because she tried her best, but it didn’t turn out her way after all. With only 84 players in the game left, the jackpot has escalated to $160,000. Ken encourages everybody to start learning one another’s weaknesses and strengths. Read More: Dancing With the Stars Season 34 Premiere Recap
