The Mole: Episode 5
Nicole said something interesting tonight, right at the top of the show. “Why is that everyone I pick as the Mole gets executed and I don’t?” That’s a good question, because you would think that if Nicole is truly concentrating on one person every time she takes the quiz that she would have been eliminated by now. Maybe she’s The Mole! Of course, we can make that case for every single one of the remaining contestants at one point or another. Well, except for the one that was executed tonight, the player that a lot of viewers picked because this person was rather quiet and flew under the radar. Just goes to show you that you really can’t predict who’s going to get kicked off the show.
Something hit me tonight as I watched Paul do a nutty again on Clay and Mark over-react (overact?) about a challenge: one of these people is putting on a show. So maybe Paul’s intense jerk act is just that, an act, and he’s a helluva guy. Maybe Mark’s immature drama is an act and he’s really a cool person. Maybe Nicole’s arrogance and scheming is just an act and she’s really your average, nice girl. But think of this: only one person left on the show can be the Mole, so the other personalities we’re seeing are the real thing. Yikes.
In the two challenges tonight, I think a lot of the players were completely illogical. In the first, everyone is ticked at Mark because they think he took the exemption instead of the key. But why would they be so pissed at him? I mean, he was the last person left at the prison, so why wouldn’t he take the exemption? Hell, even Paul was tempted and he left a lot earlier (as it turns out, Mark didn’t take the exemption, though if he’s the Mole it’s a smart move). In the second, everyone is mad that Craig took the exemption after he got one by sheer luck, saying the word “exemption” first (of course, maybe it wasn’t luck, maybe he said it on purpose because he’s the Mole - then again, maybe the show made up the whole “first one to say exemption” thing, it really could have been any word they thought of after the fact). What, they wouldn’t have taken the exemption if given the chance?
And I’m so tired of these complaints about challenges (the “Travelers” challenge - too bad Traveler isn’t on anymore, we could have had a crossover episode). Everyone thinks it’s not worth it to be “humiliated” by wearing a llama costume or wearing stilts or riding a unicycle? Why the hell did the even sign up for this game? Mark really pushed this. You know what? I actually believe Craig when he says that even though he took the exemption he picked those things because he thought it would be fun. I think Craig is the guy I’d like to hang out with in real life, Mole or not.
I’m not sure what we’re supposed to think about another tie in the quiz. Only one second separates two players? The one executed tonight is Kristin, who seemed nice and was quiet (hey, turns out she probably really is!). All of the most controversial players - Mark, Paul, Nicole - are still around, along with the still-sick Craig (?), religious lawyer Clay (and no, Paul, those things aren’t contradictory), and musician Alex, who was the only one who really seemed to want to dress in a funny outfit tonight.
Next week: highlights from the season so far, but a new episode too.
Some observations/questions:
- Is there some significance with that damn lemon pet that Paul carries around? It will be fun to see the clues that the show laid out for us when the show is over.
- Some of the questions on the quiz are so specific that if you’re not the Mole and you concentrate on one person and they aren’t the Mole, you’re screwed. For example, a question tonight asked if the Mole used a sleeping bag in the prison challenge. Only one person had a sleeping bag and that was Clay.
- During his argument, Paul said “My whole life is a hypocrite.” Wow.
- The Mole is keeping a journal at over abc.com. I haven’t checked it for clues yet.
The Mole: Episode 4
“In my everyday life, the only place I hike to is Bloomingdale’s.” - Nicole
Wow, I think a lot of people lost their Mole pools tonight.
But before we get to that, let’s talk about those journals. I think tonight showed that, if the rules allow it (though Nicole is always bending the rules), players on this reality show should make duplicate copies of what they write in their journals. Or tear out important pages and stuff them down your sock or something. To some players, the journals are more of a pain because there’s too much info and they’d rather keep it in their head. To others, the journals are their lifelines in this game, and those players were probably very stunned tonight.
Hey, the show is in Argentina now! That’s great, because I didn’t want every episode set in Chile. The players are in Argentina, and the first challenge is “The Midas Rush.” The teams separate into two groups, the Selfish and the Selfless (Paul is on the selfless team??). They have to carry bars of gold up the mountain in backpacks and in their hands. The team up the mountain first gets an exemption. Of course, it’s not as easy as that. Jon explains that the team has to figure out which person gets the exempton, or no one gets it and they don’t get the money ($250 for each bar). Clay says he wants the exemption, which some find as suspicious. But they agree and he is safe. The players earn $14, 250.
Meanwhile, Craig dies.
OK, he doesn’t, but the big guy hardly makes it up the mountain without passing out, and when the team gets down to the bottom again, Craig is in and out of consciousness and an ambulance is called. He’s given oxygen and is sent to the hospital, which upsets the rest of the players on the ride back. Craig shows up at the cabin later and says that he has to take it easy. During this entire time, I looked really carefully to see if I could find some clue that this was all fake, like the oxygen mask wasn’t hooked up to anything or the window of the ambulance had a sign that said “Mole Onboard,” but no such luck. It would be a good way to hide out if Craig is the Mole, and a great way for him to rest and regroup his thoughts if he isn’t.
At dinner, Jon takes the players journals and leaves. The contestants wonder what’s up and if they’ll get them back. Jon returns and they play a “Who Said That?” game. During the game, Nicole purposely coughs and blinks her eyes rapidly to tip off Kristin that she said one of the quotes. It’s painfully obvious, so Jon takes that money away. Did she do this because she’s the Mole, wants to make people think she’s the Mole, or she’s just devious in general? Hmmmm.
Jon leads the group outside to a fire and asks for one person to sacrifice his journal. After some talk and odds/evens, Alex gives his to Jon. But there’s a twist: the person giving the journal keeps their journal, and the rest of the team journals are burned on a table in a (very dramatic) fire. The team thinks this sucks, especially Mark, who slightly freaks out and goes missing for a while. Again, is he really this way or is he the Mole? He certainly did write a lot in that thing.
So, did you pick Victoria as the Mole? I had it narrowed down to Mark and Victoria, and now I’m only left with Mark, because Victoria was executed! I thought she could have been the Mole because she was kinda low key and flew under the radar. Now I know not to pick people because of that. It’s funny, because Mark is one of my suspects for the opposite reason: he’s over the top, a little dramatic, vocal, a little confrontational.
So Mark is still one of my top suspects, but I might even add Nicole to the list. Early on she was so blunt that it seemed like it was way too obvious for her to be the Mole, but something happened tonight I haven’t figured out yet. Just before Victoria is voted out - because she finished the quiz 5 seconds slower than the person that she tied with - Nicole happened to mention that her plan was to go through the quiz really fast and hope for the best that someone else finished slower, and then a few minutes later something like that actually happens? I haven’t even figured all that out yet. The Mole wouldn’t do badly on the quiz, and it would be an odd bit of editing for the show to put that quote so close to what actually happens (though tricky and would throw us off), so it’s a little confusing to figure out.
Oh, it can’t be that obvious. I’m going with either Mark or Paul. And Mark said the word “asshole” tonight without being bleeped, which would have made George Carlin smile.
Hell’s Kitchen: Day 12
“If it was men I could have worked that to my advantage, but it was bitchy, pregnant women.” - Corey
Tonight I came up with a million dollar idea for a new reality show. It’s a combination of Hell’s Kitchen and The Mole. Maybe Hell’s Mole. Or Mole in the Kitchen. You have 12 contestants trying to get the gig as Gordon Ramsay’s new chef at one of his restaurants, but one of them has been paid by FOX/Ramsay to actually screw up the service. Burn the food, put some hot sauce in something that another player is cooking when they’re not looking, blow a challenge on purpose. It could be exciting, though Mole would probably have to be change to Mole’.
I thought of this tonight after the sneaky thing that Jen did in the elimination voting…
We’re down to four players: Jen, Corey, Petrozza, and Christina. The opening of HK shows the players that have been eliminated, and to tell you the truth it’s hard to even remember some of them. Sharon? Vanessa? Shayna? They’re a blur, and the only reason Dominic stands out is because he really didn’t fit in and was voted off first.
The challenge this week is to make lunch service for 80 mysterious guests. Jen makes grouper (not sure I would go that route when you have no idea who the guests are), Christina makes a chicken dish, Petrozza makes Monte Cristos, and Corey makes salmon BLTs. Or I should say she tries to make them. Even though she has an hour, she only gets a handful of sandwiches done, which irritates Ramsay.
The 80 guests? Pregnant women! And they’re probably going to be really hungry. They seem to like all the dishes, though Corey makes several of them wait while she makes more sandwiches (never leave a pregnant woman waiting for food). After all is said and done, the women vote for the best and it’s really close. Two votes separate Christina and Petrozza, and Christina wins. She gets to go to Beverly Hills and shop for clothes while the rest have to clean the dining room (and whine and moan - Jen and Corey both say that Christina has no fashion sense and it should be them who go shopping, which strikes me as really catty and dumb - Petrozza pretty much stays out of it). Christina shows her clothing to the others. Why anyone would show $1000 worth of clothing to people who are jealous escapes me.
I’d also like to mention that for the second time, Jen eats food off of the plates. Really bizarre.
The dinner service goes incredibly well. Sure, there are some hiccups: Jen doesn’t move as fast as Ramsay wants, Christina’s hot pan burns Ramsay*, and Petrozza’s station is a mess (as usual), but Ramsay says it’s the best service yet. But they still have to vote someone else.
That’s where Jen’s treachery comes in. The group isn’t sure who to vote for, so they decide to secretly vote for someone on pieces of paper. That’s when we find out that three people voted for Christina, which is impossible since Corey didn’t vote for her. So that means that Jen voted for Christina twice! (There’s an outside chance that maybe Corey lied about who she voted for, but it doesn’t seem that way.) The two people put up for elimination are Jen and Corey.
While most of America prays that Jen is the one going home, Ramsay says “Corey…say goodbye to Jen.” Ah, the old fakeout. Thankfully Jen is now gone, free to go someplace else and out-cook everyone and be a “fashionista.”
Ramsay has the three remaining players hug each other, saying “I know Petrozza’s fat but he’s not that ugly!”
* Did anyone notice that Ramsay burned his left hand but ran his right hand under the cold water? I had to rewind it to see if that’s what happened and it is. He puts his left hand under at one point and then puts his right hand, and they showed this twice. What’s that all about?
The Mole: Episode 3
“There isn’t a single person in Santiago my size.” - overweight Craig, walking around in his underwear
So tonight I decided that instead of just looking at all of the players equally to see if they were the Mole, I would focus on the two players that I have narrowed it down to (I know, a little early, but you have to start looking early). So I paid attention to everything that Mark and Victoria said, did, ate, wore, and didn’t do. And you know what? I’m as lost as I was in the opening scene of the first episode. OK, not that confused, because after tonight’s third person was eliminated, I guess mathematically I have a better idea of who the Mole is or isn’t. But I know that it’s not easy to figure this out.
I also know that I don’t want to see Craig walking around in his underwear ever again.
Tonight is the night where Paul lets loose on several contestants, not just Nicole (who threatened his life last week). Paul is so “reality show a-hole” that he’s either a real player trying to win this game or he’s giving a performance that Emmy voters should consider next year.
The first challenge tonight is “Fruit of the Luge.” Basically teams of two go down a luge (one blindfolded, one not) and have to memorize signs that have fruit pictures on them. Every one they get right they get $2000. Oh, and they can’t talk at all once they cross the finish line. So what happens? They get a ton of money, but two teams are completely disqualified because they spoke after crossing the finish line! Now, was this stupidity or Mole sabotage? (Nicole also got her fruits mixed up in a really suspicious manner, but that could be “I want them to think I’m the Mole” strategy.)
This challenge is notable for two other reasons: one, when it starts, Jon Kelley is eating an apple, which I believe is something that Anderson Cooper did when he hosted the show (Anderson did it better). Is this an homage to earlier seasons or a clue? Bobby thinks it’s a clue. He tells Mark that he picked up on that right away (he’s been a fan of the show since the first season) and thinks the Mole might be Paul because apple = New York. Of course, apple could = other states as well, but at least Bobby is thinking about the game. Mark thinks he’s nuts (and he and Clay don’t quite trust him).
The second challenge is “Dress Code.” The gang goes to a spa for some massage and relaxation. But that doesn’t last long, as Jon steals their clothing and sends it out to be cleaned! Their mission? Go into Santiago and beg the townspeople to give you clothing! But it has to be nice so you can meet Jon in a nice restaurant later. Needless to say this isn’t the most hygienic challenge this show has had.
I can’t imagine anyone in any town giving a stranger his/her clothing, and it makes me wonder if the players are allowed to say “hello, I’m participating in an American reality show and could win thousands of dollars…can I have your pants?” Amazingly, some of the guys get clothing. The girls are gawked at by 50 school boys getting off a bus (they follow the girls through town), until a woman in a restaurant has extra pants. Paul actually finds a New Yorker who has extra clothes at his hostel. But the most intriguing part of this assignment is that just when you think half-naked Craig isn’t going to find any clothing, he goes to a laundromat to see if they have any extra shirts and pants…and it’s the same laundromat where ABC brought the players’ clothing! Shocking luck or did Craig know something? Hmmmm…
At the dinner, Paul talks back to almost everyone. He calls Bobby a “punk,” he and Craig get into a little, and of course he hates Nicole for just being alive. He also accuses Mark of changing his attitude after Mark says he’d rather be a decent person than win money.
At the elimination, Jon offers $20,000 to anyone who wants to just quit the game now. No one takes him up on the offer. Three players are then deemed safe by the computer, so Jon ups the offer to $30,000…and Ali takes the money! The others are shocked. So we now know that Ali wasn’t the Mole. We also find out that if she had stayed, she would have been safe.
But that doesn’t mean the elimination part is over. Two players are going home tonight. And the person executed is…Bobby! So I guess Mark and Clay were completely off base when they said they didn’t trust him, and Bobby was way off base when he thought the apple munching was a clue (either that or he’s right and he just answered the questions wrong).
Some observations:
- They’re still in Chile? I can’t remember how many places we went to in other Mole seasons, but I hope they move on to other countries in the coming weeks.
- A lot of viewers noticed that in the first episode, Victoria was the only player who had a green Mole logo on her helmet in the waterfall challenge, so tonight I paid attention to the helmets in the luge challenge. Unfortunately, all of the helmets had Mole logos this time, so there was no clue to be found in that aspect tonight.
- Our collection of Mole collectibles grows again tonight, with black and green Mole underwear!
Next week: mountain climbing! (By the way, you can read Jon Kelley’s blog about the show here.)