06x16 - Ninjas 2

[bunniefuu]

Please don't try anything

that you're about to see us do
at home.

Ever!

NARRATOR: On this "Way too drunk
to drive" episode,

Adam and Jamie get sloshed
for science.

Whoo!

I usually
don't let people do that.

NARRATOR: What is the best way
to get sober in a hurry?

Oh!

NARRATOR: And is the myth
of beer goggles fact or fantasy?

She's pretty darn cute.

NARRATOR:
Then, Kari, Grant, and Tory

rebuild an ancient weapon
of mass destruction.

Hwacha!

NARRATOR:
They start with one fire arrow,

then try launching 200

to see if the hwacha
lives up to its legend.

Who are the Mythbusters?

ADAM:
[ Laughs ]

NARRATOR:
Adam Savage...

[ Laughing maniacally ]

NARRATOR:
...and Jamie Hyneman.

Feel like I'm ready
to go out clubbing.

NARRATOR:
Between them, more than 30 years

of special-effects experience.

Freedom!

NARRATOR: Joining them --
Grant Imahara...

[ Laughs ]
You suck.

NARRATOR:
...Tory Belleci...

Put your back into it.

NARRATOR:
...And Kari Byron.

High expl*sives and electricity.
Whoo!

NARRATOR: They don't just tell
the myths...

they put them to the test.

Let's wet our whistles
with the myth of beer goggles.

I'm feeling
a little left out here.

And I'm glad.
What's going on?

Beer goggles.

-Beer goggles?
-Beer goggles!

It's been out there
waiting for us the whole time,

and for some reason,
we haven't tested it --

the idea that alcohol has
this magical property

that will make people around you
more attractive

the more you drink.

Actually, I feel like I've been
testing this for over a decade.

Yes!
But that's anecdotally.

We are going to test it
scientifically.

Great.
More drinking on the job.

NARRATOR: Jamie knows that
eventually this will turn ugly.

They'll have to lose
their inhibitions,

and maybe their lunch, to test
the truth of beer goggles.

This seems to be
a really subjective thing.

We need to be objective
if we're gonna be scientific.

-How are we gonna do that?
-Large sample size?

That's exactly
what I'm thinking.

And I'm thinking
that we rate photos.

Specifically,
we get a bunch of photos --

us of women, you of men.

We review a whole bunch
and rate them when we're sober.

And then we get drunk
and re-rate those photos.

And see
if there's a difference.

Exactly.

NARRATOR:
But before we raise our glasses,

let's meet the newest member
of the team,

with a vital role to play.

This is our new SMART Board.

Not only is it a really big,
beautiful interface,

but it's also interactive.

Let me show you a couple tricks.

Watch this.

[ Laughs ]

How about that, huh?
Huh?

You like that?
It gets better. Check it out.

Not only can I even do that,

I can also diagram what's
gonna happen in real time.

I'm not gonna go
too much farther

showing the tricks
this thing can do,

'cause we're about to use it
a whole bunch

in this very episode.

NARRATOR: The board's first job
is to help Adam, still sober,

rate the looks of 30 women
from 1 to 10.

Here we go.

NARRATOR: He's got just five
seconds to score each photo.

He can see the time tick down
on the left of the screen.

ADAM: I got to say, the exercise
of giving a quick rating,

it doesn't feel great.

It's kind of an awful thing
to have to do.

[ Chuckles ]

Aah!

Like, I found myself resisting
giving a 1 or a 2, but...

NARRATOR:
Yeah? But?

I got a 96!
[ Laughs ]

So the total possible score
is potentially 300.

Out of that, I gave a 96.

The question from here on in
will be,

as I drink,
will my overall score go up?

NARRATOR: Now it's Kari's turn
to rate the chaps.

KARI: Quite honestly, there are
no supermodels on here.

Oh, God.
Do I rate you on your hair?

Mm!

NARRATOR:
Kari's either much more generous

or less discriminating
than Adam.

[ Ding! ]

Okay.
Total score -- 154.

NARRATOR: But she does know
what pushes her buttons.

I noticed I was rating higher
on men that looked confident.

If they looked
sort of squirrelly

and really apprehensive
about the whole thing,

I definitely gave them
a lower score.

NARRATOR: Now for a man
who's anything but squirrelly.

-Your turn.
-Okay.

JAMIE: I'm about to look
at a bunch of pictures of women,

apparently,
and try to objectify them.

[ Laughs ]

NARRATOR:
Jamie's got a point.

Snap decisions based on looks
alone are shallow and shameful.

But hey, it's all
in the name of social science.

JAMIE: It's set up so that
it's sort of a gut reaction.

I don't know how consistent
it's gonna be,

but that's where the averaging
becomes important.

'Cause you've got some kind of a
number that should show a trend.

NARRATOR:
And Jamie's trendy number?

Higher than Adam's,
but lower than Kari's.

JAMIE:
So I got a 116.

Whatever that means.

NARRATOR:
Well, it means nothing

till they've done this
twice more --

first slightly inebriated and
then stumbling, dribbling drunk.

Hello, Ginger.

Hi, Adam.
How you doing?

Good.
How about three beers?

NARRATOR:
The aim here is to get buzzed.

For the boys, that means
two or three quick brewskies.

For Kari, maybe one less.

What's red and smells
like blue -- blue paint?

What?

Red paint.

[ Both laughing ]

She got Jamie giggling.

NARRATOR:
Ginger keeps the suds coming.

[ Burps ]

NARRATOR:
And they're ready to test

if they're officially buzzed.

ADAM:
Let's do a Breathalyzer.

Let's get some science going.

[ Laughs ]
It sounds like fun.

[ Exhales deeply ]

.06.

NARRATOR: Over to Kari, who
proves she's too drunk to drive.

ADAM: .08.

She's at the legal limit.

[ Exhales deeply ]

NARRATOR: Then Jamie blows
the same number as Adam.

ADAM: .06.

NARRATOR: But will their
slightly pickled perceptions

affect the way they judge
the opposite sex?

How am I gonna do
when I'm buzzed?

I don't think it will be a whole
lot different than sober.

NARRATOR: Adam's not so sure,
and he's the first to try it.

I'm at a .06.

You guys, don't cheat.
Don't look over here.

-You got it?
-KARI: No problem.

Okay. "Adam Buzzed."

Here we... go.

NARRATOR: This time around,
they've got 30 new faces,

judged by others
to be exactly as attractive

as the first batch.

ADAM: I can already
feel my ratings being higher.

[ Laughs ]

I found it much easier
to rate them buzzed than sober.

I started to feel bad
for the 1 s and 2s while sober.

Buzzed, didn't care at all.

1! 1! 2!
You're out!

NARRATOR: Harsh words.
But his tally supports the myth.

He is finding these faces
more attractive.

My buzzed score overall was 121.

NARRATOR: That's 25 more
than his sober test.

So, on average, each girl rates
almost a full point extra.

Now for Kari, who was far kinder
than the boys first time 'round.

KARI: I think I get a little
giddy after a few drinks,

so I think I might be
pretty generous

after I've had a beer or two.

NARRATOR: Or three.

Kari also has 30 new faces
to rate.

Again, all average Joes.

That is some fabulous hair.

NARRATOR:
But the beer-goggle effect

seems to be working in reverse.

KARI: Is this an uglier group
of people?

I wouldn't give
most of those guys change

if I passed them on the street.

NARRATOR:
Just two hours ago, sober,

Kari rated a similar group
at 154.

Now that she's loosened up...

KARI:
My buzzed score was 89.

I might be a mean drunk.

I'm not sure
if I was charity rating before,

'cause I felt kind of bad
for some of the uglier people.

But there was absolutely
no talent in this group.

None.

NARRATOR: So Jamie steps up
to rate the new babes.

And remember, he predicted
no change whatsoever.

JAMIE:
Here we go. "Jamie Buzzed."

My perceptions of what made them
attractive or not attractive

were pretty much the same

as they were the last time,
as far as I know.

I mean, nice complexion, regular
features, signs of health --

things like that.

NARRATOR:
But after three beers,

Jamie's brain
is lightly sautéed.

It all comes down to one number.

Okay. I'm done.

My buzzed score was 105.

NARRATOR:
His sober score was 116.

But we're yet to test anyone
cross-eyed drunk.

And when we do, the figures,
I promise, will surprise you.

I feel like I've met her.

All right, you guys. This
next myth is gonna be insane.

-What is it?
-That's it -- the hwacha.

-lt's an ancient Korean weapon.
-Oh.

If there's a picture of it,
that means it's not a myth.

-lt exists.
-GRANT: Well, we know it exists.

What we're gonna test
is the legend of the hwacha,

whether or not it could do
what they said it could do.

Apparently, they could fire
200 arrows all at once

going 500 yards and all
of the arrows explode on impact.

Okay, well, to begin with,
any weapon in that era

wouldn't have had the benefit
of modern expl*sives

or propellants.

It was likely based
entirely on black powder.

So first, we need to find out
if black powder

can actually propel
one of those arrows 500 yards.

Right, and then we need to see
if we can get these rockets

to explode on impact.

And finally, we need to see

if we can launch
200 arrows simultaneously

without them all crashing
into each other

or exploding on the stand.

NARRATOR: It's a massive myth to
unravel, with three key parts.

One, can a fire arrow
actually travel 500 yards?

Two, can it be rigged
to explode on impact?

[ Gasps ]

NARRATOR: And three, can you
really set off 200 at once?

So let's start
up at the pointy end.

What I'm gonna do now is I'm
gonna build one of these arrows

from the materials that the
ancient Koreans would have used.

I have some bamboo,

I have some feathers
for my fletching

and, finally, a piece of steel
to make my arrowheads out of.

NARRATOR: Tory proves himself
a first-class fletcher...

...and a pretty fair blacksmith.

All right.
So my arrow's done.

Now it's time to see
how it flies.

Hwacha!

Pretty dang good.

NARRATOR:
That's one down, 199 to go.

Tory leaves the hard work
to Kari,

as he and Grant skip town

to visit Zambelli Fireworks
in Pennsylvania.

TORY:
We're lost, aren't we?

NARRATOR: The rationale
behind the road trip

is that the fire arrows work
just like skyrockets.

TORY: Now, if we happen to have
some fun while we're here,

that's purely coincidental.

NARRATOR:
Just like fireworks,

the hwacha rockets
were charged with black powder.

Ours have to travel 500 yards
strapped to a 4 1/2-foot arrow.

Grant and Tory are determined
to roll their own,

and Bill is here to help them.

Well, let's see.
What's one of these weigh?

Well, about 4 ounces.

Every 12 ounces
the shell weighs,

we add one ounce of lift
to lift it up in the air.

If you guys want to go
500 yards, that's a long way.

So we'll see
how a 2-ounce rocket works.

NARRATOR:
Using six-inch cardboard tubes,

Bill shows how to pack a charge
without blowing up the bunker.

GRANT: And so you do
a little bit at a time,

-and you compress that.
-BILL: You put the rod down in,

and you just give it
a couple hits.

-Feels wrong.
-Go ahead.

Don't hit it too hard, man.

I'd hate to see you
blow your hand off.

-Good?
-GRANT: Nice.

NARRATOR: Grant and Tory make
several versions,

some with more black powder
and some with less.

All right. We need to see if
these arrows can fly 500 yards.

So we should walk it out.

NARRATOR: They're here to test
part 1 of the myth --

that a rocket arrow
really could make the distance.

But 500 yards is a long,
long way.

TORY: Isn't this how
all horror movies start?

[ Laughs ]

"Didn't that guy say
stick to the path?"

This is gonna be perfect.
We're right at the tree line.

NARRATOR: The crop ends
smack-bang on the 500-yard mark.

They tape the target
halfway up a tree

so they can see it
from the launch site.

GRANT:
At this point,

I think we're just going
for distance rather than aim.

But if I were to take a guess

to see whether the arrow
would hit him,

I'd have to say
we probably wouldn't.

Then again,
the hwacha had 200 arrows.

NARRATOR:
Back at the business end,

they set the mortar
to 45 degrees...

GRANT:
Back up.

NARRATOR:... and start
with the smallest rocket.

If this baby-bear rocket
reaches the trees,

they can pack up and go home.

-GRANT: Yeah!
-TORY: Nice!

It didn't really work!

I'm gonna have to say
it went about zero yards.

-GRANT: Not enough thrust.
-TORY: Yes.

It does look
a little embarrassing

that this is our first rocket
that we built

and it doesn't even fly.

But that just means
this rocket's too small

and the arrow's too heavy.

NARRATOR: So they try
the mama-bear charge.

GRANT:
Back up.

NARRATOR: But it still
more blows than goes.

GRANT: Cool!

There's a lot of reasons
why these might not be working.

Maybe we didn't pack
the black powder tight enough.

The nozzle might be
the wrong size

or the arrows
are just too heavy,

and this rocket
can't give it lift.

But we're not gonna give up.

NARRATOR: So Grant tries
a rocket with more powder

and a smaller nozzle.

TORY: Quick!
They're charging!

Whoa-h*-h*!

[ Both laugh ]

Nice!
That was nuts!

[ Laughs ] Did you see it go,
spiral around?

TORY: All right. I'm gonna see
if I can go find that.

-GRANT: Good luck.
-TORY: Wow!

Grant! Whoo!

That went more than halfway.

GRANT:
Yeah -- 290 yards.

TORY:
As beautiful as that was,

it's still not good enough
for this myth.

I mean, the arrow
only made it to 290 yards.

We're not stopping
until we reach 500.

NARRATOR: For that, they'll
need to double the charge

by strapping on
two black-powder engines.

But will the arrow bear
the weight?

Grant adjusts the angle
to 50 degrees.

That is right on the money.

NARRATOR: This field test
is all about going the distance.

Landing short
would make this myth a misfire.

GRANT: Come on, baby.
Come on, hwacha.

Come on! Come on!

-Whoa!
-[ Laughs ]

Keep going!
Keep going!

-Yeah!
-GRANT: Oh!

That looked like it exploded
above the trees.

Yes! I think it exploded
over the trees, man.

-That's 500 yards, buddy.
-That went the distance!

Yeah!

NARRATOR:
The target's untouched,

but they've got
what they came for.

They reached it.

This part of the myth
is confirmed.

God, this is gonna be
a nightmare

trying to get all 200 arrows
to fire off at the same time.

And we've still
got to make the cart

and find out if that expl*sive
charge is mortally wounding.

We got a lot of work. We'd
better get back to the shop.

All right.

NARRATOR: Adam, Jamie, and Kari
are risking their lives --

uh, that should read "livers" --

to test the myth
of beer goggles.

This is
the best day at work ever.

[ Laughs ]

NARRATOR: They've all done
the test sober and then buzzed

with varied results.

Time to raise the stakes...

I think it's time for a Scotch.

NARRATOR:... and maybe lower
their standards.

What are you gonna have?

Whatever's in that brown bottle.

NARRATOR: Hard to beat
a drink of something... brown.

Kari still has a lot to learn,

like, "Don't tease
the wildlife."

Can I style you?
Hold on.

You know, I usually
don't let people do that.

ADAM:
I don't know about you, Jamie,

but I'm ready to take this test,
and I know that Kari is.

NARRATOR:
Adam blows. 11...

ADAM:
That's good enough.

-[ Exhales deeply ]
-NARRATOR:... and Jamie,. 10.

That works.

NARRATOR: So technically,
they're both a bit wobbly.

-[ Exhales deeply ]
-NARRATOR: As for Kari...

. 13.
[ Laughs ]

Dude, you are so ready
for this test.

NARRATOR: In fact,
they're all well primed

for part three
of the beer-goggles challenge.

These last 30 faces
are a random mix

of those they've seen sober
and buzzed.

She's pretty darn cute.
8.

She's very cute.

I've met her.

It seems like in each group,
there's a lot more cute chicks.

NARRATOR:
When he's done, Adam's score

reflects his growing enthusiasm.

134?!

Wow.

NARRATOR:
But the wild card here is Kari.

She was far harsher buzzed,
so this could be anything.

"Kari Drunk."

NARRATOR:
Kari correct.

Her 30 guys look set
for another beating,

assuming she can
still see straight.

You look homeless
but kind of cute.

He's all right.

NARRATOR: Even Kari's surprised
that the tide might be turning.

KARI: When I was sober,
I was definitely thinking

that confident-looking people
looked sort of attractive.

And then as I was buzzed,
they looked c*ck.

And then as I got drunker,
I was sort of thinking

that the people
that were attractive

were sort of the more
vulnerable-looking people,

sort of like
the more sadder characters.

They just -- They looked cuter.

NARRATOR: And that's why
men will never, ever guess

what a woman is thinking.

Kari's score is 153.

I can't remember

if that's higher or lower
than either of my scores.

NARRATOR: That's a 64-point jump
from last time.

As for the man bent on putting
reason back into romance...

"Jamie Drunk."
Start.

Drunk, buzzed, sober --

An apple is an apple,
and an orange is an orange.

There we go.

-[ Ding! ]
-Drunk score, 111.

NARRATOR: From stone-cold sober
to stinking drunk,

Jamie's judgment varied
by just 11 points.

Basically, what I'm saying

is that I don't see that
I'm subject to beer goggles.

NARRATOR: With three
very different results,

they'll make or break this myth
by checking the numbers.

I don't know about
you two reprobates,

but I don't feel in any
condition to crunch any numbers.

I think we ought to go home,
drink a lot of water,

sober up,
and come back tomorrow.

Did you say
you were calling a taxi?

Taxi.
Absolutely.

Looks to me like we all had

very different reactions
to the alcohol.

What do you two make out of it?

I'll tell you what I see.

If this myth
were totally confirmed,

all three of our graph lines
would look like mine --

a steady improvement

in our assessment
of the attractiveness

of the opposite sex,
directly in proportion

to the amount of alcohol
we consumed.

It definitely looks like
I was way harsher

when I was buzzed
than when I was sober.

And I look pretty consistent,
all in all.

However, I'd like to point out
that both of you

showed improvement from
being buzzed to being drunk.

That result,

combined with my steady
improvement all along the line,

tells me this one
is easily plausible.

Definitely plausible.

Okay.
Plausible.

NARRATOR:
Adam and Jamie have already

drunk themselves sideways
for science,

but there's no time
to sleep it off.

In fact, that's exactly
the point of our next myth.

Well, I've been thinking, along
the lines of drinking myths,

I have always wanted to do
sobering-up techniques,

specifically 'cause
I've always wanted to see

a high-speed shot of somebody
getting smacked in the face.

Well, as long as that somebody
is you, I'm okay with it.

ADAM: Almost since
the invention of alcohol,

people have been drinking
too much

and then finding,
for one reason or another,

that they needed
to get sober quickly.

And they have tried
a myriad of techniques --

techniques like drinking
a big cup of black coffee.

Vigorous exercise
is also supposed to work.

Dunking your face
in some ice water.

That's also supposed to work!

Also, your friends
might be inclined to...

...smack you in the face
to sober you up.

Of course,
it all begins at the bar.

And although we're gonna test
every one of these,

we've got to get drunk first.

Buster, set me up.

NARRATOR: So the boys
fall back off the wagon.

So, you in town for a long time,
or you here for the convention?

Shut up.
Leave me alone.

There's those people skills
hard at work.

NARRATOR: And that's just
the first shot of five.

Realizing that things
might turn ugly,

the producers got Adam
to prerecord the plan.

[ Coughing ]

Because this whole story hinges
on whether or not

we are more or less sober,
the researchers have found us

the perfect test
to determine that.

This is a hand-eye
coordination test

that's very similar
to one developed for astronauts.

It simply involves staying
at arm's length from the screen

with weights on your arm
and tracing this gray line.

We are scored
on both accuracy --

how many times
our line leaves the gray line

and for how long and speed --

how long it takes
to make the whole journey.

We've got a number of these.

They're all different,
but they're all the same length

and involve
the same number of turns.

Jamie and I will each take
one of these tests

before trying
a sobering-up technique

and take another one

after trying
the sobering-up technique.

And we will each act
as each other's controls,

swapping out between techniques.

Na zdorov'e.

Na zdorov'e.

[ Groans, growls ]

NARRATOR: They'll need to stay
consistently drunk

to validate the cures.

JAMIE: This is like taking
medicine or something.

It takes all the fun out of it.

ADAM:
I know what you mean, brother.

[ Glass shatters ]

NARRATOR:
Tory and Grant have checked off

the first part
of the hwacha myth.

A bamboo arrow with a gunpowder
engine can fly 500 yards.

Part 2 of the test

is to see if the arrows
were double-deadly --

A warhead filled
with more gunpowder

was meant to explode on impact.

But will it do more
than just singe the skin?

Only one way to find out.

Tory prepares a leg of pork...

Ah, you filthy little pig.

NARRATOR:
...Grant inserts the fuse,

and hopefully
we're makin' bacon.

This is tissue-damage test
on pork.

In 3, 2, 1...

-TORY: [ Laughs ]
-Wow!

Wow!
That's good.

[ Laughs ]

Wow.
Look at that.

More burning of flesh.

GRANT:
All right.

But as far as making it
a mortal wound

that explodes inside you...

Yeah, the arrow itself

is probably gonna do more damage
than the expl*si*n.

NARRATOR: But we're testing
for deadly injury,

so it's worth
rewrapping the warhead

to push all that expl*sive
energy forwards.

That's a larger exploding arrow.

I think the boys really were
hoping for some sort of --

blah! -- gore and mess.

But what really happened is,

the energy took the path
of least resistance.

In 3, 2, 1.

[ Laughter ]

-Whoa!
-Wow!

Look at how much damage
that did.

That's a little more
what you were looking for.

NARRATOR: And exactly
what they were hoping for.

This is the same amount of black
powder as the test before.

The only difference
is how we contained it.

Now, before,
we had a thin paper tube.

The tube blew out, and all
the energy was being released.

In this test, we sealed
both ends of the container

and had a small fuse going in.

So all that energy
that was being lost

built up, built up, built up,
and ba-boom!

Big wound.

NARRATOR: That's two-thirds
of the legend confirmed.

The arrows can fly 500 yards,

and they can cause
serious additional damage

when they explode on impact.

To test part 3,

whether 200 arrows
really could fire together,

they need to build
their own replica hwacha.

Tory gets stuck
into the carpentry...

while Grant carves a life-sized
army of Styrofoam soldiers...

...all fated to end their days
as Korean cannon fodder.

Since Tory told us
about the hwacha,

I've been doing a little bit
of research about it.

It turns out that the first one
was made in 1409

during the Choson Dynasty
by Korean scientists.

But they say
that one wasn't used in combat.

Yeah, and by 1503, it had become
such an effective weapon

that in the Battle of Haengju,

3,000 Korean soldiers
and 40 hwachas

repelled over 30,000
Japanese troops.

So they were outnumbered
10 to 1.

Yeah.

In fact, at that time,

the hwacha had become
a primary defensive strategy.

They just lined the borders
with them.

That's cool. I hope ours
can live up to that legacy.

NARRATOR: Tory has exceeded
all expectations,

building a near-perfect hwacha

based on nothing more
than photos.

He adds a splash of timber stain
and some old-timey wheels.

TORY: And the wheels also act
as an angle finder,

so you can find the best angle
for your trajectory.

This is going to be awesome.

Grant's army
does not stand a chance.

NARRATOR:
Adam and Jamie are all set

to test four mythical ways
to sober up fast.

-[ Glass shatters ]
-Uh-oh.

NARRATOR: So far, all they've
done is drink themselves stupid.

Well, stupider.

While Adam stays
pleasantly pickled,

Jamie tries
the first detoxifier.

The idea is black coffee!

What are you doing?

I'm the control.

See...

I don't think
you're very much under control.

I'm not under control.
I am the control.

You drink that whole cup of
coffee, we wait five minutes,

and then we test you cognitively
and Breathalyzer-ly again

to see if there's
any stark improvement.

And then I do
the same two tests

to see if there's a difference
in the improvement.

Whenever you're ready.

You're rapidly improving.

I don't know what to make
of that, but...

I don't feel like crunching
any data while I'm drunk.

Okay.

And it's all about the data.

ADAM: Oh!

NARRATOR:
Adam, who also blew .07,

completes his non-coffee
control test.

32!

[ Laughs ]

NARRATOR:
So it's back to the bar.

Adam treats himself
to a few cups of joe

so he and Jamie
are back on a kind of even keel.

[ Chuckles ]
Here's mud in your eye.

Oh, this is vile.

NARRATOR: Now for
a much-needed spurt of spirits.

ADAM: On the assumption
that the average adult male

of our size processes --
metabolizes, as you might say --

one drink per hour,

we are having
a maintenance drink right now.

NARRATOR: It's about now
we'd normally warn you

about excessive drinking.

But those two miserable mugs
tell the story.

This blows.

NARRATOR: Technique number two
for sobering up

is vigorous exercise,
and Adam's the guinea pig.

It's all a numbers game, and
here's a few more to consider.

Adam has to run this treadmill
for five minutes

at 6 1/2 miles per hour.

This is scary.

NARRATOR:
His blood alcohol is .09.

[ Laughs ]
Wow.

I'm gonna have to concentrate
on this.

NARRATOR: Adam's hung
a green screen for inspiration

but then realizes it won't work
because he can't see it.

Some decisions
really are best made sober.

One minute.

Oh, my God.

I'm gonna die.

JAMIE: Look, we picked a
treadmill because it's compact.

It makes it easy for us
to film this thing.

But now that I'm looking at it,

I remember that it takes
a fair amount of coordination

just to stay on the damn thing,
and Adam's drunk.

NARRATOR:
What can I say?

Even soused,
the man's a prophet.

Whoa!

Aah! Oh!

[ Clang ]

Okay.
I'm totally cool.

NARRATOR:
Now, here's two advantages

to being drunk as a skunk.

One, he won't feel the pain
till tomorrow.

And two,
Adam's judgment is so impaired,

he gets back on the darn thing.

I didn't break any bones.

10 seconds.

8...

-Did my watch break?
-JAMIE:.. .6, 5...

.. .3, 2, 1.
You're done.

NARRATOR:
The good news for Adam's mom

is that he's still breathing --
heavily.

There's lot of competition, but
that might be the worst thing

I've ever had to do
on this show.

[ Breathing heavily ]

NARRATOR: There comes a time
when no one wants to be drunk,

so Adam and Jamie take
the four-step plan

to get sober in a hurry.

And now they're down
to two mythical cures

that should at least be
mercifully brief.

The first is a face-freezing
dunk in ice water.

Adam's the control,
so Jamie gets his eyebrows iced.

I think within the pantheon
of sobering-up techniques,

cold water is in the
shock-to-the-system category.

I guess just
in the same way it can -- oh! --

wake you up in the morning,

it's supposed to snap you out
of your drunkenness.

NARRATOR:
Both the boys have blown .08,

but it still takes guts
to take the plunge.

Oh, God.

ADAM:
Shake it, shake it, shake it!

That's it! Yeah!

NARRATOR: Jamie's either dead
or just enjoying himself.

ADAM:
Wow. Look at him.

He's like a polar bear.

He's like an aquatic mammal.
You ready?

That feels kind of good,
actually.

Here you go.

I thought it was gonna be
painful, but I kind of liked it.

NARRATOR: As always,
the boys run a post-cure test

to collect the data.

[ Beep ]

23 seconds.

NARRATOR: Now for the fastest
and nastiest myth of all.

It's a simple technique

that always seems to work
in the movies.

ADAM: When I was thinking
about sobering-up techniques,

I noticed in the movies,

whenever someone's passed out
drunk, somebody else goes...

"Come on, man.
Wake up."

NARRATOR:
Adam's feeling no pain.

But that's about to change.

Oh!
[ Laughs ]

Holy crap.

[ Laughs ]

Holy bleeping bleepity bleep!

[ Laughs ]

Can I do that again?
That was kind of fun.

No.
That made my head ring.

ADAM: It definitely took my mind
off feeling crappy and drunk.

But I think that's
the same effect --

It's like if you feel hurt,
you drink a little alcohol,

and you wouldn't care
so much about being hurt.

It's like the opposite effect.

JAMIE:
Here it comes.

ADAM:
Oh, crap.

[ Both laugh ]

Oh, my God!

My whole -- Oh, my God.

[ Laughs ]

JAMIE: It's like
your whole head is rubber.

ADAM: That's the funniest thing
I've ever seen.

NARRATOR: For the last time,
the boys blow the bag

and trace the graph.

[ Beep ]

21 seconds.

-[ Marker clangs ]
-NARRATOR: They're far too drunk

to know what worked
and what didn't.

But the stats they've gathered
will tell the story.

[ Both mumbling ]

Sobering-up techniques.
This looks pretty slick.

Is it gonna help us wrap it up?

In fact, it will.
Let me walk you through it.

This is you pre-coffee.

Then you drank three cups of
coffee, and your score improved.

However, I was the control,

and my score improved pretty
much at the exact same rate.

So I'd say coffee is busted.

Now, here is me pre-exercise.

Here is me post-exercise.

That's a pretty
radical improvement.

But I stayed about the same,

so that means
it's plausible, right?

I totally agree.
Plausible it is.

Now, you were the one
that dunked your head

in a bucket of ice water.

Here is you before.
Here is you after.

Little lack of improvement.

Mine was about the same.

I say ice water
is totally busted.

What about the slap?
My favorite.

ADAM:
Okay. [ Laughs ]

Here is me pre-slap.
Here is me post-slap.

I think that's a pretty
undeniable radical improvement.

You helped me out a lot.
I'd say this one's plausible.

I'll have to remember that.

ADAM:
[ Laughs ]

The best part is,

all of these results
are totally backed up

by the Breathalyzer data we got
as well.

I guess that does wrap it up.

Totally.
No more drinking for us.

NARRATOR:
All famous conflicts

have an equally famous
b*ttlefield --

Gettysburg, Guadalcanal,

and in this case,
the Teichert Quarry.

GRANT:
This is it.

KARI:
Teichert Aggregates.

TORY: Do they have any idea
what we're gonna do today?

-GRANT: No.
-KARI: [ Laughs ]

NARRATOR:
No one doubts the existence

of this medieval
Korean arrow launcher.

But many doubt its capabilities.

We've surprised ourselves

by proving these rocket arrows
could fly 500 yards...

Grant! Whoo!

NARRATOR:
...then explode on impact.

-Whoa!
-Wow!

NARRATOR: Now to see
if they can all launch together

to devastate Grant's grunts.

Drafted, drafted.

It's a good thing
you got a light infantry.

GRANT: Oh, how long
you been saving that one?

NARRATOR:
Not long enough.

Now all 200 arrows need to be
charged, and it's safety first.

TORY: We're starting
to build our rockets

and attaching
our expl*sive heads.

But just like Zambelli's,
we're separating our stations.

So if one of us goes up,

we don't take all the rest out
with them.

GRANT: Tory and I
will be adding the black powder

and sealing up the warheads.

And we'll pass these off
to Kari,

who will be putting the rockets
in their final tubes

and attaching them
to the arrows.

TORY: I've been making fireworks
since I was a little kid --

30 years.

I never had a problem.

NARRATOR:
When the arrows are finished,

the star of the show
is coaxed from the trailer.

Hwacha!

KARI: There you go.
It's free.

TORY:
Let's roll it into position.

NARRATOR: Tory sights
the machine on level ground,

and he's covered all the angles.

TORY:
All right.

And this is a 50-degree
trajectory.

All right. Well, army's
gonna be right over there.

All right. Let's measure out
500 yards and set up your army.

NARRATOR:
Grant's army is just 50 strong,

staked out
in a loose skirmish formation.

GRANT: When it comes
to recruiting foam people,

they're not that bright.

So it's easy to convince them
to stand out there in the field.

You ready to load the hwacha?

KARI:
I'm getting excited.

NARRATOR: I must say I'm getting
a little enthused myself.

All 200 tubes are loaded.

TORY:
Something's gonna happen.

NARRATOR: And they know they'll
only get one shot at this.

GRANT: Okay, so all the
individual arrows are now fused.

And the idea is
that we group them together

and just keep grouping
them together,

grouping them together,
until in the end,

we have one final fuse
that we light and then run away.

This is actually the coolest
ancient weapon we've ever made.

NARRATOR: But will the hwacha
live up to its reputation?

Kari's prepared to stake hers.

KARI: I think
it's gonna take down the army.

I'm guessing
at least 50 % go down.

NARRATOR: And that's got the
infantry trembling in its boots.

Grant sallies forth
to light the master fuse...

TORY:
Quick! Your army is attacking!

Run, Grant!

NARRATOR:
...then toddles back to safety.

GRANT:
It's going.

TORY: We got a little bit
of time here.

NARRATOR: They know
something's bound to happen.

But will these arrows
all take off together?

GRANT: Another 30 seconds. You
can see multiple fuses going.

NARRATOR: Or will the hwacha
just blow itself to pieces?

TORY:
Look at all the smoke.

NARRATOR: The tension builds
as the fuse burns down.

No one knows just when

or even if the last part
of this myth will catch fire.

TORY: Something's happening.
Something's happening.

KARI:
They'll light each other.

GRANT:
[ Laughs ]

[ Cheering ]

[ Arrows whistling ]

NARRATOR:
It's the launch of a lifetime.

A spectacle not seen
by man nor beast in 500 years.

And every arrow but one
took flight.

[ Cheering ]

GRANT:
That was fantastic.

Just seeing all the rockets come
out of the hwacha at once --

beautiful thing.

Seeing that would be terrifying.

Absolutely terrifying.

Oh.
Hey, look.

That's the one that went short.

NARRATOR: It's an awesome enough
sight side on.

Half a dozen arrows
dropped short,

and the army's still upright.

But this myth
is far from busted.

GRANT:
Well, the army's still standing.

TORY:
Yeah, and you know what?

There's not a lot of arrows
in this area.

KARI:
Where'd they go?

TORY: I don't know.
They're around here somewhere.

They've all grouped
right over here.

GRANT: Oh, wow. That's
a great grouping, actually.

TORY: That's incredible.

Like, they were
pretty consistent.

KARI: Oh, there are definitely
army over here.

We only had 50 soldiers.

Imagine if we had like
3,000, 30,000, 300,000.

NARRATOR:
Kari's right.

The troops wouldn't be so few
or so scattered.

So this rocket attack
would be devastating.

All right.
So, hwacha -- confirmed?

Confirmed.
They all left and they exploded.

Absolutely confirmed.

-All right.
-That was a good one, man.

[ Hawk screeches ]

KARI: The hwacha worked
on many levels.

But most of all,
it was frightening.

All of those arrows
flying into the air on fire

and exploding would definitely
make me turn around and run.

TORY:
That was a success.

I mean, we got all the arrows
to fire off except for one,

and they all went the distance
and they all exploded.

Okay, maybe we didn't
take out the army.

That's just because
our aim was off.

But if we had been aimed right,
we would have k*lled this army!

NARRATOR:
We knew it existed,

but no one knew for sure
what the hwacha was capable of.