"Hand Talker" Steven Barnthouse Jr was a contestant who competed on S4E04 'Baby it's a Blob outside'. Steven's nickname comes from his occupation as a sign language interpreter.
Performance[]
Qualifier[]
Steven was the second contestant to run course in the episode. Steven began his run by being launched into the air by the 'Winter Burr-Blob', flayling his arms and legs as he was in the air. At the Big Balls, Steven ran down the conveyer belt, but only reached the second ball before wiping out. At the 'Snowman Sweeper', Steven almost made it across, but the rotating sweeper arm tapped him on the head on his last step causing him to fall short on his last leap to the platform. At the final obstacle the 'Yule Log Jam', Steven made it to the second yule log, but the spanker bar knocked him backwards causing him to fall between the yule logs, hitting the windmill on his way down. Steven ended up finishing with a time of 2:43.8, the 2nd fastest time of the day behind Dana Logsdon.
Ski Lift[]
Steven and the other 11 would now face the Ski Lift. Once the round began it took several rotations before a contestant fell, at one point Steven yelled out "WOULD SOMEBODY FALL ALREADY" and shortly after, the first contestant fell. Steven was able to hang long enough to be one of the 6 moving on to the next stage. During the $1000 bonus round, Steven outlasted everyone else until only he and Dana remained. Steven was hit by first sweeper, landed facing the wrong way, and got clobbered from behind by the second sweeper, rolling over and falling headfirst into the water, losing the $1000 bonus. Steven would join Dana in the next stage, alongside Mika Mori, Mike Camerota, Terry Archer, and Robert Ponce.
Seven Letter Word[]
Steven and the others would now face the Seven Letter Word. For round 1, Steven was quick out of the gate but was quick taken out by the first sweeper arm at the W. After making it to E offscreen, Steven tried and failed to jump to the O. Steven would again lose to Dana who took the 1st spot in the Wipeout Zone. For round 2, Steven made it to the E without a wipeout, after wiping out at least once offscreen (as indicated by the foam on his body disappearing between shots), Steven was able to make it onto the O, joining Mika, Terry, and Mike. Mika was the first to make a move and succeeded in jumping to the U. After Mike failed his jump, Steven joined Mika on the U, despite being tossed about by the hurdles, Mika was able to make it to the T before Steven, taking the 2nd spot in the Zone.
Steven began the final round by jumping to the I only to get slammed by the sweeper arm. Nonetheless he got to the E offscreen and tried jumping onto the O, only to slide off and slam into the side of the U on his way down. Back up, Steven made to the O and successfully jumped to the U. Steven now found himself in a tense race to catch Terry who was just one hurdle away from the finish. After catching up to him, Terry fell off the U as he rolled over the last hurdle, leaving the door wide open for Steven. As Steven struggled to get over the last hurdle, Mike jumped to U leading to another tense race. Steven finally got over the last hurdle but came dangerously close to falling over the edge, nonetheless he got to his feet and made it over to the T, taking the last spot in the Wipeout Zone.
Winter Wipeout Zone[]
Steven was the first to run the Zone the night. After being launched into the Zone by the Bobsleigh Blastoff, Steven faced the 'Icy Stairway from Hell'. Steven made up to the top of the Staircase with ease but nearly fell off twice on his way down. Despite this, Steven conquered the Stairway on his first attempt, the first one all season to do so. Steven now faced 'Frost Bite' and only got a few steps out on the beam before getting slammed by an icicle. On his second attempt, Steven made it to the center of the obstacle where he was blasted by a water cannon, Steven dashed to the exit platform but got clipped at the last moment and tumbled down the side of the ramp into the water. As Steven didn't get his feet firmly on the platform, he had to swim all the way back and try again. Steven made through on his third attempt and now faced the final obstacle the 'Sinister Snowflake'. Steven tried to grab a plank but fell off immediately. On his second try Steven got a foothold on the first Snowflake, but a blast of water screwed up his jump to the second flake and he fell in a similar fashion to his previous attempt. Back up for a third time, Steven nearly fell again on his jump to the second Flake but recovered and was able to make it to the finish platform, setting a time of 12:10.53. Sadly Steven's time wasn't good enough as Mika would beat his time, thus Steven lost the $50,000 prize.