This past season on The Mole, one person sabotaged eleven others as they competed for cash. Oh, and people often fought and accused each other of doing moley things. And people got executed along the way. That’s about as best I can sum up the season’s recap. Tonight we find out the winner, the loser, the mole, and all the clues that were dropped long the way.
First up, we get recaps of all the finalists’ moley behavior. And there’s a lot of it. Looking at the recaps, I really want Nicole to be the mole, because the overplaying strategy would be completely awesome. But it’s probably Craig. Oh, sweet, a commercial break. I’m sure those won’t be endless tonight.
We come back and it’s time to look at video packages of our eliminated contestants. Bobby is up first, and I don’t miss him. His video makes fun of him excessively though. Apparently he had an injury. Everyone laughs at it though. Because there’s not too much to do tonight without knowing who’s who of the final three, it’s time for the reveals. The winner is up first, and the winner is… Mark. Craig doesn’t look happy in his little box, which means maybe Nicole was the Mole. Which would be awesome. But Mark played a good game and he’s gonna use the money well. But now it’s time to find out the Mole. And it’s… time for a commercial break. Oh host Jon Kelley, you tease you!
But we’re back, and the Mole is... Craig, as the commenter told me two weeks ago. I would point out that I suspected Craig week one, but then I abandoned him, so I won’t take any credit. Which means Nicole is the loser. Oh, and fun, we get a Nicole video package. Although it’s fun to see her threaten to kill Paul in his sleep again. That was a great moment. Oh, and apparently Nicole was great at taking the quizzes and kept suspecting the wrong people (Ironically, they were all my suspects too.) Paul apparently knew it was Craig the entire time. And when he was eliminated there was a tie with a four second difference. That’s really gotta suck to hear.
Next we get a Mark video. Turns out, he was nearly eliminated early on, but Victoria mis-clicked on one answer, saving him. And there was a second time too, where he beat Kristen by ONE second. And he also tied with Clay when he was executed. And he only picked Craig because of Clay being eliminated going after Nicole. It also turns out the dossier was of basically no use. But Mark still beat Nicole by 4 points.
Now, it’s time to see the sabotages. This could be fun. Craig’s strategy was to be lovable, which I’m pretty sure is clear to anyone who watched. Looking at all the sabotage they seem pretty obvious. Everyone just dismissed him, because he was lovable and no one wanted to suspect him. Because he’s fat and he seemed like he was doing the best. No one even picked Craig as the mole (except for Paul) until week 7. And he was the one responsible for Bobby riding in a wheelbarrow. Craig was a pretty good mole, in the long run. Kudos. Jon gets everyone’s opinions on Craig as the Mole. Oh look, there’s Marcie. No one remembers her, so lets move on. Sweet, another commercial.
Now it’s time to see the hidden clues. They are all ridiculously obscure, and I’m kind of glad that I missed them. Because if I caught them, I would be kind of an obsessive. The one interesting one is that Craig’s name was never called during an execution. Oh, and that barrel clue that I swore I saw was nothing. Which brings up the question of what that random shot was all about? Mark’s wife is brought out, and she doesn’t seem to be that impressed at Mark’s win. Even when he tells her that she won’t have to work anymore. That, or she has an incredibly apathetic demeanor. Jon thanks us for participating in this summer’s biggest whodunit. I thank you for reading my recaps. Good night, folks, on an utterly mediocre season of The Mole. Just thank god it didn’t involve celebrities or Ahmad Rashad.
Showing posts with label The Mole. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Mole. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
The Mole 8/4- The Final Three Do Some Stuff
Previously on The Mole, I picked Craig as The Mole (who, as one commenter told me, has obviously been the mole since day one), and the final four did some stuff. And Paul finally went home. ‘Bout time. Craig is in the final three and loves this game. Nicole is sad that she no longer has an antagonist. Mark is happy to be there too. Mark says he’s kind of lost as to the Mole’s identity. Nicole is certain Craig is the mole. Craig also claims he’s not positive who the mole is.
The players arrive at their first mission, “Tick Tock Boom”. The players have to diffuse a bomb and stop $50,000 from blowing up. They have one hour to do, and a room of clues that look straight out of a spy movie. The players are all understandably lost, since Jon gives them little to no instructions. They figure out a little bit, but still seem very lost. Craig seems to very quickly locate the hidden clue, a Time Zone map. Then again, the Mole always doesn’t throw this last mission, so Craig is still totally the Mole. Even after the Time Zone map is found, though, the players seem totally lost. They’re not alone, seeing as how I have no idea how the challenge will come together.
The players then start to use the clocks, and get a whole bunch of letters. Which they start to unscramble. Only they can’t make a heads or tails of a bunch of the letters. Until they realize that they have some wrong letters, all of which were Nicole’s fault. Both guys of course then speculate to camera that Nicole may be the Mole. That’s a new one. Then they find the right letters and start to make legitimate words. With 30 seconds remaining, the three decide to cut the purple wire, because they have the words “cut” then two four letter blank words, the “red + blue”. Personally, I noticed that they had the word fuse in the left over letters, so I think they may be on the right course. But of course we go dramatically to commercial right before they cut the wire.
They cut the wire. Nothing happens. Meaning they succeeded. Everyone hugs each other and rejoices. Jon comes back and makes a bad pun about “down to the wire” and congratulates them on winning the $50,000 and passing the 400 grand mark. Oh, and the word fuse was totally not in the answer. My bad. Everyone discusses how they loved this mission. Nicole calls herself a badass and is just glad she made it this far.
The next morning, Jon welcomes them to their final mission, “3 to Tango”, for $75,000. They each get a different set of clues and have to go to 3 locations and do 3 tasks and finally get to a final destination. Oh, and the first one who gets there can choose to trade the $75,000 for The Mole’s dossier. Craig quickly finds his first location and succeeds in his first task. Mark has more trouble, but the locals help him solve his clue. Nicole, meanwhile, uses the map and solves her first clue. Doing her task, however, proves more problematic. She even hangs up on Jon when he doesn’t accept her photo of her completed task. Craig, meanwhile, is having a much harder time finding his second location. Oh, and the locals are totally screwing over Mark in getting to his first location. It’s kind of funny.
When we come back, Craig, Mark, and Nicole are all still sucking. Jon asks her if she hung up on her and she basically says yes. But then she succeeds and gets her second location quickly. Craig finally figures out his second clue. Mark finally succeeds in his first task and, like Nicole, quickly gets his second location. And he succeeds in his second task very quickly too. Nicole, put off with the mission, tries to trick Jon on her second task and fails. Then she succeeds at doing the task correctly. Meanwhile, Mark is on his way to his third task already. Craig, after much trouble, manages to find his second location and quickly succeeds in his task. Nicole figures out her third clue, as does Craig. I realize this is a pretty boring description, but it kind of plays like a boring mission too. Except for Nicole’s snarkiness. Craig and Mark are basically tied in finishing their third tasks, and both get their clues to the final location. Which, coincidentally, is a palce that Craig has been dying to go to. Hmmm….
Nicole, meanwhile, is still trying to get to her third location. Mark and Craig are racing to get to the bridge first, and Mark is the victor. He wins the mission. So he has the big decision of $75,000 into the pot or look at the possibly helpful, possibly non-helpful mole’s dossier. Craig gets there next, and he’s unhappy about losing to Mark. Nicole, meanwhile, is still sucking. Sucking to the point that they have to send a car to pick her up and bring her there, without even having finished her final task. Mark decides to take the dossier over the money, meaning the final pot is up to $420,000. We are not told whether or not it has any helpful information, put there’s clearly a picture of someone in there and see Nicole’s name in there too. I’m guessing it was completely unhelpful, but Mark’s face seems to indicate it may, in fact, help him out. At their final dinner, everyone reminisces fondly of missions and deception past. Tonight’s final quiz is twice as long. Nicole isn’t confident, but she wants to win. Craig is run down and weary but he’s gonna try his best. Mark is gonna pick one of the remaining two players.
Quiz Time
Mark hopes he’s on the right track.
Craig needs the money.
Nicole knows that this journey has turned her into a renaissance woman.
Everyone spouts more platitudes during the quiz and highlights each other’s suspicious activites. We’re clearly not gonna get any revelations tonight, so I don’t really pay attention to any of what they’re spewing. Next week, everyone gets back together to find out who’s the winner, who’s the mole, how they sabotaged, and where the secret clues were (I’m still convinced that that wine barrel with the weird number-letter combo was a clue).
The players arrive at their first mission, “Tick Tock Boom”. The players have to diffuse a bomb and stop $50,000 from blowing up. They have one hour to do, and a room of clues that look straight out of a spy movie. The players are all understandably lost, since Jon gives them little to no instructions. They figure out a little bit, but still seem very lost. Craig seems to very quickly locate the hidden clue, a Time Zone map. Then again, the Mole always doesn’t throw this last mission, so Craig is still totally the Mole. Even after the Time Zone map is found, though, the players seem totally lost. They’re not alone, seeing as how I have no idea how the challenge will come together.
The players then start to use the clocks, and get a whole bunch of letters. Which they start to unscramble. Only they can’t make a heads or tails of a bunch of the letters. Until they realize that they have some wrong letters, all of which were Nicole’s fault. Both guys of course then speculate to camera that Nicole may be the Mole. That’s a new one. Then they find the right letters and start to make legitimate words. With 30 seconds remaining, the three decide to cut the purple wire, because they have the words “cut” then two four letter blank words, the “red + blue”. Personally, I noticed that they had the word fuse in the left over letters, so I think they may be on the right course. But of course we go dramatically to commercial right before they cut the wire.
They cut the wire. Nothing happens. Meaning they succeeded. Everyone hugs each other and rejoices. Jon comes back and makes a bad pun about “down to the wire” and congratulates them on winning the $50,000 and passing the 400 grand mark. Oh, and the word fuse was totally not in the answer. My bad. Everyone discusses how they loved this mission. Nicole calls herself a badass and is just glad she made it this far.
The next morning, Jon welcomes them to their final mission, “3 to Tango”, for $75,000. They each get a different set of clues and have to go to 3 locations and do 3 tasks and finally get to a final destination. Oh, and the first one who gets there can choose to trade the $75,000 for The Mole’s dossier. Craig quickly finds his first location and succeeds in his first task. Mark has more trouble, but the locals help him solve his clue. Nicole, meanwhile, uses the map and solves her first clue. Doing her task, however, proves more problematic. She even hangs up on Jon when he doesn’t accept her photo of her completed task. Craig, meanwhile, is having a much harder time finding his second location. Oh, and the locals are totally screwing over Mark in getting to his first location. It’s kind of funny.
When we come back, Craig, Mark, and Nicole are all still sucking. Jon asks her if she hung up on her and she basically says yes. But then she succeeds and gets her second location quickly. Craig finally figures out his second clue. Mark finally succeeds in his first task and, like Nicole, quickly gets his second location. And he succeeds in his second task very quickly too. Nicole, put off with the mission, tries to trick Jon on her second task and fails. Then she succeeds at doing the task correctly. Meanwhile, Mark is on his way to his third task already. Craig, after much trouble, manages to find his second location and quickly succeeds in his task. Nicole figures out her third clue, as does Craig. I realize this is a pretty boring description, but it kind of plays like a boring mission too. Except for Nicole’s snarkiness. Craig and Mark are basically tied in finishing their third tasks, and both get their clues to the final location. Which, coincidentally, is a palce that Craig has been dying to go to. Hmmm….
Nicole, meanwhile, is still trying to get to her third location. Mark and Craig are racing to get to the bridge first, and Mark is the victor. He wins the mission. So he has the big decision of $75,000 into the pot or look at the possibly helpful, possibly non-helpful mole’s dossier. Craig gets there next, and he’s unhappy about losing to Mark. Nicole, meanwhile, is still sucking. Sucking to the point that they have to send a car to pick her up and bring her there, without even having finished her final task. Mark decides to take the dossier over the money, meaning the final pot is up to $420,000. We are not told whether or not it has any helpful information, put there’s clearly a picture of someone in there and see Nicole’s name in there too. I’m guessing it was completely unhelpful, but Mark’s face seems to indicate it may, in fact, help him out. At their final dinner, everyone reminisces fondly of missions and deception past. Tonight’s final quiz is twice as long. Nicole isn’t confident, but she wants to win. Craig is run down and weary but he’s gonna try his best. Mark is gonna pick one of the remaining two players.
Quiz Time
Mark hopes he’s on the right track.
Craig needs the money.
Nicole knows that this journey has turned her into a renaissance woman.
Everyone spouts more platitudes during the quiz and highlights each other’s suspicious activites. We’re clearly not gonna get any revelations tonight, so I don’t really pay attention to any of what they’re spewing. Next week, everyone gets back together to find out who’s the winner, who’s the mole, how they sabotaged, and where the secret clues were (I’m still convinced that that wine barrel with the weird number-letter combo was a clue).
Monday, July 28, 2008
The Mole 7/28- The Final Four Do Kids Stuff and Jail Time
Previously on The Mole, Paul and Nicole traded hatred and death threats, the players had a memory challenge, and Clay started to play the game and got promptly evicted. Mark is sad that Clay is gone. Nicole is happy to still be there and dubs herself a badass. Paul is obnoxious about the fact that he’s made it to the final four.
Jon welcomes the players to their first mission, “How’s The View”, worth $64,000. The team splits into teams of two, and then splits them apart and puts a member of each pair with one of other. It involves Craig and Paul wearing video goggles and Nicole and Mark showing them what they are seeing. And they’re doing tests aimed at 7 year olds and under. But everything is mirrored because of projections, so it’s harder than it sounds. In the first part of the challenge, Craig and Paul manage to add 6 grand. But $1,000 is discounted because Nicole talked during this part of the mission, which is not allowed. But it’s unclear whether it’s actually Nicole’s fault. On a fun little sidenote, it turns out that Nicole is a laparoscopic surgeon, meaning that she uses a camera to perform surgery. So she does Craig and Paul’s part for a living. Mole at Work?
The second part of the challenge, kicking a soccerball into a goal, is less successful, with everyone but Mark sucking miserably at their part. The next part, pouring tea into teacups, earns the team $5,000 from Paul and $2,500 from Craig. Honestly, it’s not clear who is sabotaging the mission more, Craig or Nicole. The final bit of the challenge involves them walking a plank two stories above the ground. Paul is freaking out as we go to commercial.
Turns out, they also have to pick up a piece of chalk in the middle of the plank and copy what is written on a blackboard. Paul has a couple near misses, but he gets the chalk alright. Then the timer kicks in, because they only have one minute from when they have to pick up the chalk. Paul manages to finish in the nick of time, literally two seconds left. Meaning another 10 grand is added to the pot. Craig is freaking out on a much more grand scale, since he has vertigo and a fear of heights. But he manages to get to the chalk. He moves very slowly though, and is nowhere near the chalkboard when his time runs out. The team makes a total of $22,500, $18,000 of which came from Mark and Paul. At dinner than night, Nicole is really big on Craig sabotaging the mission. Paul, meanwhile, is working on sabotaging Nicole’s chances on the Mole quiz.
Mark is all alone now, which is worried. He is really hoping there’s an exemption tonight, and tells everyone. But no one listens to him. Hmm, I wonder if that’s some reality show editing for you. The players’ next mission is called “Cell Out” and involves the games’ final exemption. It involves people being locked in cells, solving word problems, a paintball obstacle course, and a snipers’ rifle. Nicole is happy about the fact that she may get to shoot someone. Everyone goes into their cell, and the mission begins. Mark is confident and desperately wants to get out first. And he manages to get out first, meaning he gets the sniper rifle, and the chance at the exemption. Paul, meanwhile, is terrible with words. Mark has never shot a paintball gun before. Nicole and Craig decide to wait for Paul because he’s good with paintball. When he finally gets out, they briefly strategize. Then, Paintball time!
The strategy decided on is to have someone draw fire while the other two run. Paul and Nicole actually work well together. The three actually seem to be doing pretty well, and are evading fast and furious. Mark hits Paul but the paintball doesn’t break, infuriating Mark. He then manages to nail Craig and Nicole while Paul makes it to the door and survives. Paul’s success adds $15,000 to the pot. Nicole does not have the exemption, but Craig’s card ominously looms as we go to commercial.
But Craig does in fact have the exemption, meaning Mark is guaranteed to be in the finals. At this point, I’m convinced he’s not the mole. The total pot is now up to $368,500. Paul is unhappy about the exemption, very unhappy. He even mouths off to Jon a little. At dinner, Paul is his usual vocal self, but he indicates that tonight is different. He seems very confident though about his mole choice (I’m guessing it’s Craig that everyone has decided on). They all have a nice toast to “Sportsmanship” before the quiz.
QUIZ TIME
I Suspect Craig (But secretly hope it’s Nicole, since that’s a badass and risky mole strategy that I would totally love, overplaying the part so that you’re not suspected)
Nicole is focusing on one person instead of playing the field, seemingly Craig.
Paul does, in fact, suspect Craig. Although he’s worried by Nicole.
Craig is also only focusing on one person (Maybe Craig?).
At the execution, there’s only three possible victimes. Paul is up first, and I’m not really surprised when he’s executed. Happy, but not surprised. Nicole was confident she’s going home, but she’s alleviated. There’s no doubt in my mind that Craig is the Mole now, because everyone seems to suspect him and he knew which door he wanted immediately (the one with the exemption). I’ll be shocked if it’s not Craig who is the Mole. Nicole admits that she’s kind of sorry to see Paul go. Jon congratulates the final three on making it to the end. They all deny being the Mole. But someone’s lying….
Next Time on The Mole, bomb diffusion, what’s behind briefcase number one, and the final quiz!
Jon welcomes the players to their first mission, “How’s The View”, worth $64,000. The team splits into teams of two, and then splits them apart and puts a member of each pair with one of other. It involves Craig and Paul wearing video goggles and Nicole and Mark showing them what they are seeing. And they’re doing tests aimed at 7 year olds and under. But everything is mirrored because of projections, so it’s harder than it sounds. In the first part of the challenge, Craig and Paul manage to add 6 grand. But $1,000 is discounted because Nicole talked during this part of the mission, which is not allowed. But it’s unclear whether it’s actually Nicole’s fault. On a fun little sidenote, it turns out that Nicole is a laparoscopic surgeon, meaning that she uses a camera to perform surgery. So she does Craig and Paul’s part for a living. Mole at Work?
The second part of the challenge, kicking a soccerball into a goal, is less successful, with everyone but Mark sucking miserably at their part. The next part, pouring tea into teacups, earns the team $5,000 from Paul and $2,500 from Craig. Honestly, it’s not clear who is sabotaging the mission more, Craig or Nicole. The final bit of the challenge involves them walking a plank two stories above the ground. Paul is freaking out as we go to commercial.
Turns out, they also have to pick up a piece of chalk in the middle of the plank and copy what is written on a blackboard. Paul has a couple near misses, but he gets the chalk alright. Then the timer kicks in, because they only have one minute from when they have to pick up the chalk. Paul manages to finish in the nick of time, literally two seconds left. Meaning another 10 grand is added to the pot. Craig is freaking out on a much more grand scale, since he has vertigo and a fear of heights. But he manages to get to the chalk. He moves very slowly though, and is nowhere near the chalkboard when his time runs out. The team makes a total of $22,500, $18,000 of which came from Mark and Paul. At dinner than night, Nicole is really big on Craig sabotaging the mission. Paul, meanwhile, is working on sabotaging Nicole’s chances on the Mole quiz.
Mark is all alone now, which is worried. He is really hoping there’s an exemption tonight, and tells everyone. But no one listens to him. Hmm, I wonder if that’s some reality show editing for you. The players’ next mission is called “Cell Out” and involves the games’ final exemption. It involves people being locked in cells, solving word problems, a paintball obstacle course, and a snipers’ rifle. Nicole is happy about the fact that she may get to shoot someone. Everyone goes into their cell, and the mission begins. Mark is confident and desperately wants to get out first. And he manages to get out first, meaning he gets the sniper rifle, and the chance at the exemption. Paul, meanwhile, is terrible with words. Mark has never shot a paintball gun before. Nicole and Craig decide to wait for Paul because he’s good with paintball. When he finally gets out, they briefly strategize. Then, Paintball time!
The strategy decided on is to have someone draw fire while the other two run. Paul and Nicole actually work well together. The three actually seem to be doing pretty well, and are evading fast and furious. Mark hits Paul but the paintball doesn’t break, infuriating Mark. He then manages to nail Craig and Nicole while Paul makes it to the door and survives. Paul’s success adds $15,000 to the pot. Nicole does not have the exemption, but Craig’s card ominously looms as we go to commercial.
But Craig does in fact have the exemption, meaning Mark is guaranteed to be in the finals. At this point, I’m convinced he’s not the mole. The total pot is now up to $368,500. Paul is unhappy about the exemption, very unhappy. He even mouths off to Jon a little. At dinner, Paul is his usual vocal self, but he indicates that tonight is different. He seems very confident though about his mole choice (I’m guessing it’s Craig that everyone has decided on). They all have a nice toast to “Sportsmanship” before the quiz.
QUIZ TIME
I Suspect Craig (But secretly hope it’s Nicole, since that’s a badass and risky mole strategy that I would totally love, overplaying the part so that you’re not suspected)
Nicole is focusing on one person instead of playing the field, seemingly Craig.
Paul does, in fact, suspect Craig. Although he’s worried by Nicole.
Craig is also only focusing on one person (Maybe Craig?).
At the execution, there’s only three possible victimes. Paul is up first, and I’m not really surprised when he’s executed. Happy, but not surprised. Nicole was confident she’s going home, but she’s alleviated. There’s no doubt in my mind that Craig is the Mole now, because everyone seems to suspect him and he knew which door he wanted immediately (the one with the exemption). I’ll be shocked if it’s not Craig who is the Mole. Nicole admits that she’s kind of sorry to see Paul go. Jon congratulates the final three on making it to the end. They all deny being the Mole. But someone’s lying….
Next Time on The Mole, bomb diffusion, what’s behind briefcase number one, and the final quiz!
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Mole 7/21- The Loved Ones Visit
Previously on The Mole, the Players missed home, Nicole was the last girl left, and the players all did really good on one mission and sucked on the other. Oh, and my mole suspect got executed. Frickin’ A. I’m guessing Craig is the mole now. Which means he’s probably going home tonight. Mark is relieved that Alex is gone. Nicole hopes she knows who the mole is. I think everyone does, Nicole.
Jon welcomes them to their next mission, where they have to divide into the smart kids, Mark, Clay, and Paul and the dumb ones, Craig and Nicole. It’s a big scavenger hunt with riddles that lead to a numeric combination. But there’s no writing down answers, so every number must be remembered. Mark is nervous at the pairing of Nicole and Craig, especially since, as the dumb kids, they have to remember more numbers. The smart kids seem to be having more math trouble, which is bad since their math is harder. Clay is especially bad. But Craig and Nicole seem to be kind of crushing it. Craig seems to be sabotaging somewhat, which makes me hopeful that I’m right this time. Paul may also be sabotaging in the reading of directions, putting them far away from their final destination. Nicole also jumps in on the sabotaging, possibly screwing up on the last counting for their team. The teams both finish their counts and return to enter their answers. But one of the dumb teams answers is wrong. So Nicole is given 20 minutes to go back and recount it. Nicole realizes it was one number lower, but meanwhile Clay is looking for codes. Nicole gets back in time with her number, but Clay has found a code and enters his number. And it turns out he’s right. So the team adds $30 grand into the pot, putting the total up to $281,000. Mark has no idea which mole was at work, since there were like 4.
Back at the hotel, Clay and Mark are strategizing. Mark is still solid and they decide that it’s down to Nicole and Craig. Mark is especially leaning towards Nicole. But it turns out Clay doesn’t trust Mark. And meets with Nicole behind his back, suggesting Craig or Mark as the mole. I guess no one suspects Paul. Clay and Nicole decide on Mark it seems. Dun dun duh.
The next morning, everyone leaves Mendoza for Buenos Aires and everyone is starting to miss their families a lot. They all meet Jon at a swanky club and learn they could earn $50,000. Everyone has to pick who they trust the most. Craig and Mark trust Clay, Clay trusts Nicole, and Paul and Nicole trust Mark. Although Nicole really trusts Clay. Jon says everyone’s families are on their way, on trains. But whether they add money or get to see their families depends on the player they trust the most. Craig and Clay are up first. Clay has to answer questions about Craig’s friend, after learning answers from Craig. If Clay gets 3 out of 5 right, Craig’s friend gets to visit. If he doesn’t, the train keeps moving. Clay seems to maybe botch his answers, but we go to a break before we find out if he succeeded.
But, it seems that Clay did in fact succeed, since Craig’s friend Brendi gets to get off the train and ten grand is added to the pot. Clay and Nicole are up next. Nicole seems to know the answers really well. Which is why Clay’s wife gets off her train and adds ten grand to the pot. Mark and Nicole are up next. Mark seems to be dawdling in asking the questions, but it doesn’t seem to matter, since Nicole’s mom gets off the train too. Clay and Mark are up next, and Mark needs Clay to win this for him. Clay draws a blank on one, meaning Clay needed 3 of the other four. But Clay was successful and Mark is reunited with his emotional wife. Although she’s knocked up, so she gets to be emotional. Paul is the last one up, and he doesn’t seem to have answers for a bunch of the questions. Meaning he doesn’t know basic facts about his wife. We go to commercial before we find out if Mark pulled out a win for him.
Sidenote: All the Sprint Instinct ads suck. Hardcore. I mean, who wouldn’t want a phone used by bad robbers, crazy women, and serial killers?
We come back and Paul is freaking out. But Mark manages to pull out the win for him. Meaning the team added $50,000 to the pot as well. Meaning the grand total is up to $331,000. Everyone agrees no one would have sabotaged that mission. Everyone relaxes with their families, but Nicole is feeling beat down by the game. And Paul. Nicole even suggests quitting the game. Her mom seems to cheer her on in terms of quitting. Wow, her mom is really supportive. Nicole seems to be planning to throw the quiz. Everyone goes to the quiz dinner with Jon and their families. The families all profess their belief to their loved ones molieness. I can really see where Nicole gets her personality.
Quiz Time
I suspect Craig
Nicole is still throwing the quiz and has a bad explanation of why
Craig suspects Nicole
Paul is suspicious of Clay’s mission success
Mark is between Craig and Nicole
Clay is not changing his strategy of guessing wrong people
Jon welcomes everyone and their family to the seventh execution. There’s a tie, which means someone was as bad as Nicole throwing the quiz. Ouch. Paul is up first and he’s safe. Nicole is up next, and her throwing it failed, since she’s safe. I’m guessing she didn’t actually throw it. Clay’s strategy of picking the wrong person continues, since he’s executed. Clay is excited to be able to go home with his wife. Paul tries to be nice. Mark is actually nice. Next time on The Mole, everyone walks the plank, gets locked in a cell, and shoots each other.
Jon welcomes them to their next mission, where they have to divide into the smart kids, Mark, Clay, and Paul and the dumb ones, Craig and Nicole. It’s a big scavenger hunt with riddles that lead to a numeric combination. But there’s no writing down answers, so every number must be remembered. Mark is nervous at the pairing of Nicole and Craig, especially since, as the dumb kids, they have to remember more numbers. The smart kids seem to be having more math trouble, which is bad since their math is harder. Clay is especially bad. But Craig and Nicole seem to be kind of crushing it. Craig seems to be sabotaging somewhat, which makes me hopeful that I’m right this time. Paul may also be sabotaging in the reading of directions, putting them far away from their final destination. Nicole also jumps in on the sabotaging, possibly screwing up on the last counting for their team. The teams both finish their counts and return to enter their answers. But one of the dumb teams answers is wrong. So Nicole is given 20 minutes to go back and recount it. Nicole realizes it was one number lower, but meanwhile Clay is looking for codes. Nicole gets back in time with her number, but Clay has found a code and enters his number. And it turns out he’s right. So the team adds $30 grand into the pot, putting the total up to $281,000. Mark has no idea which mole was at work, since there were like 4.
Back at the hotel, Clay and Mark are strategizing. Mark is still solid and they decide that it’s down to Nicole and Craig. Mark is especially leaning towards Nicole. But it turns out Clay doesn’t trust Mark. And meets with Nicole behind his back, suggesting Craig or Mark as the mole. I guess no one suspects Paul. Clay and Nicole decide on Mark it seems. Dun dun duh.
The next morning, everyone leaves Mendoza for Buenos Aires and everyone is starting to miss their families a lot. They all meet Jon at a swanky club and learn they could earn $50,000. Everyone has to pick who they trust the most. Craig and Mark trust Clay, Clay trusts Nicole, and Paul and Nicole trust Mark. Although Nicole really trusts Clay. Jon says everyone’s families are on their way, on trains. But whether they add money or get to see their families depends on the player they trust the most. Craig and Clay are up first. Clay has to answer questions about Craig’s friend, after learning answers from Craig. If Clay gets 3 out of 5 right, Craig’s friend gets to visit. If he doesn’t, the train keeps moving. Clay seems to maybe botch his answers, but we go to a break before we find out if he succeeded.
But, it seems that Clay did in fact succeed, since Craig’s friend Brendi gets to get off the train and ten grand is added to the pot. Clay and Nicole are up next. Nicole seems to know the answers really well. Which is why Clay’s wife gets off her train and adds ten grand to the pot. Mark and Nicole are up next. Mark seems to be dawdling in asking the questions, but it doesn’t seem to matter, since Nicole’s mom gets off the train too. Clay and Mark are up next, and Mark needs Clay to win this for him. Clay draws a blank on one, meaning Clay needed 3 of the other four. But Clay was successful and Mark is reunited with his emotional wife. Although she’s knocked up, so she gets to be emotional. Paul is the last one up, and he doesn’t seem to have answers for a bunch of the questions. Meaning he doesn’t know basic facts about his wife. We go to commercial before we find out if Mark pulled out a win for him.
Sidenote: All the Sprint Instinct ads suck. Hardcore. I mean, who wouldn’t want a phone used by bad robbers, crazy women, and serial killers?
We come back and Paul is freaking out. But Mark manages to pull out the win for him. Meaning the team added $50,000 to the pot as well. Meaning the grand total is up to $331,000. Everyone agrees no one would have sabotaged that mission. Everyone relaxes with their families, but Nicole is feeling beat down by the game. And Paul. Nicole even suggests quitting the game. Her mom seems to cheer her on in terms of quitting. Wow, her mom is really supportive. Nicole seems to be planning to throw the quiz. Everyone goes to the quiz dinner with Jon and their families. The families all profess their belief to their loved ones molieness. I can really see where Nicole gets her personality.
Quiz Time
I suspect Craig
Nicole is still throwing the quiz and has a bad explanation of why
Craig suspects Nicole
Paul is suspicious of Clay’s mission success
Mark is between Craig and Nicole
Clay is not changing his strategy of guessing wrong people
Jon welcomes everyone and their family to the seventh execution. There’s a tie, which means someone was as bad as Nicole throwing the quiz. Ouch. Paul is up first and he’s safe. Nicole is up next, and her throwing it failed, since she’s safe. I’m guessing she didn’t actually throw it. Clay’s strategy of picking the wrong person continues, since he’s executed. Clay is excited to be able to go home with his wife. Paul tries to be nice. Mark is actually nice. Next time on The Mole, everyone walks the plank, gets locked in a cell, and shoots each other.
Monday, July 14, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, June 30, 2008
The Mole 6/30- Craig Says Paul Is A Llama's Ass
Previously on The Mole, Craig got hypothermia, Mark wandered into the Argentinean wild, and Victoria got sent packing. Nicole wonders why everyone who she suspects keeps getting executed. When you think about it, that’s actually a very good question. Jon welcomes them to a roofless train station for their first mission. The whole team is chained together and they have to work together to get a key. There’s a timed component and coldness (which Craig is worried about) and an exemption at stake (which will take money out of the pot. And since everyone needs to work together, this is gonna take a while. Craig tries to convince everyone that he just wants to get out of the cod and won’t take an exemption. Clay and Mark are hesitant, but they are willing to trust him. And it’s good that they do, because Craig takes the key and leaves the exemption. Surprisingly, Paul and Alex seem to be the most trusting, and Kristen uses her favor with Clay and goes second. Trust rewards them again, as Kristen also takes the key over the exemption. Paul, swearing on his daughter, is allowed to go next (even though Mark and Nicole seem very hesitant). We go into the commercial break as Paul’s hand hovers over the exemption.
We come back, and Paul, in a surprising move, is not a douchebag, taking the key instead. The remaining four players, though, are left bickering. Mark no longer trusts anyone, since his journal was burned and he’s a whiner. Mark goes so far as to say he no longer trusts himself. Seriously, this guys kind of off the deep end. Clay convinces them to let him go next, and he rewards them by taking the key. Mark, Alex, and Nicole are left, and, for no foreseeable reason, they let Nicole go next. And in an even more surprising move, Nicole takes the key, not being the bitch we’ve come to know her as. Mark lets Alex go next and also takes the key, leaving Mark there alone to ponder exemptions. He goes over and we go to commercial.
We come back and the group is discussing whether or not Mark will take it. They don’t seem to have a good opinion of him, and, when he comes in, he wants to know their opinion on whether or not he took it. He, however, took the key, meaning that the team adds $25,000 to the pot. Now that he didn’t take the exemption, Mark has entered my list of Mole suspects. Jon gives everyone a brand spanking new journal and I can only hope that this will make him less curmudgeonly. There’s some information exchanging, but Paul is proving to be a douchebag and is holding back information about himself. Paul and Clay start bickering at one another. Paul calls Clay’s whole life a “hypocrite.” I’m getting really tired of Paul (as if you couldn’t already tell). The car that doesn’t have Paul seems very pleased about their situation. Clay hit the seat and throws a lemon at Paul, and Paul is all up in arms. He says he’d kill Clay if they were on the streets. Clay and Kristen switch cars and I feel bad for Kristen. The other car sings a song about not having to deal with Paul. If only I could join in.
The players arrive in Mendoza, the Argentinean Napa Valley, but the drama from before arrives as well. Although it’s all under the surface now. When told that their mission will be stress relieving, Nicole asks if they’re gonna shoot something. Nicole is my favorite player, because she’s hilarious. Their next mission is called “Travelers” and involves them working in teams to get to a statue. Craig lucks into a role of getting to divide everyone up (well, not really lucks. He’s the first to say exemption at breakfast). Plus, if no one makes it to the checkpoint, Craig gets an exemption. Craig wants the exemption and he tells the team such. He pairs Alex (dressed as a conquistador, complete with Burro) with Mark (dressed in scuba gear). Kristen (on stilts) is paired with Clay (on a unicycle). Oh, and Nicole and Paul have to share a llama costume, with Paul as, fittingly, the ass. Everyone rebels against him, the whole team opting out. Jon tries to plant seeds of suspicion by questioning about who fomented the Mole Revolution. Mark is starting to seem too obvious. Craig gets his exemption, and the whole team hates him.
DIGRESSION: In my opinion, the Mole HAS to be someone who is not being edited as moley. Because ABC would have to be idiots to make it obvious. Which is why Kristen, and, very much increasingly, Alex are my biggest suspects. They haven’t done anything outrightly sabotage-like, but there’s something that doesn’t sit right to me about those two.
At dinner, Craig tries to make peace (it seems mildly successful). Nicole calls $30,000 a paltry sum, which kind of upsets Alex. Mark talks about how difficult it is to be away from home. Paul is also having a tough time, resorting to talking to a lemon. Everyone seems worried about the execution.
QUIZ SUSPECTS
I suspect Kristen and Alex (as stated above)
Alex suspects Mark
Clay suspects Nicole (maybe)
It’s executin’ time, and, since Craig is exempt, that means it’s a one in six shot for the rest of them (and a 1/3 chance that one of my suspects is going home). It’s a tie again tonight, and the time difference was one second, to which everyone, including me, goes Wow. Alex is first, and he’s safe, making me 1 for 2 on my suspects. Paul is next, and he’s safe too. Kristen is up, and she’s executed, meaning that I was only 1 for 2 on my suspects. My mole-dar goes fully to Alex now. I’m OK with it though, since I was leaning hardcore to Alex tonight and away from Kristen (and No, that’s not just me compensating for being wrong about the mole’s identity. Next week, Clip Show! Apparently followed by a new episode, with bungee jumping!
We come back, and Paul, in a surprising move, is not a douchebag, taking the key instead. The remaining four players, though, are left bickering. Mark no longer trusts anyone, since his journal was burned and he’s a whiner. Mark goes so far as to say he no longer trusts himself. Seriously, this guys kind of off the deep end. Clay convinces them to let him go next, and he rewards them by taking the key. Mark, Alex, and Nicole are left, and, for no foreseeable reason, they let Nicole go next. And in an even more surprising move, Nicole takes the key, not being the bitch we’ve come to know her as. Mark lets Alex go next and also takes the key, leaving Mark there alone to ponder exemptions. He goes over and we go to commercial.
We come back and the group is discussing whether or not Mark will take it. They don’t seem to have a good opinion of him, and, when he comes in, he wants to know their opinion on whether or not he took it. He, however, took the key, meaning that the team adds $25,000 to the pot. Now that he didn’t take the exemption, Mark has entered my list of Mole suspects. Jon gives everyone a brand spanking new journal and I can only hope that this will make him less curmudgeonly. There’s some information exchanging, but Paul is proving to be a douchebag and is holding back information about himself. Paul and Clay start bickering at one another. Paul calls Clay’s whole life a “hypocrite.” I’m getting really tired of Paul (as if you couldn’t already tell). The car that doesn’t have Paul seems very pleased about their situation. Clay hit the seat and throws a lemon at Paul, and Paul is all up in arms. He says he’d kill Clay if they were on the streets. Clay and Kristen switch cars and I feel bad for Kristen. The other car sings a song about not having to deal with Paul. If only I could join in.
The players arrive in Mendoza, the Argentinean Napa Valley, but the drama from before arrives as well. Although it’s all under the surface now. When told that their mission will be stress relieving, Nicole asks if they’re gonna shoot something. Nicole is my favorite player, because she’s hilarious. Their next mission is called “Travelers” and involves them working in teams to get to a statue. Craig lucks into a role of getting to divide everyone up (well, not really lucks. He’s the first to say exemption at breakfast). Plus, if no one makes it to the checkpoint, Craig gets an exemption. Craig wants the exemption and he tells the team such. He pairs Alex (dressed as a conquistador, complete with Burro) with Mark (dressed in scuba gear). Kristen (on stilts) is paired with Clay (on a unicycle). Oh, and Nicole and Paul have to share a llama costume, with Paul as, fittingly, the ass. Everyone rebels against him, the whole team opting out. Jon tries to plant seeds of suspicion by questioning about who fomented the Mole Revolution. Mark is starting to seem too obvious. Craig gets his exemption, and the whole team hates him.
DIGRESSION: In my opinion, the Mole HAS to be someone who is not being edited as moley. Because ABC would have to be idiots to make it obvious. Which is why Kristen, and, very much increasingly, Alex are my biggest suspects. They haven’t done anything outrightly sabotage-like, but there’s something that doesn’t sit right to me about those two.
At dinner, Craig tries to make peace (it seems mildly successful). Nicole calls $30,000 a paltry sum, which kind of upsets Alex. Mark talks about how difficult it is to be away from home. Paul is also having a tough time, resorting to talking to a lemon. Everyone seems worried about the execution.
QUIZ SUSPECTS
I suspect Kristen and Alex (as stated above)
Alex suspects Mark
Clay suspects Nicole (maybe)
It’s executin’ time, and, since Craig is exempt, that means it’s a one in six shot for the rest of them (and a 1/3 chance that one of my suspects is going home). It’s a tie again tonight, and the time difference was one second, to which everyone, including me, goes Wow. Alex is first, and he’s safe, making me 1 for 2 on my suspects. Paul is next, and he’s safe too. Kristen is up, and she’s executed, meaning that I was only 1 for 2 on my suspects. My mole-dar goes fully to Alex now. I’m OK with it though, since I was leaning hardcore to Alex tonight and away from Kristen (and No, that’s not just me compensating for being wrong about the mole’s identity. Next week, Clip Show! Apparently followed by a new episode, with bungee jumping!
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Mole 6/23- Hypothermia Can Be Combatted By Burning Journals
I'm gonna apologize in advance. This ain't one of my best recaps. Everyone has off nights though, right? Right? I'm gonna take your collective silence as a yes. Thank you for understanding.
Previously on The Mole, people wore underwear, Paul was an ass, Ali took a bribe, and Bobby was eliminated. Craig is unhappy that two people he liked left. Nicole is upset that her prime suspect is gone and she needs to start again. The players all leave Chile and head to the Andes in Argentina. It reminds Victoria of how insignificant she is. Jon welcomes them to the base of a mountain and tells them to split into two teams of four, selfish and selfless. Victoria doesn’t think she’s selfish, but she ends up on that team, with Nicole, Kristen, and Clay. The other four boys are the selfless ones. The teams have to carry “gold” bricks up a 10,000-foot mountain, with the first team making it up the mountain getting an exemption.
The selfish team takes less bricks and starts to head up, while the selfless team is packing more bricks. Nicole starts to give up like 50 feet from base camp, but she confessionals that it’s all a ruse. Craig feels like the weakest player now that Bobby is gone. Everyone actually seems to be struggling. Jon intercepts them and tells them that they have to carry a scale too. This task is not exactly entertaining to watch, with people walking. For a long time. The selfish team has a very big lead with 15 minutes to go. Craig is having a lot of trouble, and he’s seemingly not in very good shape. Ominous music and woozy camera angles take us into the break.
The selfish team makes it up first, and are told to hold tight and wait for the second group before discussing the exemption. The second team makes it up with 30 seconds to spare, and Craig successfully makes it up. The group adds $14,250, but there’s only one exemption and the selfish team has to decide on one person or the entire team forfeit their prize. The team initially wants Kristen, but Clay lawyers his way to the exemption. Clay offers to make it up to her on another mission. When the team makes it down to the bottom of the mountain, it turns out Craig is suffering from hypothermia, and has to go to the hospital. Well, he’s officially off my list of Mole suspects. I really don’t think ABC would pick someone who’s physically that weak to be the mole.
Everyone is worried about Craig, but he’s OK, as long as he stays warm. Craig, however, is worried that people will think he’s the mole because he’s so sick. Victoria announces that very suspicion. Mark is showing signs of Corbin Bernsen like craziness in terms of journaling. At dinner, Jon collects everyone’s journals. Everyone freaks out.
Jon returns quickly with everyone’s journals, assuaging their freak-outs. But, he wrote down some of his favorite comments and it’s time for a new mission “Who Said That?” Victoria apologizes in advance. Victoria correctly answers her question about her own alcoholism. Clay gets his right too, noticing that Kristen likes his vibes. Paul incorrectly answers his, but his answer was very valid. Kristen correctly answers her question because Nicole is blatantly signaling (which is against the rules). Alex botches his, but Mark correctly answers his. Nicole, further overacting, gets hers wrong, but Victoria fesses up and they get credit. Jon docks them for Kristen’s right answer though, since Nicole was way too blatant.
Everyone gets Crème Brulee for dessert and then goes for a drive with Jon. It turns out Jon is looking for someone to sacrifice their journal. After deciding on Alex, the group finds out that everyone else is losing their journals. Mark is hardcore pissed, and he wanders off into the Argentine wilderness, because apparently he is THAT upset. That’s a little overboard.
Mark wanders back, and Clay starts to question their coalition. Everyone is really worried about Mark going off the deep end, but they focus on themselves because it’s quiz time. Craig is back and everyone is happy. Craig also gets to keep his journal, which upsets Mark even further. Craig is briefed on what happened. Jon and the players toast to whoever is going home next.
QUIZ RUNDOWN
I still suspect Kristen, Victoria, and, newly, Alex.
Nicole suspects Victoria and speeds through the quiz.
Victoria maybe suspects Clay.
Paul suspects Victoria too.
Kristen will be upset if she gets eliminated because she had an exemption in her grasp.
Mark maybe suspects Craig (He’s at least pissed at him).
I’m starting to question my suspicion of Victoria now, because, even though she’s moley, I don’t think ABC would advertise multiple players as believing she is the Mole.
There’s a tie tonight, which means the player of the slower time will be executed. The difference, it turns out, is five seconds. All reality editing makes me believe Kristen (please, don’t kill my hopes of getting The Mole right off the bat) or Mark. Paul is up first, and he’s safe. Alex is next, and he too is safe. Mark is next, and, despite freaking out like no other, he’s safe. Victoria is next, and she’s executed. Meaning that she is not the Mole. Which means one of my suspicions is finally off (although, you don’t have to believe me, I honestly wrote that I didn’t suspect her before she was eliminated). Clay is incredibly surprised. Craig will really miss her. Next week on The Mole, Nicole and Paul share a llama costume (with Paul, fittingly, being the ass) and everyone (including me), continues to hate Paul.
Previously on The Mole, people wore underwear, Paul was an ass, Ali took a bribe, and Bobby was eliminated. Craig is unhappy that two people he liked left. Nicole is upset that her prime suspect is gone and she needs to start again. The players all leave Chile and head to the Andes in Argentina. It reminds Victoria of how insignificant she is. Jon welcomes them to the base of a mountain and tells them to split into two teams of four, selfish and selfless. Victoria doesn’t think she’s selfish, but she ends up on that team, with Nicole, Kristen, and Clay. The other four boys are the selfless ones. The teams have to carry “gold” bricks up a 10,000-foot mountain, with the first team making it up the mountain getting an exemption.
The selfish team takes less bricks and starts to head up, while the selfless team is packing more bricks. Nicole starts to give up like 50 feet from base camp, but she confessionals that it’s all a ruse. Craig feels like the weakest player now that Bobby is gone. Everyone actually seems to be struggling. Jon intercepts them and tells them that they have to carry a scale too. This task is not exactly entertaining to watch, with people walking. For a long time. The selfish team has a very big lead with 15 minutes to go. Craig is having a lot of trouble, and he’s seemingly not in very good shape. Ominous music and woozy camera angles take us into the break.
The selfish team makes it up first, and are told to hold tight and wait for the second group before discussing the exemption. The second team makes it up with 30 seconds to spare, and Craig successfully makes it up. The group adds $14,250, but there’s only one exemption and the selfish team has to decide on one person or the entire team forfeit their prize. The team initially wants Kristen, but Clay lawyers his way to the exemption. Clay offers to make it up to her on another mission. When the team makes it down to the bottom of the mountain, it turns out Craig is suffering from hypothermia, and has to go to the hospital. Well, he’s officially off my list of Mole suspects. I really don’t think ABC would pick someone who’s physically that weak to be the mole.
Everyone is worried about Craig, but he’s OK, as long as he stays warm. Craig, however, is worried that people will think he’s the mole because he’s so sick. Victoria announces that very suspicion. Mark is showing signs of Corbin Bernsen like craziness in terms of journaling. At dinner, Jon collects everyone’s journals. Everyone freaks out.
Jon returns quickly with everyone’s journals, assuaging their freak-outs. But, he wrote down some of his favorite comments and it’s time for a new mission “Who Said That?” Victoria apologizes in advance. Victoria correctly answers her question about her own alcoholism. Clay gets his right too, noticing that Kristen likes his vibes. Paul incorrectly answers his, but his answer was very valid. Kristen correctly answers her question because Nicole is blatantly signaling (which is against the rules). Alex botches his, but Mark correctly answers his. Nicole, further overacting, gets hers wrong, but Victoria fesses up and they get credit. Jon docks them for Kristen’s right answer though, since Nicole was way too blatant.
Everyone gets Crème Brulee for dessert and then goes for a drive with Jon. It turns out Jon is looking for someone to sacrifice their journal. After deciding on Alex, the group finds out that everyone else is losing their journals. Mark is hardcore pissed, and he wanders off into the Argentine wilderness, because apparently he is THAT upset. That’s a little overboard.
Mark wanders back, and Clay starts to question their coalition. Everyone is really worried about Mark going off the deep end, but they focus on themselves because it’s quiz time. Craig is back and everyone is happy. Craig also gets to keep his journal, which upsets Mark even further. Craig is briefed on what happened. Jon and the players toast to whoever is going home next.
QUIZ RUNDOWN
I still suspect Kristen, Victoria, and, newly, Alex.
Nicole suspects Victoria and speeds through the quiz.
Victoria maybe suspects Clay.
Paul suspects Victoria too.
Kristen will be upset if she gets eliminated because she had an exemption in her grasp.
Mark maybe suspects Craig (He’s at least pissed at him).
I’m starting to question my suspicion of Victoria now, because, even though she’s moley, I don’t think ABC would advertise multiple players as believing she is the Mole.
There’s a tie tonight, which means the player of the slower time will be executed. The difference, it turns out, is five seconds. All reality editing makes me believe Kristen (please, don’t kill my hopes of getting The Mole right off the bat) or Mark. Paul is up first, and he’s safe. Alex is next, and he too is safe. Mark is next, and, despite freaking out like no other, he’s safe. Victoria is next, and she’s executed. Meaning that she is not the Mole. Which means one of my suspicions is finally off (although, you don’t have to believe me, I honestly wrote that I didn’t suspect her before she was eliminated). Clay is incredibly surprised. Craig will really miss her. Next week on The Mole, Nicole and Paul share a llama costume (with Paul, fittingly, being the ass) and everyone (including me), continues to hate Paul.
Monday, June 16, 2008
The Mole 6/16- Luging And Naked Time! Sadly, Not Together...
Previously on The Mole, the group got schooled by kids, Paul was a d-bag, and Bobby was the weakest 25 year old I had ever seen. Oh, and Nicole threatened to kill Paul while he slept. No big deal.
Paul is surprised that Nicole threatened to kill him. Meanwhile, in a brilliant bit of editing, that is crosscut with Nicole confessionaling like a sociopath. Apparently, everyone is concerned with Nicole’s comment, but I don’t understand why, because she only threatened Paul, and he’s an ass. Apparently, Mark, Clay, and Bobby have a secret coalition. Also, apparently, Nicole was just kidding and trying to antagonize him. Darn.
Jon Kelly, playing like he’s surprised by the group’s arrival (Don’t pursue an acting career Jon), greets the team at their next mission. The group is split in half, Those Who Can’t Trust and Those Who Trust Blindly. They then have to pair up into groups of two and luge. Oh, also, those who can’t trust are blindfolded and are being steered by those who trust blindly. They also have to identify pictures of fruit. Clay and Bobby are up first. Bobby mis-identifies an avocado as a pair, but Clay manages to correctly identify 5 out of 7 (even correcting the avocado). Paul and Ali also get 5 out of 7. Craig and Victoria do well (I miss the number). Mark and Kristin get all 7. Nicole and Alex, however, only get 1 right, because they repeat the green apple in their order (It’s a little ambiguous as to whether Nicole or Alex is actually to blame). I’ve got an aside for you readers though: If you think about it, I’m about 95% sure that the mole HAS to be on the blindfolded team. Because if they tell their team mate the wrong fruit, it’s going to be blatantly obvious to their teammate, thus exposing them as the mole. But if they’re blindfolded, they can easily sabotage. Jon tells them that they got 25 right, which should earn them $50K. But, apparently, Bobby/Clay and Craig/Victoria broke the rules, which knocks their challenge win down to $26,000. Clay now suspects Bobby to be the mole, and Craig now suspects Victoria. Mark and Clay are now questioning their alliance with Bobby. Mark confessionals that he trusts Clay most. Clay confessionals that he trusts Clay most too.
Jon, apparently, booked everyone for a spa day. Everyone is having a great time. Kristen is on to Nicole’s game, that she is trying to convince everyone that she’s the mole. Kristen does suspect Alex though. Everyone gets massages. Bobby recognizes that his allies don’t trust him, and then starts some Corbin Bernsen style mole-hunting by pointing out that Jon was eating a big apple yesterday and Paul is from New York. Sorry to break it to you Bobby, but while Paul is from Yonkers, Yonkers ain’t a part of the Big Apple. Oh, and Jon came by and stole everyone’s clothes.
And thus starts their next challenge. The team is split is split into two teams of two and two teams of three. The players have to make it to a restaurant in like two hours. And they have to convince the people of Santiago to give them their clothes off their backs. Their nice clothes, because the restaurant has a dress code. Oh, and they have to do it in their underwear. And if they don’t get to the restaurant, they don’t eat dinner. Mark and Clay immediately decide not to participate. Bobby, Nicole, and Craig are all kinds of failure. Victoria, Kristen, and Ali are getting wolf-whistled, but then again, two of them are also wearing hooker boots and the other one is wearing stripper heels. They encounter two buses of HS males. Fun, awkward times. Alex and Paul are actually having success though. Nicole, Bobby, and Craig are actually having success, with Nicole fully completing an outfit. Victoria, Kristen, and Ali aren’t having any success though. Paul and Alex are having a lot of luck, fully completing their outfits. They get to the restaurant. Ali wants to give up, but her teammates don’t. They find Americans and convince them to give them their shirts. Then they find a nice lady who gives them pants. They get to the restaurant. Bobby’s outfit gets completed. Then they find the Laundromat where Jon took their clothes. And they complete their outfits and make it to the restaurant too. They bring everyone else’s clothes too. They add $40,000 to the pot, which ups to total pot to $129,000.
Jon takes them all to dinner and then its quiz and execution time. Mark obsesses over his journal because if he gets eliminated he wants to know that he did everything in his power to stay. Which I guess means Mark is going home (although Bobby got a redemption arc tonight so it could equally be him). Paul continues to be a d-bag to everyone and everyone is getting pissed. Victoria looks incredibly displeased with her decision to sit next to Paul. Understandably so.
QUIZ TIME
I suspect Kristen and Victoria. Kristen because I still think there’s something moley about her. Victoria because she botched the luge mission (and there seems to be a lot of people online who claim to have “proof” that Victoria is the mole.)
Nicole suspects Bobby.
Victoria thinks Ali could be the mole.
Alex suspects Nicole.
Paul suspects Bobby, Nicole, or Craig.
It’s execution time. Jon welcomes them to an old train station in Santiago and immediately offers the players $20,000 to get up and walk away. No one takes it, although Nicole and Paul seem like they were really heavily considering it. Kristen is up first, and she’s safe, meaning I may not be a complete idiot. Mark is next, and reality TV editing 101 misleads us, because he’s safe. Victoria is next and wonders if it’s too late to take the money. But she’s safe (yes, that means I also may not be an idiot). Jon raises his offer to 30 grand. Ali decides to take it this time, because she thinks she botched the quiz. She and Jon walk away and everyone expresses mild shock. Ali would have been safe though. In another twist, the execution continues, so two people are leaving tonight. Alex is next, and he’s safe too. Bobby is next, and my knowledge of reality TV pays off this time, because he’s eliminated. Victoria is broken up, and Craig is too, kinda. Paul continues to be an ass and is happy two people are gone.
Next Time on The Mole: People hike up a mountain, Craig goes to the hospital, and Mark wanders off into the Chilean wilderness.
Paul is surprised that Nicole threatened to kill him. Meanwhile, in a brilliant bit of editing, that is crosscut with Nicole confessionaling like a sociopath. Apparently, everyone is concerned with Nicole’s comment, but I don’t understand why, because she only threatened Paul, and he’s an ass. Apparently, Mark, Clay, and Bobby have a secret coalition. Also, apparently, Nicole was just kidding and trying to antagonize him. Darn.
Jon Kelly, playing like he’s surprised by the group’s arrival (Don’t pursue an acting career Jon), greets the team at their next mission. The group is split in half, Those Who Can’t Trust and Those Who Trust Blindly. They then have to pair up into groups of two and luge. Oh, also, those who can’t trust are blindfolded and are being steered by those who trust blindly. They also have to identify pictures of fruit. Clay and Bobby are up first. Bobby mis-identifies an avocado as a pair, but Clay manages to correctly identify 5 out of 7 (even correcting the avocado). Paul and Ali also get 5 out of 7. Craig and Victoria do well (I miss the number). Mark and Kristin get all 7. Nicole and Alex, however, only get 1 right, because they repeat the green apple in their order (It’s a little ambiguous as to whether Nicole or Alex is actually to blame). I’ve got an aside for you readers though: If you think about it, I’m about 95% sure that the mole HAS to be on the blindfolded team. Because if they tell their team mate the wrong fruit, it’s going to be blatantly obvious to their teammate, thus exposing them as the mole. But if they’re blindfolded, they can easily sabotage. Jon tells them that they got 25 right, which should earn them $50K. But, apparently, Bobby/Clay and Craig/Victoria broke the rules, which knocks their challenge win down to $26,000. Clay now suspects Bobby to be the mole, and Craig now suspects Victoria. Mark and Clay are now questioning their alliance with Bobby. Mark confessionals that he trusts Clay most. Clay confessionals that he trusts Clay most too.
Jon, apparently, booked everyone for a spa day. Everyone is having a great time. Kristen is on to Nicole’s game, that she is trying to convince everyone that she’s the mole. Kristen does suspect Alex though. Everyone gets massages. Bobby recognizes that his allies don’t trust him, and then starts some Corbin Bernsen style mole-hunting by pointing out that Jon was eating a big apple yesterday and Paul is from New York. Sorry to break it to you Bobby, but while Paul is from Yonkers, Yonkers ain’t a part of the Big Apple. Oh, and Jon came by and stole everyone’s clothes.
And thus starts their next challenge. The team is split is split into two teams of two and two teams of three. The players have to make it to a restaurant in like two hours. And they have to convince the people of Santiago to give them their clothes off their backs. Their nice clothes, because the restaurant has a dress code. Oh, and they have to do it in their underwear. And if they don’t get to the restaurant, they don’t eat dinner. Mark and Clay immediately decide not to participate. Bobby, Nicole, and Craig are all kinds of failure. Victoria, Kristen, and Ali are getting wolf-whistled, but then again, two of them are also wearing hooker boots and the other one is wearing stripper heels. They encounter two buses of HS males. Fun, awkward times. Alex and Paul are actually having success though. Nicole, Bobby, and Craig are actually having success, with Nicole fully completing an outfit. Victoria, Kristen, and Ali aren’t having any success though. Paul and Alex are having a lot of luck, fully completing their outfits. They get to the restaurant. Ali wants to give up, but her teammates don’t. They find Americans and convince them to give them their shirts. Then they find a nice lady who gives them pants. They get to the restaurant. Bobby’s outfit gets completed. Then they find the Laundromat where Jon took their clothes. And they complete their outfits and make it to the restaurant too. They bring everyone else’s clothes too. They add $40,000 to the pot, which ups to total pot to $129,000.
Jon takes them all to dinner and then its quiz and execution time. Mark obsesses over his journal because if he gets eliminated he wants to know that he did everything in his power to stay. Which I guess means Mark is going home (although Bobby got a redemption arc tonight so it could equally be him). Paul continues to be a d-bag to everyone and everyone is getting pissed. Victoria looks incredibly displeased with her decision to sit next to Paul. Understandably so.
QUIZ TIME
I suspect Kristen and Victoria. Kristen because I still think there’s something moley about her. Victoria because she botched the luge mission (and there seems to be a lot of people online who claim to have “proof” that Victoria is the mole.)
Nicole suspects Bobby.
Victoria thinks Ali could be the mole.
Alex suspects Nicole.
Paul suspects Bobby, Nicole, or Craig.
It’s execution time. Jon welcomes them to an old train station in Santiago and immediately offers the players $20,000 to get up and walk away. No one takes it, although Nicole and Paul seem like they were really heavily considering it. Kristen is up first, and she’s safe, meaning I may not be a complete idiot. Mark is next, and reality TV editing 101 misleads us, because he’s safe. Victoria is next and wonders if it’s too late to take the money. But she’s safe (yes, that means I also may not be an idiot). Jon raises his offer to 30 grand. Ali decides to take it this time, because she thinks she botched the quiz. She and Jon walk away and everyone expresses mild shock. Ali would have been safe though. In another twist, the execution continues, so two people are leaving tonight. Alex is next, and he’s safe too. Bobby is next, and my knowledge of reality TV pays off this time, because he’s eliminated. Victoria is broken up, and Craig is too, kinda. Paul continues to be an ass and is happy two people are gone.
Next Time on The Mole: People hike up a mountain, Craig goes to the hospital, and Mark wanders off into the Chilean wilderness.
Monday, June 9, 2008
The Mole 6/9- I'm Gonna Kill You In Your Sleep
Previously on The Mole, people bickered at and about each other and the players did kind of miserably and Marcie was executed. Paul is a little lost because his alliance mate was executed. Liz is upset Nicole doesn’t know manners. Craig makes a funny.
Jon introduces us to our location in Santiago and welcomes Nicole back to the group, and people immediately begin to insult her. Jon introduces the challenge and divides the group. It’s a race, with Mark and Kristen tandem-biking up a mountain racing the rest of the group in a gondola, but the other group has to play a game of soccer first. If Mark and Kristen make it up first, they’re both exempt, but if they lose, $35,000 into the pot. The team are all very confident in themselves in their soccer abilities, but they are schooled. By a bunch of Chilean kids. It’s all kind of embarrassing.
Meanwhile, Mark and Kristen are having technical difficulties with their bike; the chain keeps falling off. So they decide to run up the hill and carry the bike. Bobby is a weakling and almost collapses on the field. It’s also kind of embarrassing. Craig accidentally scores a goal on his own team. The team expends their entire twenty minutes of play, but Ali scores a goal on the team’s second penalty kick. The team then has to run to the Gondola station and they absolutely fall apart, because no one can communicate with one another.
The team is still disintegrating, but they start to pull it together. The bike team is making steady progress, but Mark is bitching. Jon interrupts their trek and offers them a cab for $5,000 from the pot. Mark rudely turns him down. It seems pretty close, but the gondola team gets there first. Or so Jon tricks them into thinking, because Mark and Kristen actually got there first. Victoria is on a little rampage, but Paul is the one who decides to go a little crazy, unloading on Bobby, which angers Victoria. Nicole, unhappy if she’s not the bitchiest one, confessionals that she’s happy everyone else is unhappy. At an impromptu group meeting, Paul continues to be a douchebag, and this time Victoria is his target. Paul is happy to further fracture the team.
The next day, the team is taken to the Chilean countryside, and apparently, the smell is hideous. The team is doing something with pigs. There are 50 piggy banks hidden around a town. The team splits up into 3 groups of 3 and a group of two. The groups of 3 search for the pigs and the group of two has to catch them after they are fired from a slingshot. Jon makes a bunch of really bad puns and puts a special emphasis on them, so we hear just how bad they are. The teams go off to search for pigs and Bobby again proves completely useless, needing Kristen to push him in a wheelbarrow. Bobby is also useless in language skills and basically his team is making no progress. Alex’s fluency is really helpful though, and Bobby seems really obvious in his sabotage of this task. Alex pulls his team back to the slingshot, as does Mark, leaving only the ineffectual group of Craig/Bobby/Kristen in town. Paul has a feeling about an exemption in one of the pigs.
After the break, it turns out Paul is right, and the douchebag is exempt. Liz wishes she had wrestled it out of his hands. The first team back starts to sling them, but Liz and Paul can’t catch them. Craig takes over though, and Liz and Paul start to catch them. Alex is a control freak on the slingshot and won’t let anyone else play with it. The teams all reveal how badly they screwed up. Bobby reveals his wheelbarrow escapade and Paul is, of course, angry with Bobby. The team gets 28 pigs total, which brings the pot tally for this episode to… $28,000. Alex leaves his journal in Bobby and Craig’s room, and Bobby and Craig read it, but it proves no use to them. Alex then backs up their claims of “idiot” by playing an incredibly dumb song about mole hunting on something that looks kind of like a dulcimer.
The team goes to dinner with Jon, and everyone is worried about Mark, Kristen, and Paul’s exemptions. All the non-exempt players have to take the quiz. My suspicions are still on Kristen. I’m still not sure why, but she just seems moley to me. Ali suspects Alex. Craig suspects Mark. Alex suspects Nicole. Nicole suspects Bobby. Jon gathers the group in front of a big cemetery and begins the execution. Clay is first, and he’s safe. Alex is next, and he’s safe too. Victoria is third, and she’s also safe. Bobby’s next, and he’s safe too. Liz, however, is not, and Jon executes her. Liz loved the experience, and the others all had fond recollections of her. Paul, however, needs to continue to be a douchebag, and says Nicole and Bobby should have gone home instead. Bobby tells Paul he’s not classy, and Nicole tells Bobby that she’s gonna kill him while he sleeps and leave no forensic evidence. God bless her.
Net time on The Mole, everyone gets naked, Paul continues to be an ass, and confrontations abound.
Jon introduces us to our location in Santiago and welcomes Nicole back to the group, and people immediately begin to insult her. Jon introduces the challenge and divides the group. It’s a race, with Mark and Kristen tandem-biking up a mountain racing the rest of the group in a gondola, but the other group has to play a game of soccer first. If Mark and Kristen make it up first, they’re both exempt, but if they lose, $35,000 into the pot. The team are all very confident in themselves in their soccer abilities, but they are schooled. By a bunch of Chilean kids. It’s all kind of embarrassing.
Meanwhile, Mark and Kristen are having technical difficulties with their bike; the chain keeps falling off. So they decide to run up the hill and carry the bike. Bobby is a weakling and almost collapses on the field. It’s also kind of embarrassing. Craig accidentally scores a goal on his own team. The team expends their entire twenty minutes of play, but Ali scores a goal on the team’s second penalty kick. The team then has to run to the Gondola station and they absolutely fall apart, because no one can communicate with one another.
The team is still disintegrating, but they start to pull it together. The bike team is making steady progress, but Mark is bitching. Jon interrupts their trek and offers them a cab for $5,000 from the pot. Mark rudely turns him down. It seems pretty close, but the gondola team gets there first. Or so Jon tricks them into thinking, because Mark and Kristen actually got there first. Victoria is on a little rampage, but Paul is the one who decides to go a little crazy, unloading on Bobby, which angers Victoria. Nicole, unhappy if she’s not the bitchiest one, confessionals that she’s happy everyone else is unhappy. At an impromptu group meeting, Paul continues to be a douchebag, and this time Victoria is his target. Paul is happy to further fracture the team.
The next day, the team is taken to the Chilean countryside, and apparently, the smell is hideous. The team is doing something with pigs. There are 50 piggy banks hidden around a town. The team splits up into 3 groups of 3 and a group of two. The groups of 3 search for the pigs and the group of two has to catch them after they are fired from a slingshot. Jon makes a bunch of really bad puns and puts a special emphasis on them, so we hear just how bad they are. The teams go off to search for pigs and Bobby again proves completely useless, needing Kristen to push him in a wheelbarrow. Bobby is also useless in language skills and basically his team is making no progress. Alex’s fluency is really helpful though, and Bobby seems really obvious in his sabotage of this task. Alex pulls his team back to the slingshot, as does Mark, leaving only the ineffectual group of Craig/Bobby/Kristen in town. Paul has a feeling about an exemption in one of the pigs.
After the break, it turns out Paul is right, and the douchebag is exempt. Liz wishes she had wrestled it out of his hands. The first team back starts to sling them, but Liz and Paul can’t catch them. Craig takes over though, and Liz and Paul start to catch them. Alex is a control freak on the slingshot and won’t let anyone else play with it. The teams all reveal how badly they screwed up. Bobby reveals his wheelbarrow escapade and Paul is, of course, angry with Bobby. The team gets 28 pigs total, which brings the pot tally for this episode to… $28,000. Alex leaves his journal in Bobby and Craig’s room, and Bobby and Craig read it, but it proves no use to them. Alex then backs up their claims of “idiot” by playing an incredibly dumb song about mole hunting on something that looks kind of like a dulcimer.
The team goes to dinner with Jon, and everyone is worried about Mark, Kristen, and Paul’s exemptions. All the non-exempt players have to take the quiz. My suspicions are still on Kristen. I’m still not sure why, but she just seems moley to me. Ali suspects Alex. Craig suspects Mark. Alex suspects Nicole. Nicole suspects Bobby. Jon gathers the group in front of a big cemetery and begins the execution. Clay is first, and he’s safe. Alex is next, and he’s safe too. Victoria is third, and she’s also safe. Bobby’s next, and he’s safe too. Liz, however, is not, and Jon executes her. Liz loved the experience, and the others all had fond recollections of her. Paul, however, needs to continue to be a douchebag, and says Nicole and Bobby should have gone home instead. Bobby tells Paul he’s not classy, and Nicole tells Bobby that she’s gonna kill him while he sleeps and leave no forensic evidence. God bless her.
Net time on The Mole, everyone gets naked, Paul continues to be an ass, and confrontations abound.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The Mole 6/2- Yes, It Was Worth Peeing My Pants Over
It’s here! It’s here! Yay! According to host Jon Kelly, they’re gonna be pushed to the the brink. We get brief intros to all of the contestant, but they go by too fast for me to get decent impressions of them. The players all meet up at a Waterfall. They are immediately given a secret ballot and half to guess which one is the mole. They pick Marcie, who is pleased. She is immediately given power over the group for 44 hours.
Jon (who is already nowhere near as good as Anderson Cooper and nowhere near as bad as Ahmad Rashad) tells them that their first task will be riding a raft over a waterfall and jumping for cash. Marcie gets to decide who jumps for money (as some of them are) and who jumps for worthless bags. Alex is up first and he completely misses. Immediately, accusations of being the Mole fly. Ali is next and she prayed to Jebus. Jebus helps her, but not that much, as she gets fingers on it but loses the bag. Clay is up next and informs us that attorneys don’t usually jump waterfalls. Thanks for that informative tip Clay. He manages to get his bag. Kristen, one of my first mole suspects, gets her bag, already making me look like an idiot. Bobby, next, is worried about hanging himself, but gets the bag. Liz, a 60 year old retiree, also gets her bag, and I already like her because she’s a tough old broad. Paul, who is worried about getting bested by a 60 year old lady, gets bested by a 60 year old lady. Victoria, a cheerleader in college, sits on her raft as it goes over the edge and misses the bag. Craig, my other initial Mole suspect, just misses his, and apparently something dramatic happens as people gasp and we go to commercial.
SIDENOTE: As much as I wish it wasn’t the case, the more ads for it I see, the more I wanna watch Wipeout.
Craig does survive, and Nicole is up net. She gets turned around on her raft and still manages to get the bag. Mark manages to get his bag as well. Time for the bag reveals. Nicole, Kristen, Bobby, and Liz all have fake money. Mark and Clay have real cash though, so they get 20 grand. Everyone gets their Mole journal and then Marcie is made to pick 4 people to sleep out for the night. Marcie actually picks three of the people who managed to get their bags and Craig, who choked himself, which seems like a very dumb or moley strategy. One of the younger idiot males (Maybe Alex or Paul) gives away his journal because he has a photogenic memory, which I guess is good for the other players, because not only is he an idiot, but he may give them some really attractive photos of things he remembered.
SIDENOTE: As much as I wish it wasn’t the case, the more ads for it I see, the more I wanna watch I Survived A Japanese Game Show. God damn you ABC.
Marcie and Paul are forming an alliance. I’m still not sure if he’s the one with the photogenic memory. They get a clue and have to go to the beach. Paul, immediately making him more aggravating, gets Alex involved in his coalition of the driving. It’s all very idiotic. The group picks Nicole as the biggest complainer, and she complains about being called a complainer and says that she’s awesome. Jon tells them about Robinson Crusoe and calls him a crybaby. Nicole has to pick out a bunch of roles for people. There are 45 items hidden on the beach and then they have to pick out 5 items that Robinson Crusoe had with him. Meanwhile, two of them have to keep filling a giant hourglass with sand. Liz keeps endearing herself to me. Everyone is basically screwing up. Methinks the Mole is afoot…
SIDENOTE: I think the reason that I want to watch the previous two shows is because schadenfreude is a major component of my personality and they look like people getting harmlessly injured a lot.
The three who pick the guesses get one right the first time, three the second time. Paul, one of the sand people, gives up. The get 3 out of 5 items right, which gives them another 15 grand. Nicole is gonna get stranded on the beach while everyone else leaves. I can’t help but think that there’s a better deal coming for her.
SIDENOTE: Based on every commercial and trailer I’ve seen for it, I really kind of hope The Love Guru destroys all of Mike Myers’ box office reliability and he’s forced to go back to making good movies.
Nicole gets comfortable on the beach. Meanwhile, everyone is discussing possible Mole suspects. It seems like everyone’s name comes up. The contestants all go to dinner with Jon, while Nicole is still camping on the beach. Mark gets all teary-eyed talking about his family and how he’s doing for them. Not to sound like an synical asshole, but I’ve heard it all before. Jon toasts them all “May the mole be merciful.” He might not be that terrible a host yet.
THE LAST SIDENOTE, I PROMISE: Wanted looks awesome.
It’s quiz time. The quiz is ten questions. They still refer to them as executions, but I don’t care.
LEADING SUSPECTS:
Paul suspects Craig
Alex suspects Marcie
Craig maybe suspects Marcie
Bobby suspects Kristen (Me too! Please don’t go home, it’ll make me look like an idiot)
Marcie maybe suspects Nicole
Mark maybe suspects Craig
Victoria maybe suspects Bobby
Well, it turns out Nicole? She’s safe from being executed tonight. She is teleconferenced in front of a very fake looking fire, and she is very pleased with her exemption. It’s time to get down to executin’. Ali is first, and she is safe. Victoria’s next, and she’s safe too. Paul is next, and I’m hoping he gets executed. But he’s safe. Bobby’s next, and his results don’t make me look like an idiot, because he’s safe. Mark is next, and he’s safe too. Marcie is next, and, unfortunately for anyone who suspected her, she is executed. Which means my mole suspect (Kristen) and my favorite contestant (Liz) both survived the first episode, which, no joke, may be a record for me with The Mole.
NEXT TIME ON THE MOLE: Tandem bikes! Bobby in a wheelbarrow being pushed in Kristen! Paul being a typical tri-state area douchebag (Don’t worry, I can say that, I’m a tri-stater)! Nicole threatening to murder someone in their sleep!
Jon (who is already nowhere near as good as Anderson Cooper and nowhere near as bad as Ahmad Rashad) tells them that their first task will be riding a raft over a waterfall and jumping for cash. Marcie gets to decide who jumps for money (as some of them are) and who jumps for worthless bags. Alex is up first and he completely misses. Immediately, accusations of being the Mole fly. Ali is next and she prayed to Jebus. Jebus helps her, but not that much, as she gets fingers on it but loses the bag. Clay is up next and informs us that attorneys don’t usually jump waterfalls. Thanks for that informative tip Clay. He manages to get his bag. Kristen, one of my first mole suspects, gets her bag, already making me look like an idiot. Bobby, next, is worried about hanging himself, but gets the bag. Liz, a 60 year old retiree, also gets her bag, and I already like her because she’s a tough old broad. Paul, who is worried about getting bested by a 60 year old lady, gets bested by a 60 year old lady. Victoria, a cheerleader in college, sits on her raft as it goes over the edge and misses the bag. Craig, my other initial Mole suspect, just misses his, and apparently something dramatic happens as people gasp and we go to commercial.
SIDENOTE: As much as I wish it wasn’t the case, the more ads for it I see, the more I wanna watch Wipeout.
Craig does survive, and Nicole is up net. She gets turned around on her raft and still manages to get the bag. Mark manages to get his bag as well. Time for the bag reveals. Nicole, Kristen, Bobby, and Liz all have fake money. Mark and Clay have real cash though, so they get 20 grand. Everyone gets their Mole journal and then Marcie is made to pick 4 people to sleep out for the night. Marcie actually picks three of the people who managed to get their bags and Craig, who choked himself, which seems like a very dumb or moley strategy. One of the younger idiot males (Maybe Alex or Paul) gives away his journal because he has a photogenic memory, which I guess is good for the other players, because not only is he an idiot, but he may give them some really attractive photos of things he remembered.
SIDENOTE: As much as I wish it wasn’t the case, the more ads for it I see, the more I wanna watch I Survived A Japanese Game Show. God damn you ABC.
Marcie and Paul are forming an alliance. I’m still not sure if he’s the one with the photogenic memory. They get a clue and have to go to the beach. Paul, immediately making him more aggravating, gets Alex involved in his coalition of the driving. It’s all very idiotic. The group picks Nicole as the biggest complainer, and she complains about being called a complainer and says that she’s awesome. Jon tells them about Robinson Crusoe and calls him a crybaby. Nicole has to pick out a bunch of roles for people. There are 45 items hidden on the beach and then they have to pick out 5 items that Robinson Crusoe had with him. Meanwhile, two of them have to keep filling a giant hourglass with sand. Liz keeps endearing herself to me. Everyone is basically screwing up. Methinks the Mole is afoot…
SIDENOTE: I think the reason that I want to watch the previous two shows is because schadenfreude is a major component of my personality and they look like people getting harmlessly injured a lot.
The three who pick the guesses get one right the first time, three the second time. Paul, one of the sand people, gives up. The get 3 out of 5 items right, which gives them another 15 grand. Nicole is gonna get stranded on the beach while everyone else leaves. I can’t help but think that there’s a better deal coming for her.
SIDENOTE: Based on every commercial and trailer I’ve seen for it, I really kind of hope The Love Guru destroys all of Mike Myers’ box office reliability and he’s forced to go back to making good movies.
Nicole gets comfortable on the beach. Meanwhile, everyone is discussing possible Mole suspects. It seems like everyone’s name comes up. The contestants all go to dinner with Jon, while Nicole is still camping on the beach. Mark gets all teary-eyed talking about his family and how he’s doing for them. Not to sound like an synical asshole, but I’ve heard it all before. Jon toasts them all “May the mole be merciful.” He might not be that terrible a host yet.
THE LAST SIDENOTE, I PROMISE: Wanted looks awesome.
It’s quiz time. The quiz is ten questions. They still refer to them as executions, but I don’t care.
LEADING SUSPECTS:
Paul suspects Craig
Alex suspects Marcie
Craig maybe suspects Marcie
Bobby suspects Kristen (Me too! Please don’t go home, it’ll make me look like an idiot)
Marcie maybe suspects Nicole
Mark maybe suspects Craig
Victoria maybe suspects Bobby
Well, it turns out Nicole? She’s safe from being executed tonight. She is teleconferenced in front of a very fake looking fire, and she is very pleased with her exemption. It’s time to get down to executin’. Ali is first, and she is safe. Victoria’s next, and she’s safe too. Paul is next, and I’m hoping he gets executed. But he’s safe. Bobby’s next, and his results don’t make me look like an idiot, because he’s safe. Mark is next, and he’s safe too. Marcie is next, and, unfortunately for anyone who suspected her, she is executed. Which means my mole suspect (Kristen) and my favorite contestant (Liz) both survived the first episode, which, no joke, may be a record for me with The Mole.
NEXT TIME ON THE MOLE: Tandem bikes! Bobby in a wheelbarrow being pushed in Kristen! Paul being a typical tri-state area douchebag (Don’t worry, I can say that, I’m a tri-stater)! Nicole threatening to murder someone in their sleep!
Welcome Back: The Mole
Now, guys, I don’t want to worry you or anything, but I think I might have just peed myself a little. Now, I know you’re saying “Nate, pray tell, what momentous occasion has caused you to wet yourself on this day, the 2nd of June?”, to which I respond “How did readers from Victorian England access my blog?” and to which I secondarily respond “They’re Witches! Burn Them!”
Now, for all of you who are still reading and keeping up with my inanity, the real reason I may or may not have piddled a little bit is because tonight sees the return of my absolute, hands down favorite reality show (which, for past readers, they know means something, because I’m a reality junkie). Now, again, for readers who have, for some reason or another come back to this here blog, you may know how much I proclaim my love for “The Amazing Race”, “Rock of Love”, “MILF Island”, and other reality shows, but there is not a single reality show that I love more than “The Mole”.
Back when the Mole premiered for the first time, I was still kind of a youngun’. But, not to trumpet my own horn or anything, I was kind of brainy. I still loved TV then, but I loved TV in a brainier way than I do now (As anyone who has seen my love messages to VH1 can tell). And “The Mole” was perfect for me: a reality show that was as much, if not moreso, about smarts and cleverness than about being able to assemble a rotating puzzle to spell a dumb phrase after swimming, diving, claiming, and maybe killing a chicken (No offense Survivor). I was able to completely play along, my theories about the identity of the Mole always evolving, being proven wrong, being proven wrong again, etc. I absolutely loved the show, and Anderson Cooper’s hosting (which I’m sure Mr. Fancy Pants Newsman wants us all to forget) was great.
And then, after two regular seasons (one of which was pulled halfway through, thanks Commies over at ABC), I endured Celebrity Mole. Oh god, Celebrity Mole. If you weren’t a spinoff of one of what is probably my favorite shows of all time, I would hate you so much. You sucked. Majorly. God, Ahmad Rashad, you really sucked. Almost everything about you sucked, except for the basic premise.
Thankfully, though, ABC is bringing back The Mole with regular people. Now, Anderson is not hosting anymore, and I don’t know anything except that the new host, Jon Kelly, worked for Extra. But I do know that I’m super, super pumped (Even more pumped than I am for the I Love Money show on VH1). An Entertainment Weekly I got a few weeks ago had an ad for the mole with a clue that said “I Lie with my Eyes”. My pre-game money is either on the guy who wears glasses (Craig) or the girl who seems to have interesting eyes in the ad (Kristen). So I’m guessing at least one of those two goes home tonight. Expect a recap tonight. But it’d be even better if you watched it, since I want there to be another season because I’ll finally be old enough to apply.
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