From what I saw in the show, they just dumped it in reverse and the engine stalled. During drivers Ed, we were instructed to come out of drive, match RPMs in Neutral and then feather the gas pedal to hold tires in place against forward motion. When you came to a stop you would throw it in PARK!…lots of smoking rubber and grinding, but it works! God those instructors were crazy!

For those who don’t know, a blank still has a paper or plastic wadding to seal the gunpowder into the cartridge, and Hexum was pressing the gun barrel right against his temple. (Nobody had told him that blanks can still be dangerous, and he was bored due to a delay in filming. Basically he thought he was playing a harmless game.)

At that range, aimed at a vulnerable spot on the body (e.g. the temple or an eye), the wadding can be ejected with enough force to cause severe trauma or even death.