'The Mole': Lemon-throwing and llamas
Every week The Mole starts by asking us "who is the mole?" Wouldn't it be nice if we could answer "one of the remaining contestants" and walk away with the cash (or a portion thereof)? The more I hear that question asked, the more I think it needs to be reworded. The game itself is great, the question needs work. But, enough with that, let's get on to the good stuff.
This week began with a fun little trust-based mission. I think the trust missions are the best thing the show has to offer. The whole show is about not trusting other people, so when the contestants are forced to trust, it gets really interesting - nerves are frayed, people are suspicious, it's great to watch.
The mission had everyone chained together with only one person able to reach a cell that contained the key that would unlock the chains one at a time. Everyone had to be in agreement about who would be going for the key or no one would be able to reach it. The cell opened only once every ten minutes. There was also an exemption card next to the key, and if someone grabbed the exemption everyone else would have to remain locked up in the cold all night. Fun.
Craig, still feeling unwell, convinced everyone that he needed to go inside, and, though Clay almost balked, Craig was allowed to get the key during the cell's first opening. Nicole stated that if it were up to her she wouldn't have let anyone through. Now, whether or not Craig is the mole (and I'm saying he isn't), the right thing to do was to let him grab the key instantly. If there's any chance the man actually was ill (and I'm saying he was), the right thing to do was to let him go inside and get warm. Plus, I'm also going to say that Nicole was lying about not letting anyone go if it was up to her (isn't she allegedly a doctor? Shouldn't she care about Craig's health from a medical standpoint even if not from a game one?).
There was more hemming and hawing after Craig left, and Paul acted like a complete pain in the butt (not for the last time this week), but eventually everyone was freed from their chains. Mark was the guy who made the whole thing really difficult, which I think was the right mole strategy. I can't imagine that the mole actually would have grabbed the exemption. I think that the mole's smartest course of action was to stop people from going to the key, not to get the exemption. Mark was the last player chained and he ended up grabbing the key, not the exemption. If he is the mole, maybe he failed tonight, though, whomever the mole is failed tonight (unless they were just sewing the seeds of distrust, which I think would be a cop-out for the mole at this point).
After the mission, and to make things that much more interesting, Jon gave everyone new journals. The mind games with the new journals began the next day when the players were driving to their next pit-stop and trying to fill up the new journals with old information (like birthdates). Paul didn't want to give Clay his birthdate (he already gave it once which is all that he was required to do). He and Clay got into something of a tussle (which involved lemon-throwing). How much was true anger and how much was an attempt to psych out the other? No matter what the guys said to the camera later, I'm saying it was mostly genuine anger. I think Clay, the lemon-thrower, completely lost his cool, that it wasn't just an attempt to provoke Paul (at least not by the end of it). He quickly regained his composure once he left Paul, but I think he was legitimately angry.
The next morning the bad feelings were still present, but it was mission time so they had to take a back-burner to money-winning... maybe. For this next mission, the group would be divided into three pairs (with one person, Craig, left over) and each team had to make it to a particular statue on a hill in 45 minutes. Ten grand would be added to the pot for every group that made it to the statue. If none of the groups made it, no money would be added to the pot but Craig would get an exemption.
Craig did not make it easy for the teams, assigning everyone horrific modes of transportation (including putting Paul and Nicole in a llama suit). He could have made it very easy for everyone, but he opted for trying to get the exemption instead of adding cash to the pot. It was certainly an odd choice coming from Craig. To this point he had always seemed so nice.
Mark, my perennial choice for mole, initiated a mutiny, he refused to do the task, and did his best to get everyone else out of it too. He actually succeeded and only Alex contemplated trying to complete the task. Oddly though, when Jon asked who started the rebellion, the players stated it was a team decision. That's certainly not how we saw it, Mark definitely led the charge, everyone definitely followed his lead (save Alex), and Craig got his exemption.
Just like last week, there was a tie during the quiz this week. The time differential between the players was much more slim however, a mere second. I don't know who answered their quiz questions just as poorly but one second faster than Kristen, but they are one lucky person. Kristen however? Not so much. She was given the old heave-ho tonight.
This week's batch of questions:
- There were two easy exemptions to be obtained this week. If you were playing would you have tried to get either one?
- We're down to six people who could be the mole. I've been steadfast in my choice and my guy is still in the game. Who's your pick? And, be honest, have you been changing it from week to week?
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews - because you care enough to read the very best.
My siblings and I had a bet from after the first episode who the Mole was. Out of the 6 of us 4 are still in the running. We chose Mark, Nicole, Paul and Alex (mine). I think Alex is the mole, but I really started to think Kristen was the winner or mole (I was wrong!)
I think Alex is the Mole. I think he sabotages the challenges in such a subtle way that no one suspects him. For example, he missed the money bag in the first challenge and didn't play well during the soccer game, even though he should have. Additionally, in the ceramic pig challenge, although he was able to find a lot of pigs because he spoke Spanish, he didn't know how to work the slingshot so a lot of pigs were cracked. In the luge game, many blamed Nicole for repeating the same fruit, but Alex could have easily used that as an excuse to ruin the order of them. Lastly, for the "Who Said That" game, which I think would have been the easiest one to sabotage without bringing attention to oneself, he was the only one besides Paul and Nicole to get it wrong. Paul and Nicole are also su****ious, but I think they bring too much attention to themselves to be the Mole.
Wow! Last night was an easy night for the mole. The first task was brilliant to let the contestants play on their own paranoia. If anyone took the exemption, they would be suspect #1 for the mole. My thoughts on the mole's move for this task was not to go out first and not to go out last. They wanted to hang out long enough to see player reaction to the situation, maybe even fuel the fire a little, but not enough to be blatant. I even think that by Clay and Mark acting like they did, that would be even too blatant for the mole. I thought Paul (my pick from night 1) Nicole and Alex played the task like I think the mole would/should.
The second task was odd. By Mark leading the revolt, he draws su****ion and I don't think that is very mole-like. I think this was an easy one for the mole because with this group and a few agitated players, you were bound to get one person unhappy that would lead the group into mutiny. At that point the mole just needs to go along because no $ is going into the pot.
Two players stood out for me during this whole time. Paul and Alex. Paul stood out because he was working to agitate people before the task. I was watching Mark more than Clay/Paul during that "tussle" in the van. You could see him getting more and more agitated then he stayed in there with Paul and I am sure Paul didn't just calm down as soon as Clay left. Then our eliminated contestant just happen to be in the van with Paul and Mark. I wonder if Mark was the other low score. Alex also looked a little fishy to me as he suited right up and attempted the task. I think the mole would want to appear into the challenge, get people started then derail them.
One thing I have to mention. It seems odd that Paul is getting the brunt of people's threats/hostile actions but yet the producer's do nothing to punish the contestants. Nicole threatened to "kill him in his sleep and leave no forensic evidence". On any other show, a death threat like that would result in some kind of sanction or expulsion. Here, it is let go and shown almost weekly. That may be too bold for the mole to say, but surely the mole/producers would be happy that a player is rattled enough to say that. Also, Clay had his run-in, got angry and threw a lemon at Paul's head. He even admitted he wanted Paul to feel the hit but not injure him. Once again, on a top tier reality show, physical violence to another player is not tolerated no matter how serious (VH-1 is excluded, lol). Yet Clay doesn't have any sanctions that we know of. To me that is odd and really makes me think Paul is the mole and the produces are loving him getting to a different player each week and giving them a nice conflict to work with.
I really have had no idea who the mole is until this week. I'm really starting to think it's Alex. He's so low key and under the radar that it's starting to look suspecious. Clay has been on my radar too. But I'm really leaning twords Alex. We shall see!!!!
well, I have no "evidence" to back up my claim that Nicole is the mole (for this week) - other than the fact that she is still on the show. This was a very Mark-centric episode, but so much over the top that I still don't think he is the mole.
I started with the belief that Alex was the mole, but I've been on to Clay for the past two weeks. I thought that Paul might be in it till the end, but now he seems to have locked his sights on Craig. If he changes his mind, the final three will be Paul, Clay and Mark. If he doesn't, then he'll be out this week.
I kind of got a kick out of everyone saying how "humiliating" those modes of transport were. You're on a reality show people! You have no pride, ok? You all walked around in your underwear begging for clothes. Being a llama or a scuba diver isn't much worse if at all.
I'm still sticking with my su****ion (since week two) that Craig is the Mole.
Concerning this weeks episode, Mark is seriously starting to get on my nerves - possibly more so than Paul. Paul appears to be the stereotypical loud-mouthced New York (either that or a grown-up bully/douche bag). Mark on the other hand is just annoying. Enough with his prattling on about losing his precious journal. It was burnt, dude! Get over it already! If his game plan was so reliant upon his journal, he didn't have much of a plan to begin with. If Mark is not the Mole, then I hope he is his/her next victim.
Concerning Craig and any Mole-like behavior last night...all the remaining players should have a sense of each other by now. By opting to go out first in the "chained together" mission, Craig would have known that the other players would behave just as they did - whether he was there or not. Personally, I would rather have them discussing/arguing outside in the cold while I was inside all nice and warm (and possibly getting some one-on-one time with the producers).
In the second challenge, Craig paired up the players with people they do not get along with (i.e. Paul and Nicole in a Llama suit). I thought it also su****ious that Craig got to call the shots in that challenge because he was the first person to say "exemption" prior to the challenge.
I like the show, but they are taking it way to seriously. Sure Craig set them up for failure, but you're also there to have some fun. At least get in the costume or on the stilts or unicycle and have some laughs. This whole "I'm not doing it because it's degrading is bs. This seems to happen every episode.
We're starting to get to the point where you can almost identify the mole by finding the person that should have been eliminated by now. In season 2, I correctly picked Bill as the mole half way through the season, just because he didn't seem to be working that hard and I was wondering how he was still around if he wasn't the mole (note that this stratagy backfired with Dennis Rodman).
With that in mind, Clay and Mark definitely appear to be putting the most work into tracking what everyone is doing. Nicole and Paul, both seem to be pretty smart, despite their 10-year old behavior. That leaves Craig and Alex as my suspects for the mole with Alex being the prime suspect. When you think about how laid-back his approach has been to everything, you have to wonder why he hasn't been eliminated.
This episode brought back the mystery, scheming, and suspision of the cast which is how I fell in love-like with this show. :) The chained together challenge was the eery night mission I had been waiting for. Clay was definately exuding some moley moleness by hesitating to let some of the others go. Mark did as well. Here are some moleish things that COULD have been done but weren't. The mole could have:
1. distracted the others by further negotiating, pulling their vision away, etc. while the gate was open so they'd run out of time before someone noticed it.
2. holding back the chain by standing on it and pretending that it was caught on something
3. try to convince the others that one of them will take the exemption etc.
Instead, all of the money went into the pot.
At breakfast, I noticed the way craig said "exemption". it wasn't understated at all and it seemed like he knew what he was doing. He emphasized it and gave a little look at the host. Hmmm...do I smell a rat--or even a mole???
In the next mission I surprised everyone opted out--starting with mark as the leader. He had one of the least challenging costumes. However, I think that he's just a whiner. Alex suited up right away but then was all, "my work here is done. heh heh heh..." that's right he's the mole. At least I hope he is i luv him.
Somehow I knew kristen was going home. I could Feel it.
Um, how awesome was the Paul-free in van #2 song!? I luvd it so much I want it for a ring tone. Also in the second mission If I were in craig's possion (unless he's the mole) I would've given everyone the easiest modes of transportation. Hey, the point of the game is to add money to the pot and he simultaniously made 6 new enemies and did the mole's job for him. I wonder what will happen next week...