The Mole: 6/2/08

I didn't watch this show the first time around, and I know it had a huge cult following. I wish I had watched it. To make up for that indiscretion, I'm going to watch it this time around and see if it's as good as everyone who watched it says it is.

Mr. Dramatic Narrator claims that this adventure is going to change 12 American's lives forever, and push them to the edge.

The Contestants (and possible moles) are:

Victoria: 26 year old Retail Manager from Texas.
Mark: 42 year old history teacher and soccer coach from Wisconsin
Bobby: 25 year old restaurant manager from Philiadelphia
Marcie: 31 year old Stay-at-home mom from California
Nicole: 33 year old OBGYN from Chicago
Paul: 29 year old utility worker from Yonkers, NY
Alex: 31 year old musician from Pennsylvania
Liz: 60 year old retiree from Montana
Ali: 24 year old model from St. Louis, Missouri
Clay: 32 year old attorney from Pennsylvania
Craig: 30 year old graphic artist from California
Kristin: 35 year old neuroscientist from California

Everyone was introduced looking super sneaky and spy-like in the intro video. They don't look as glamorous in the real game.

They start at a waterfall, at night, and they get right to business. First, everyone is given a card to circle who is the mole from first impressions. Marcie gets the most votes. Because they think she is the mole, she gets to make all the decisions for the next 24 hours, including their first challenge. So I guess the deal is, if she is the Mole, she could sabotage the challenge. But she'd have to be sneaky about it.

Their first challenge is to go over a waterfall on a raft, and jump at the waterfall's edge for a bag filled with potential money. 6 get to jump for $$, 5 for nothing but paper.

Alex is up first, and he is scared of falling from heights and drowning. Aren't we all? He missed the money. Ali goes next, and prays to get the money. She jumped for the money, and Jesus apparently wasn't listening, because she missed it. (I apologize if I offend anyone). Clay goes next, and he gets the bag o'potential cash! He said "as an attorney, I don't jump over waterfalls." Well, who does?

Neuroscientist Kristin goes next and grabs a bag. Bobby is terrified of hanging himself, but also gets a bag. Liz tries next, and grabs the bag with no visible effort. Good lady. Paul misses his bag by a hair and is feeling shown up by the "60 year old lady". Deal with it, Mr. Victoria think that she has an advantage because she was a cheerleader. Um, nope.

Craig gets the willies about the rope because he's a heavier guy. He reached for the bag and knocked it down, but didn't get it because the line almost hanged him. Yipes. Nicole has a fear of heights and decided to sit backwards in the raft, and that strategy worked for her. Mark also got it, with lots of flair.

Nicole's bag was fake money. Kristin's is also fake. Bobby's is fake. Mark's is real - $10,000. Liz was not so lucky. Clay's was also real. So: They got $20,000 total for the challenge instead of a potential $60,000.

After the challenge, they got their Handy Dandy Notebooks. Nicole, Liz, Craig, and Bobby are assigned to sleep outside by Marcie. Nicole is angered about it, and tries to "circumvent" the rules ("You Have to Sleep Where You Are Assigned"), and decides not to sleep, and just go inside. Way to play the game, girl.

Everyone goes back through their day and takes down notes in their Handy Dandy Notebooks. This is the only place where they can write down their thoughts and observations about the game, so it's important. This game looks like it's like one of those complicated logic problems.

Sleeping outside was not fun. Nicole wouldn't know. She didn't sleep. She whines about not having a blow dryer and a curling iron. Paul decides to have a coalition with Marcie - "For sharing information and misleading people." Marcie says that she is good at telling when people are telling the truth because she's a mom.

It's time for their next challenge, and they go to the beach. Paul grabs Alex as another coalition member and they go to the beach. They are asked who is the group's biggest whiner, and Nicole is the winner by a unanimous decision. She says "What's wrong with being smart and gorgeous at the same time." Yup, instant villain.

The host tells the story of Robinson Crusoe, and Dr. Whiner Nicole (I can't even take credit for that, she coined the phrase herself!) gets to pick 6 scavengers, 3 appraisers, and 2 timekeepers for the next challenge.

Scavengers:, Craig, Marcie, Alex, Bobby, Victoria, Clay
Appraisers: Kristin, Liz, and Mark.
Time keepers: Ali and Paul.

The Scavengers have to get all of the items they can find on the island, including 5 items that Selkirk (the real life inspiration for Robinson Crusoe) had with him when he was shipwrecked in 1704. The Appraisers have to decide which are the right items. They have three chances to get them right. (there are 45 items total). The time keepers have to rush to fill the hour glasses with sand. When time runs out, the challenge is over. For each correct item, the team will get $5000.

Alex and Craig are "sauntering" according to Liz. Some items that they brought back seem to be good ideas (like a goat). Others are idiotic - like a hairdryer and a vacuum cleaner and the Mole sign.

The Appraisers finally agree on Victrola, Antique battery, bowler hat, bunsen burner, and the goat. Only one of these items is correct.

Craig and Bobby were unable to run through the sand. Paul was having troubles filling up the hour glass.

Camera, bible, mason jar, musket, and goat is the second guess.

Paul gave up with the sand just as the Appraisers rang the bell the last time.

Revolver - no go. Not invented until 1835. The musket and the bible were correct. They put jeans on the table, which were not invented until the late 1800s. The goat was right. So, they got 3/5. That's $15,000. The missing items were tobacco and a copper tea kettle.

As an added bonus, Nicole gets stranded on the beach to sleep there by herself, and the others started laughing. Nicole said she was hurt by that, but she really brought it on herself. If she hadn't been so annoying right off the bat, maybe she wouldn't have gotten voted whiner. Oh, excuse me. Dr. Whiner.

On the beach, she spent some time making a fire, and back in their warm area, the other women all discuss their notes from the day. Bobby is much less athletic than they thought, and wonder if he is the mole. Paul and Alex are chatting together, and Paul claims to be leaning away from Marcie as the Mole, but he is making Alex think that he thinks that Marcie is the Mole.

It's dinner time, and the host asks them if they miss Dr. Nicole. Silence. Game play is brought up, though. Paul thinks that Craig (lovable big guy Craig) is the leading suspect for the mole. A couple people think that they might know who the mole is. Mark really wants to win so that his wife doesn't need to work 2 jobs anymore. There is a quiz coming up, after they all enjoy a lovely looking meal complete with pisco sours (sure I spelled that wrong), the National Drink of Chile.

The Quiz is 10 Questions about the Mole, and the lowest scorer will be executed. Duhn-duhn-daaaaaah. No, not like that. It's their fancy way of saying eliminated from the game.

Question 1: Is the Mole Male or Female?
Question 2: When did the Mole jump in the over the falls mission?
Question 3: During the Crusoe mission, which group was the mole assigned to?
Question 4: On the first night, where was the Mole assigned to sleep?
Question 5: As it's written on the Mole's Bag, does the mole have an even or odd number of letters in their name?
Question 6: What is the mole's age.
Question 7: In Over the Falls, what was the outcome of the Mole's jump?
Question 8: Did the Mole drive one of the vans to the beach?
Question 9: At the start of the Crusoe mission, was the mole wearing a hat?
Question 10: Who is the Mole?

I honestly have no idea who the mole could be at this point. I think it could be Craig, and it could be anyone else, too. lol. Nicole is still stranded on the beach, but she joins in via teleconference, and she's got a good fire going. She has earned exception from elimination... umm, execution.

Ali is safe, after an agonizingly long pause with overly dramatic music. I think the composers of the music for this show know that the latest Bond theme is yet to be decided, so they are making their bid. "Look, we can write cool sounding, mysterious, brooding music. Choose us! Who needs Beyonce or Amy Winehouse? You could have an instrumental on your hands."

Victoria is safe, as are Paul and Bobby, and Mark. Marcie, the first suspect of being the Mole, is gone first. And we hardly knew her. It's sad. I thought she had some good potential. Paul lost a coalition member. Marcie gets to go home to her family, after hardly getting to play the game at all.

In coming weeks, Paul looks really annoying. Yay, another villain!

Overall, I liked it. It is keeping me thinking, that's for sure. Anyone have any thoughts on who the Mole might be?