Original subtitles

Don't try anything you've seen on this show at home.

We're what you call... Experts.

Narrator: On this episode of "mythbusters"...

Am i really that ugly?

Adam and Jamie face a freaky face-off fable.

Wow!

Can a pull-over mask...

It's party time!

Narrator: Be used to pull off

a "mission: Impossible" -style identity theft?

That's weird.

Meanwhile, kari, Grant, and Tory...

Take aim at two ballistic myths.

Are you feeling lucky...

Punk?

Narrator: First, can a trick shot

shoot a gun along the ground?

And second, would a Hollywood bullet

really blast a merry-go-round...

Make my day.

Into a spin?

Now it's the "scary-go-round."

Narrator: Who are the mythbusters?

Adam savage...

Big boom! Big boom!

And Jamie hyneman.

Surrender your candy.

Between them, more than 30 years of special-effects experience.

Joining them... Grand imahara...

Decapitation hazard, everybody.

Narrator: Kari Byron...

Ding, ding, ding, ding! Chow time!

And Tory belleci.

They're gonna fry my brain.

They don't just tell the myths,

they put them to the test.

Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications

I'll bet they're wondering who we are.

Yeah.

We're the story. Allow me to demonstrate.

Remember in "mission: Impossible,"

when the characters would wear these hand-sculpted

full pull-over head masks

in order to pretend to be a completely different character

in order to breach security?

That's what we're gonna test.

Yeah.

In the iconic '60s TV show "mission: Impossible,"

a number of story-lines

depended upon hand-made masks

to perpetrate identity-theft activities.

Onscreen, the pliable, realistically colored material

is supposedly enough to fool security guards

and even colleagues.

But Adam and Jamie want to know if it's possible in real life.

You want to hear my methodology?

Shoot. All right.

The masks we were just wearing are made by spfx masks,

and they make the crème de la crme

of silicone super-realistic full-pullover head masks.

And they work old-school...

They will make us a pair of masks

working solely from photographs...

Exactly the technique

used by the agents in "mission: Impossible."

Well, you know there's more to this than just the masks.

We not only have to look like each other,

we have to be able to act like each other.

You're suggesting we get acting lessons.

Isn't it about time?

I think it is. That's perfect.

Let's do it.

So, first up, let's meet the ugly-mug maestro

who will be helping Adam and Jamie

pull off this mythical face-off.

Now line up and give me 20!

Their hands-on techniques do match the old-school methods

of the "mission: Impossible" myth,

but making an out-of-this-world monster mask is one thing.

[ Bleating ]

Narrator: Re-creating a human face accurate enough

to fool a security guard is a different beast altogether.

Whoo! These are pointy.

That is a very attractive feature.

Narrator: To make sure Adam and Jamie's masks

don't end up with freaky pointy features...

Turn to your left.

Step one is gathering accurate data to work from.

Okay, Jamie, we're gonna measure your cheekbones.

And with those numbers and pictures as reference,

it's over to special-effects artist Jim,

who sculpts an anatomically accurate Clay bust

as the foundation for each mask.

Next, they create fiberglass molds around those Clay forms,

which, when hardened, look like this.

This is my mold.

Pretty soon, they're gonna put this together

and pour silicone in it,

and you'll have a duplicate Jamie.

Once the silicone is set and popped from the mold,

the basic canvas for each mask is complete.

Now it's time for the texture, detail, and color.

Everybody thinks of skin as just one crayon in the box,

when, in fact, is's composed of a whole bunch of colors,

and it's one of the most difficult paint jobs.

This guy will take between 6 and 10 hours to get right.

It's weird.

This is my half-finished mask.

Doesn't look like me much at the moment,

but put some hair on it and a beret...

You're gonna be surprised.

Narrator: And what's more surprising

is how much effort goes into making our hoosier hirsute

because the follication is done hair by painstaking hair.

The hair on my mask is actually real human hair,

and it's punched into the silicone one follicle at a time.

It's very time-consuming.

Just the front, the beard and eyebrows, takes three days.

The whole head, a week.

Now, you're gonna shave me, right?

Mm-hmm. Okay, good.

While Adam and Jamie's faces are being finished,

Adam and Jamie head back to the shop

to learn to be Jamie and Adam.

And to do that, they're in the hands of a legend.

Jamie: Our acting coach is Terry mcgovern.

He's been acting for 40 years,

and he's been teaching acting himself for 15 years.

Film buffs might recognize him

as the teacher in "American graffiti."

He was also the voice of the sand trooper

in "star wars" who said,

"these aren't the droids we're looking for."

His job today is to teach us the art of impersonation.

[ Gunshot ]

Okay, judging from the title "firearms force"

and the fact that you guys are packing heat

in the blueprint room,

I'm guessing we have some shooting in our future.

Yep, and a lot of it.

We are testing two myths about bullets doing work.

Like killing bad guys?

No. What we're talking about is bullets doing physical work...

Something moving when you shoot it.

Like what?

The first one is a classic gun myth

where two guys are in a duel,

one drops his gun, reaches for it,

and the other guy shoots it across the floor

just out of reach.

But can a bullet really impart that much force?

Exactly.

The second myth comes from the movie "shoot 'em up,"

where clive Owen shoots a child's merry-go-round

to get it to spin.

I think we should start with that one.

I've always wondered if that was true.

Narrator: In this "shoot 'em up" scene,

our hero stymies a sniper

by firing a round into a merry-go-round.

And, supposedly, the force of the bullet

spins the target out of harm's way.

But is the propulsion down to physics,

or is it just cinema spin?

[ Baby crying ]

When we test these myths,

i think it's gonna be important for us

to duplicate the circumstances

exactly as they appear in the movie,

which means distance to shooter and type of gun.

Then we go for it.

If that doesn't work, let's step up the firepower.

Then we should definitely ramp down the friction

of the merry-go-round by using some lube.

So, to complete the scene, we need some props...

The gun from the movie... A glock...

A merry-go-round, and a shooting range.

Well, let's go.

Kari: For our firearms force myth,

we've come out to the Richmond rod & gun club

so we can find out if a handgun has enough force

to spin a merry-go-round.

Narrator: And speaking of merry-go-rounds,

they've brought their own.

Kari: Okay, lubrication might help some of the friction

so that we can get a little better spin on this.

Narrator: With the carousel lubed and level...

Kari: Perfect. Grant: Real nice.

And the safety railings in place, it's playtime.

All right, that's it. Let's see if it works.

Narrator: But before their roundabout

becomes the most dangerous play equipment in history...

Oh, it's just like childhood.

It's super dangerous, and i feel like i want to throw up.

Narrator: First, some science of spin.

Grant: Now, the challenge with this experiment

is that the energy from the bullet's impact

has to overcome the merry-go-round's inertia...

Inertia being the resistance to movement.

And that is based on the mass.

This thing weighs over 500 pounds.

That's a lot to overcome.

Narrator: So it's over to Grant,

using the force... Gauge,

to find out exactly how much resistance

the bullet needs to overcome.

Okay. 8.6 pounds.

I don't know. We'll see.

To monitor the merry-go-round, Grant adds a Gauge,

so if the gun gets any spin,

they'll know... And speaking of firepower...

To test this myth,

we're gonna start out with the gun from the movie...

The 9-mil...

And if that doesn't work,

we're going to tap into the entire "mythbusters" arsenal

with more and more powerful firearms.

Narrator: That's the plan,

but first it's down to the movie weapon of choice... the glock.

Kari: Now, it's got a muzzle energy of 383 foot-pounds

and a muzzle velocity of 1,300 feet per second.

Narrator: Remember, the more mass,

the more inertia an object has.

So at 500 pounds,

the merry-go-round has a lot of inertia.

And although the bullet has 383 foot-pounds of muzzle energy,

as it flies through the air, some of that energy dissipates.

So, by the point of impact,

will it have enough remaining kinetic energy

to overcome the inertia and the friction of the bearings?

[ Gunshot ]

Shouldn't it be spinning by now?

Grant: Oh, and that was a good shot, too.

Kari: Yeah.

That was a direct hit,

and i don't see the merry-go-round moving at all.

So, with our first test,

with the 9-millimeter hollow-point in the glock,

we had enough energy to punch through the steel railing

and move the merry-go-round about an eighth of an inch,

but it certainly wasn't the spinning around

that you see in the movie.

Narrator: Unlike the movie,

it seems the glock doesn't have the power for a push,

so they're switching guns.

Grant: So, this is the Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum.

It has 1,100 foot-pounds of muzzle energy,

more than twice that of the glock.

I got just one question... Are you feeling lucky...

Punk?

I don't even know if you need to take a second shot.

Tory: Even with the more powerful handgun,

we were not able to get the merry-go-round to spin.

We got it to move significantly more than the 9-millimeter,

about 3/4 of an inch,

but that is not spinning like you see in the movie.

Now we have one more handgun in our arsenal.

Narrator: The .45 caliber

has four times the muzzle energy of the glock,

but will that extra kinetic energy

overcome the merry-go-round's inertia?

Grant: Good shot!

I don't see it spinning. Do it again.

[ Gunshot ]

Not spinning yet. No.

Narrator: Yep, it seems that getting this carousel to spin

is anything but the child's play of the movie.

Grant: So, just like the movie,

we started out testing this myth with handguns.

We tried 9-millimeter...

.45 caliber...

And .44 Magnum...

And, so far, nothing has been able

to move this merry-go-round very far...

Certainly not like the spinning you see in the film.

But you know what? We're not giving up here.

[ Gun cocks ]

We've got plenty of other guns.

Narrator: Up next on "mythbusters"...

Umm... You know...

Narrator: Adam and Jamie get into character...

And each other's faces.

And then the transformation is complete.

Narrator: Adam and Jamie are facing off

against the myth that wearing pull-over face masks

and altering your body language

is enough to fool a security guard.

And, so far, they've had their mugs immortalized in silicone.

But the masks won't be enough on their own.

Very still.

Narrator: Cue acting 101.

Cerebral.

Narrator: First up, how to be Jamie.

Gestures?

Lot of work with the mustache and the beard.

Now the voice, okay?

Very monotone, very low-pitched, very authoritative.

I'm excited.

This is really thrilling.

I used to collect moles and spores.

That's pretty good.

[ Sighs ] Are we done?

Narrator: Now we all know Adam enjoys mimicking Jamie

for comic effect.

[ As Jamie ] When i was riding the rails,

towards the end of the great depression,

i learned several things from my hobo mentors.

Narrator: But when it comes

to professionally putting the voice...

Fine.

Physical gestures,

and posture together into a believable performance...

Well, he's positioned so that you can't knock him over.

It's a much tougher assignment.

But after a few hours of hard work

with our professional thespian...

He uses vocal gestures.

By that, i mean, sometimes,

instead of words, he will make sounds.

Umm... Right.

Jamie slowly but surely emerges.

I'm just trying to get a word in edgewise.

Yeah, not bad.

Adam's almost there,

and while he keeps practicing, it's on to Jamie.

First of all, Adam moves a lot.

With all of Adam's garrulous

and expressive character traits demonstrated,

Jamie enters his own personal room 101.

You know what?

I've had eno... No, i can't do this.

His innate modesty and discomfort in the spotlight

makes the whole process a real challenge.

Um... Let's see...

But, in a testament to his sense of humor and perseverance...

And Terry's teaching skills...

To do that, you had to break the Jamie stance.

They get through it,. He thinks a lot with his hair.

Jamie: The recipe for being Adam is pretty simple, really.

There's a lot of random movement from the waist up,

including his arms.

You know, i think you might be right.

He's constantly adjusting his glasses,

smoothing his hair, and stroking his beard.

[ Laughing ]

And he laughs often and readily,

and generally covers his mouth with his hands right after.

Can i stop now?

You may stop and put your beret back on.

My work here is done. Best of luck to you.

Narrator: After the curtain comes down,

and Terry bows out,

the newly minted thesps have their handmade masks

hand-delivered...

And get a bit of a shock.

Am i really that ugly? [ Laughs ]

[ Laughs ]

Oh, man.

That is freakin' creepy.

Wow.

Narrator: Creepy, most definitely,

but this isn't a Halloween special.

The goal here is security-breach realism.

[ Both laughing ]

And to achieve that,

they've got to put together the complete package.

Are you ready?

Becoming Jamie is more than just being a century and a half old

and having a taste for fast cars and hard cider. Oh, no.

There's many moving pieces to the puzzle

that is James Franklin hyneman.

It starts with the shoes.

Then there's the gray pants...

The trademark white shirt,

for which, clearly, i need some bigger shoulders...

Narrator: Add shoulder pads,

the all-important mask, beret, and glasses...

And then the transformation... Is complete.

Narrator: And fake face to face face,

the comparison is impressive.

I've got to say, the clothes make the man, don't they?

They seriously do.

But is it good enough?

After all, there are some obvious flaws in this face-off.

Jamie: The technique that was used to make this mask

involves sculpting it over a generic inner mold.

That means that every time a different person wears it,

it's gonna look slightly different.

In my case, Adam's head here is a bit larger and fatter

than it is in real life, so the masks aren't perfect.

Is that how i stand, all loose and everything?

I was told to be really fluid, because you're always moving.

[ Laughs ]

The question here is,

how far can we actually go towards fooling a mark?

We can do things like wear the clothes of the original person,

we can act like the original person...

Ha!

Really loose.

[ Laughing ]

We can even distract the mark.

So, all of those things, cumulatively,

may well have the effect

of completing the illusion must better

than any individual technique would by itself.

[ Laughing ]

That's perfect. You nailed it.

Yeah, that's good.

Narrator: Later, our gun-toting trio

get into character for another ballistic movie mystery.

[ Imitating gunfire ]

But next... It's party time!

Narrator: Adam and Jamie get excited.

I'm a picture of unconstrained joy.

Narrator: In "shoot 'em up,"

the hero shoots first and asks questions later.

But could a bullet really blast a merry-go-round into a spin?

So far, the handguns failed to spin the wheel.

So now for something a little bigger.

Tory: What i have here is our good old stand-by 12-Gauge shotgun.

We are gonna be firing a deer slug.

Now, the deer slug has 2,500 foot-pounds of energy.

That's more energy than any of our handguns so far.

Plus, the deer slug has more mass than any of the bullets.

That added mass and that extra energy

will hopefully get this merry-go-round to spin.

Okay, so not only is it not spinning,

but you blew a hole clean through it.

Narrator: Yeah, it's not working,

but maybe a bit of bulletproofing will help.

Tory: What's happening right now

is our bullets are flying so fast

they're just punching right through the merry-go-round,

and we're losing all that energy.

So we added these plates.

Hopefully, that'll capture that energy and make this thing spin.

All right.

This is 12-Gauge shotgun,

with deer slug, reinforced merry-go-round.

Hey! It moved a little!

Narrator: The bulletproofing absorbs more of the bullet's energy...

Keep it going. Yeah!

And withstands Tory's shotgun barrage.

[ Laughter ]

But this is about a single impact,

and one deer slug only scored 1.5 inches of nudge...

Which means it's time to bring out the big, big guns.

Grant: This is an ar-50.

It fires .50 caliber rounds.

They have 13,000 foot-pounds of energy.

They travel at over 2,900 feet per second.

They're 25 times more powerful than the gun in the movie.

If this doesn't spin our merry-go-round, nothing will.

Whoo!

[ Laughter ]

Narrator: Despite an impact

that separated the half-inch steel plates,

the merry-go-round still isn't spinning.

Tory: We got it to move,

and it moved eight inches, and that was with one shot.

Yeah, but we're using a .50 caliber

with a reinforced merry-go-round,

and eight inches is really not that impressive.

All right, so this one is busted.

Totally busted.

Narrator: Busted,

but there's still more twists and turns to come.

That is some [Bleep] up [Bleep]

Yep, this is one crazy bleeping double-taking myth.

So where to next?

Well, these guys are done, and they look pretty darn good.

So how do you want to start testing?

What say we bring in some members of the general public...

People who are familiar with our faces,

but don't know us, and see if these can fool them?

To simulate a guard watching a building's entrance,

our volunteers, who know Jamie and Adam,

but not personally,

will be told their task is to focus a laser on a target.

This is gonna be cool.

Narrator: However,

we'll really be testing their powers of observation.

Will the fake-mask-wearing mythbuster

in their peripheral vision pass muster?

Here's how it's gonna go for our contestants.

They'll start in this room here,

where shop general don is gonna hand them a laser.

Then they'll proceed to this line,

90 feet from the target,

and on command, they will point their laser at the target,

and then they'll stop pointing it at the target,

and then they'll proceed to the 70-foot mark.

At the 70-foot mark, they'll do the same thing again.

Laser on, laser off.

And so on...

And so on.

Now, clearly this is their last stop.

They'll point their laser at the target one last time,

and then they'll turn at the end of the test

and see Jamie dressed as me.

I'll be watching everything from behind this curtain.

Go!

Narrator: So with Jamie in costume, in character...

It's party time.

And in position,

the first excited fan is wheeled in,

given their instructions,

and shown through to the test area.

Here comes our first test subject.

Okay, start.

She sees Jamie.

She looks confused.

Next!

She looks suspicious, but she's not saying anything.

Narrator: Aside from that brief look of confusion,

our laser-wielding volunteer,

with the just the occasional glance across at fake Adam,

completes the test without giving anything away.

Stop. Thank you.

But as the real Adam suspected,

she was onto them from the get-go.

Just wondering at what point in the walk-down

that you felt like something was suspicious about him.

Um, immediately.

Really? Yes.

Narrator: Subject number two is equally quick on the uptake.

Hello!

Hi.

He looks really suspicious right there.

Narrator: Even though the fans

seem focused on the fake test...

Thank you.

Thanks.

Thanks very much.

Hello! Jamie's not fooling them at all.

Jamie: Go.

And the third contestant not only confirms the conclusion,

she pinpoints the "why."

When you first said, "go,"

'cause you sounded kind of strange.

My voice? Yeah.

Narrator: Yep, despite the voice coaching,

Jamie still sounds like Jamie.

Go.

And as soon as he opens his silicone-covered mouth,

he gives the game away.

Question is, can Adam do any better?

Can someone please clean up all this crap in the shop?

Narrator: Seeing as Adam frequently mimics Jamie,

he's confident,

but are his hyneman vocal stylings

as good as he thinks they are?

Knock 'em dead.

Hello.

The next three contestants are taken through the test.

Go.

He's focused on that target.

But, as before,

they keep any suspicions they have to themselves...

Next.

Until confronted by the real Jamie and asked directly.

What tipped you off?

The voice difference.

So, it's confirmed... The voice is the giveaway.

But the team haven't yet plumbed the depths of this myth.

They're picking the suspect variable and removing it.

Awesome. [ Slurps ]

Do not try any of the experiments

you are about to see at home.

You heard him. Don't do it.

Narrator: So far, kari, Grant, and Tory

have busted Hollywood

for playing fast and loose with physics.

Totally busted.

Narrator: But before they get back on the merry-go-round

to replicate the results,

the team is gunning for a golden oldie.

It's "the good...

[ Gunshot ]

"The bad...

[ Gunshot ]

and the purty."

In the movies,

a gunslinger manages to nonchalantly

blast the gun out of the reach of his prone opponent...

But could this trick shot really do the trick?

Tory: We are back at the range

to test the myth that you can shoot a gun and move it.

Now, we're gonna test on three different surfaces.

The first one is a dirt road,

like you would find in a western.

The next one is a paved surface,

like you would find in an urban setting.

And, finally, a tile floor...

Something you might find in a public building.

What we're gonna do is

we're gonna place the gun on each of the surfaces,

fire at them, and see if we can get them to move.

Kari: This is our target gun...

Just your basic 9-millimeter handgun.

Now, we're gonna start using the glock,

and we're gonna see, if we shoot at the gun,

how far we can skid it across the surface.

It's handgun versus handgun.

Narrator: But before they get shooting,

Grant wants to check the friction

of our three floor coverings.

Grant: I'm going to take a quick measurement

of the force required to drag them across the surfaces.

So, dirt is 1.54 pounds.

Okay. Asphalt is 1.46 pounds.

Okay. Tile's half a pound.

Narrator: Unsurprisingly,

the tiled surface provides the least resistance,

so that's where the team will start.

This handgun's pretty heavy.

I mean, it's a couple pounds.

I don't think that there's any way a handgun

has enough muzzle energy

to actually get this thing moving across any surface.

Narrator: Yep... after the fake physics on film

failed to spin the merry-go-round in real life,

it's no surprise they're skeptical of making a gun skip.

Tory: Go on, grab that gun. Get it.

Kari: Shoot the gun away from the bad guy.

This is handgun versus handgun.

Tile floor.

[ Gunshot ]

Grant: No way!

[ Laughter ]

[ Gunshot ]

That is just like in the movies.

Wow. It works!

Narrator: Incredibly,

completely confounding the team's predictions,

and just like in the movies,

Tory gets the gun to skid across 16 feet of tile,

well out of reach of buster the kid.

Three shots.

Dude, that works really well on the tile.

That is crazy!

Narrator: With the 9-millimeter making quick work of the tile,

it's on to surface number two.

But with a higher friction rating,

perhaps the asphalt will put up more resistance.

Wow.

Nice.

[ Gunshot ]

Three hits, you're almost out.

That's it.

Four hits.

Totally works on asphalt.

Kari: That was great. That was like four feet per bullet.

Tory: Asphalt confirmed.

Narrator: Yep, so far the mythbusters' predictions

have been shot to pieces,

but there's one more dirty surface to try.

Tory: Here we go.

Oh, it moved!

Wow!

[ Gunshots ]

Tory: Ha ha ha!

That works so well in the dirt!

So dirt's confirmed.

Yeah, westerns don't lie.

Narrator: Well, in this case, they don't.

Even on the most resistant surface, the dirt,

it still only took six shots

to shoot the gun clear out of reach.

What we're talking about here is transfer of kinetic energy.

Now, the bullet has a certain kinetic energy

based on its mass and its speed.

It hits the gun and transfers some or all of that.

Now, based on the friction on the surface,

that might require more or less.

Bottom line is the bullet hits the gun and it moves.

Bad-boy movies actually are real!

I told you... They don't lie.

Narrator: Yep, in this case,

the force of a firearm on film is, in fact, fact...

Unlike the merry-go-round,

but the team hasn't given up on making that myth move.

Next up, they're going to find out exactly what it would take

to put the merry-go-round into a spin.

Start!

In "mission: Impossible" face-off... Hello.

It seems you can't fool any of the people

any of the time.

Kind of tell in the voice a little bit.

Adam: Well, all of them said the voice is what tipped them off.

Next!

We're gonna eliminate the voice from the next three tests.

[ High-pitched voice ] 'Cause Jamie really talks just like this.

Nobody knows that.

[ Laughs maniacally ]

Narrator: So the next batch of test subjects

will be subjected to the silent treatment.

Okay, she's got a very mobile face.

Let's see if she's got any tells.

As before, fake Jamie will be standing near the target,

pretending to note the results from the fake laser test.

But the instructions will come from cameraman Ben.

Up.

So far, so good.

Our smiley pink-topped testee seems intent on the target.

Walk to the next marker.

She hasn't found out anything yet.

She doesn't have a clue.

But fake Jamie is in clear view,

and she can't help but see him.

So, as the guard to this building,

will our volunteer note our masked intruder

is not who he's pretending to be?

[ Laughs ]

Hello.

Hi.

That is awesome.

You are a dead ringer.

That's amazing.

At what point did you finally feel like

something was wrong with the disguise?

The first moment i looked at your face.

Like, straight on.

Yes, when i was right here.

Up until then, i thought you were Jamie.

Excellent.

Well, thank you very much.

Thank you, Jamie.

And thank you, not-Jamie.

You're very welcome.

Narrator: That's a result in favor of the myth.

Despite being in plain view for the whole 90 feet,

it wasn't until fake Jamie directly confronted her

that she realized it wasn't really him.

Jamie: This experiment is working exactly as planned.

All of our test subjects are totally focused

on holding that laser beam on the target.

Now, they can't help but see us, because we're right next to it,

but they're not looking directly at us,

so they're going all the way up

until they're right in front of us,

and they don't know what's up

until they turn around and look directly at us.

Throughout the test, you thought this person was me.

Yes.

That went well.

I think so.

Narrator: With three from three,

the results are cut-and-dry...

And all that remains is to check

if Adam's mask is similarly successful.

When did you notice that something was wrong?

When i turned to shake his hand after the final test,

it didn't look quite right.

Excellent.

Adam: This is great.

Without the voice for people to cue off of,

they're going all the way from 90 feet

to 5 feet believing that the mythbuster

that they're in the room with is me.

Right up until the point

at which they turn and see his big old head.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: So, in this scenario,

similar to a security guard

monitoring the entrance to a building,

if you keep your mouth shut, the myth is looking great.

Adam: That went so much better than i thought it would,

i want to do a little dance.

Narrator: But now Adam and Jamie have a much tougher test in mind.

Jamie: If we leave the voice out of the equation,

the masks are actually proving to be quite effective

up until the point that the mark is point-blank

in front of the imposter.

But that is with fans, people that know us,

but don't really know us.

Now, the question is,

what happens if we bring somebody in

that deals with us every day?

That's weird.

[ Laughing ]

Narrator: Coming right up...

It's the scary-go-round.

Narrator: Kari, Grant, and Tory

lock and load to replicate the results.

So, watching that gun fly backwards was amazing.

Yeah, that result was so surprising...

And i think maybe we should go back

and re-test the merry-go-round.

What do you mean?

What if we re-engineer it?

We have it so that it absorbs the bullet's energy

and it spins a lot easier than it did.

Yeah, because if we can overcome the inertia,

we might be able to get it to spin and keep it spinning...

Especially if we use something that repeat-fires.

Hey, this is "mythbusters"...

If it's worth doing, it's worth over-doing.

Narrator: And first on the list

for a little over-doing is the merry-go-round.

Okay, lower it down.

Starting at the bottom,

Tory over-engineers the bearing system

to give it the smoothest spin.

Tory: Now, one problem we were having

with getting this merry-go-round to spin

was there was too much friction in the bearing system

that came with the merry-go-round.

So, I've switched that out for a couple of flange bearings.

Hopefully, these will cut down that friction

and allow this to spin once we start shooting it.

Narrator: Meanwhile, Grant and kari add some armor-plating.

Not only will these provide targets,

they should ensure the optimum absorption of kinetic energy.

Yeah!

And with school out on the renovating,

it's back to the playground.

Kari: The most dangerous playground ever!

And with a new, improved merry-go-round in place,

they can check just how improved it is.

So, it took 8.6 pounds of force last time.

What do we have now?

Drumroll, please.

Okay, here we go.

0.4.

Tory: We've taken off eight pounds of force!

This thing might actually spin.

Narrator: And to give this re-creation their best shot,

they're pulling out three big guns.

Kari will be providing the entree,

the main course cooked up by Tory and Grant.

So, this is the firepower we're gonna be using

to try and spin our super merry-go-round.

These are two semi-automatic shotguns.

We'll be firing deer slugs,

which have an energy of over 5,000 foot-pounds.

But to kick things off,

we thought we'd start out with something

just a little bit more powerful.

Now, check this out... We have a Barrett .416.

Now, with 9,000 foot-pounds of muzzle energy,

we should be able to get past that initial inertia

and actually replicate the results of this myth.

Narrator: Yep, and if it wasn't already

the most perilous playground ever,

kari has some last-minute set dressing

that'll really light up proceedings.

Tory: It's not like this merry-go-round isn't dangerous enough.

I mean, we're at a shooting range,

firing rounds at it,

but kari's decided to put barbed-wire

and a rope soaked in gasoline

that's she's gonna light before we start shooting.

I mean, we get it, kari.

You don't want us to ride your merry-go-round.

Now it's the scary-go-round.

Narrator: Scary for sure,

but will their excess lead to success?

Will the amped-up armory

replicate the results seen in the movie?

It's over to kari to get the ball rolling... or spinning.

And, unsurprisingly,

9,000 foot-pounds of energy does finally overcome the inertia

of the merry-go-round.

Then, Grant and Tory provide backup...

[ Cheering ]

with a steady stream of ammo

to keep the vicious circle spinning.

Grant: Whoo-hoo!

[ Laughing ]

That is the most terrifying thing.

All right, who's going for a ride?

We replicated the results. That's awesome.

Narrator: Awesome, but still busted.

Only by going completely and utterly "mythbusters"

did they get the money shot.

Grant: We took everything we learned

during the early stages of this myth

and applied it to the scary-go-round.

We reduced the friction of spinning,

we added plates to capture all of that energy,

and, you know what? It works.

Now, about that... Det-cord swing-set.

Tory: Yeah, how about the land-mine sandbox?

Grant: C4 see-saw?

Kari: Love it.

Narrator: Up next...

While wearing Jamie's head, Adam messes with kari and Grant.

Wow!

I think it's time to move from people

who are familiar with us to people who really know us.

I think it's time to bring in kari and Grant.

You know, I've got an idea...

What if we invite them over

for what we're calling an observation test,

and we expose them to you dressed as me,

but every time we do that,

we introduce a subtle wardrobe change?

And maybe that'll distract them enough to pull this off.

I think that's great!

Here's how this test is gonna work.

Grant and kari will be told they're here to participate

in a spot-the-difference test from five distances...

90 feet, 70 feet,

50 feet, 30 feet, and 5 feet.

From each of these distances, a curtain will rise,

exposing me dressed as Jamie on a turntable, spinning,

except each time the curtain goes up,

I'll have something different about my wardrobe.

Curtain down.

I think we're ready!

Narrator: Cue a confident...

Perhaps overconfident... kari.

I feel like i should be able to pick differences.

I mean, i think i know Jamie pretty well.

Okay, raise the curtain.

Narrator: At 90 feet,

with no actual changes to Jamie's wardrobe...

Wow, 90 feet is far.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: Kari doesn't notice anything untoward.

But at 70 feet, she takes the bait.

Well, obviously the orange belt is different.

That's kind of crazy town.

I don't think I've ever seen Jamie

in a different color before.

Narrator: But before kari moves to the 50-feet marker,

a thought occurs and she pauses.

Kari: Is that really Jamie,

or is that a wax statue of Jamie?

Narrator: Okay, so kari's aware something is not quite right.

Oh, yeah. Different shoes.

Narrator: But other than the obvious wardrobe changes...

There's a blue hankie in his pocket.

Narrator: It's not until she's at five feet

that she's willing to elaborate.

That doesn't look like Jamie.

There's some sort of prosthetics or something going on.

Narrator: And even then,

it takes a moment before she's ready to commit.

There's not one thing changing...

There is a complete difference that i didn't see at 90,

and i thought i saw at 70, but i doubted myself...

But at five...

Unless he ate some shellfish and he's allergic,

there's something going on.

[ Laughing ]

I knew there was some trickery.

[ Laughs ]

How early did you catch on?

70. Really?

I was like, "is that a wax statue of Jamie?

It just doesn't look right."

At 70 feet, i felt like there was something a little weird

about the Jamie i was looking at,

but i thought maybe he was swollen

from a beesting or something, so i didn't say anything,

as to not embarrass him.

Thank you, kari.

Okay, I'm totally horrified by this mask.

I mean, it's just... First of all,

holding Jamie's skin freaks me out, but... wow.

This was the weirdest test.

Narrator: Weird but very interesting.

Despite the distraction of the wardrobe changes,

kari noticed something was off from quite a distance.

But she's known Jamie for eight years,

and it wasn't until she was five feet away that she was sure.

The question now is,

will Grant give us a more definitive result?

As far as I'm concerned, this'll be a toss-up,

whether Grant gets it.

I mean, i don't have any prediction.

Okay, i have no idea where Grant will discover

that it's not me on that turntable.

Grant: I've known Jamie for approximately 12 years,

and i am intimately familiar with how he looks,

and the reason is that he always wears

exactly the same thing.

Man, from this distance, that looks like everyday Jamie.

For the entire time that I've known Jamie,

he has always had the moustache and the beret,

and the rest of his wardrobe hasn't changed

in probably eight years.

All right, well, that's easy.

He's got a florescent orange belt on.

Narrator: As the test progresses,

despite Grant's

close relationship with Jamie...

Those would be the wrong shoes.

Narrator: He appears to be completely oblivious

he's looking at Adam.

How close will he get before he realizes?

Okay, five feet. Jamie, are you ready?

I'm ready.

All right, raise the curtain.

That's strange.

It looks like a wax figure of Jamie.

I know it sounds weird.

I don't think that's the real Jamie up there.

Narrator: Yep, incredibly, until you get up close,

the mask really does work.

[ Laughing ]

You...

Doctor.

[ Laughs ]

Can you hold this for a second?

Oh, my goodness.

[ Groans ]

Wow!

I feel so embarrassed.

I've known Jamie for over 10 years,

and it took me up until the five-foot mark

to realize that this is not Jamie.

Now, that was actually you...

The whole time.

That was you the whole time.

I must say, I'm quite surprised.

We were able to fool both Grant and kari.

I'm getting the distinct impression

that this deception business is all about the circumstances.

If you get the right combination of distractions and distance

and that kind of thing, you can get away with murder.

So how do we want to call this?

Is it possible to impersonate somebody

with a full-pullover head mask?

Well, obviously, at this range, you're not you.

But give it enough distance and distraction...

I think we're gonna have to call this one plausible.

And creepy.

Plausible it is.

[ Groans, laughs ]

Got to file this under "mission: Possible."

Nice.

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