The Mole 7/14- Past The Halfway Point

Previously on The Mole, the team rebelled against Craig’s costuming, Paul continued to be hated by everyone, and Kristen, one of my mole suspects, was eliminated. Nicole is proud to be the last woman and wants to be the last player standing. Paul, however, just wants to outlast Nicole.

Jon welcomes the final 6 to a vineyard in the Argentine wine country. Clay thinks the place smells. The team splits into two groups of three, runners (Clay, Mark, and Alex) and thinkers (Nicole, Paul, and Craig). Today’s mission is the Grapes of Cache, which makes me groan. It’s worth $70,000. The thinkers have to answer trivia questions, which correspond to coordinates, which correspond to hidden wine bottles. Mark, since he was picked as the best runner, has to run on a treadmill and when he stops running, the mission is over. The drama of the mission all seems to rest in the answering of the questions. Alex and Clay, the two runners, find their first bottle, which means the treadmill speeds up. It’s kind of hard to recap this mission, since it’s all answering the trivia questions and people wandering. Or, at least, it is until Paul and Nicole start bickering at one another. Then it’s kind of entertaining. At the commercial, three bottles have been found.

When we come back, Mark, who is allowed to help with the trivia, continues to nail all the questions that Craig and Nicole are failing at. The runners now have 5 bottles, meaning Mark is running at quite a pace. They find their 6th, and Mark maxes out the treadmill. They find the 7th bottle, but they must get back to the base camp before Mark stops or they don’t get any money. But Clay and Alex manage to get back in time, meaning that the team made $70,00 for this mission, pushing the pot up to $247,000. Everyone recognizes Mark as the clear MVP of that mission. Back at the hotel, Paul tells Alex that Nicole didn’t do anything. He harps on her some more and continues to piss me off. He seems to think she’s the Mole, and even questions whether she’s a real doctor. Turns out, Clay and Mark are having a similar discussion, but they think she’s NOT the mole. People seem to continue to be stumped to the mole’s identity.

Nicole seems to be relishing the fact that everyone thinks she’s the mole. Meanwhile, Mark and Clay seem to be talking about liquoring up Alex before the quiz, because apparently he’s a lush. Jon welcomes them to their next mission, worth $60,000. It involves bungee jumping and throwing things onto a bullseye. Craig and Nicole seem very scared by jumping off a bridge. Mark is up first. But before he jumps, Jon starts talking about an exemption. Apparently, who ever guesses closest to the total won gets an exemption. Mark guesses $10,000, but misses his own shot. Paul is up next, and, while we don’t get to hear his guess, he also misses his shot. By a lot. Clay, who Craig calls Chocolate Bear, is up next. We also aren’t allowed to hear Clay’s guess, but we do get to see him also miss his shot. Craig is next, and he’s very uncomfortable. But, after a hidden guess, he also manages to jump, and, based on everyone’s reactions before we go to commercial, he may have plummeted to his death. Or it could just be editing. Who knows?

But, we return, and Craig is still alive. And he manages to get closer to the bullseye than Paul or Clay, but he still misses. Alex is next, and apparently, he doesn’t deal with heights well. He’s not sure if he wants to do it, but he does, and he’s the first one to score, getting four grand. Nicole is last up, and everyone has no faith in her. She’s also questioning whether or not she’s gonna jump. But she does, in order to keep girl power alive. And she manages to jump better than anyone else, but she still misses the target. Clay immediately accuses her of mole-ery. The team made a whopping four grand today, and the lucky winner of the exemption is no one, because everyone guessed over. Someone really should have gone with the Price is Right strategy of $1. That’s what I would have done.

When we come back, Nicole is a little scared, because she hasn’t been writing stuff down, and the quizzes are getting more specific. Meanwhile, in the background, Alex is drinking straight from a bottle of champagne. My kind of guy. Clay nicely gives Nicole some information. They all share a dinner with Jon and Nicole keeps talking about how she’s the last woman standing, which means she’s going home tonight. Also discussed is the fact that no one has a conscience and everyone is unscrupulous. Which they should be. It’s The Mole, for Chrissakes. Meanwhile, Operation Get Alex Drunk is in full effect, and, despite the editing trying to play it up, Alex seems no drunker than usual. There are just more shots of him with a glass in his hand.

Quiz Time
I still suspect Alex
Mark maybe suspects Craig
Clay maybe suspects Paul
Craig suspects Mark
Alex maybe suspects Nicole
Nicole maybe suspects Alex

I’m pretty sure I just saw a clue. There was a barrel, that the camera held on for a weirdly long time. If I transcribed correctly, it said “N20 HL 70”. Anyone have an idea what this could mean? Alex is up first, and, proving me wrong yet again, he’s eliminated. Frick. That means I need a new suspect. I guess I’m thinking Craig now, but I dunno. Alex seemed so right. So, yeah, I guess Craig is my new suspect. Everyone eulogizes him as some bad music that he played at some point is on in the background.

Next time on The Mole, Nicole thinks Craig is sabotaging, peoples’ families are brought in, and trains become a lot more dramatic.