The Mole: 6/9/08

The fallout from Marcie's ouster and Nicole's immunity is rough on a few people. They are in Santiago, Chile, with the giant Virgin Mary on the mountain. Nicole claims in confessional that she is going to play a little quieter and under the radar.

Right off the bat, they have to separate themselves into two groups - 9 who are goal oriented, and 2 who are uphill battle. Mark and Kristin are the uphill battle people, after Liz and Craig vied for the spots, thinking it would be easy. Others on the team were more savvy (or non-moles), and they were right - Mark and Kristin have to ride a tandem bike. The goal oriented team has to try to score a goal against Chilean soccer (sorry, football) players. If the goal oriented people can get that goal, they get to ride on a 10 minute gondola up to the top of the hill. The soccer game is 20 minutes, with chances for overtime. If they beat the tandem bike people up the hill, they get $35,000. If the tandem bike people beat them, they get no money, but the two of them get immunity.

And it turns out, the Goal Group is playing against children. I'm still not sure how well they will do, though a few people get really cocky. Craig is sure one of the kids is going to end up nailing him in the groin.

Those kids are fast. The kids score the first goal easily. Ali says that she wishes she was on the kids' team, they are so good.

Of course the tandem bike couldn't be a simple bike ride. The chain keeps falling off whenever they get any speed on. Mark ends up running the bike up the hill after having a couple frustrations with the chain.

The kids are up 10-0 easily, and Nicole as goalie isn't trying at all. Bobby couldn't run around on the field and took over as goalie. He is such a cardiovascular wimp.

Mark and Kristin continue running up the hill, and have suspicions of one of them being the mole.

Craig scores a goal on the Goal team. It's time for penalty kicks. Ali scores the goal, and they finally get their gondola ticket. Even though they are exhausted from their soccer game, they have to go by foot. They can't decide which way to go, and they go two different ways, with Craig and Liz unable to keep up. They all have to make it as a team, so this could be sabotage by the Mole, or just idiocy. Craig, Bobby O, and Liz are dubbed "The Worst Group Ever." Paul and Ali stayed with Liz, and then Liz finally took her shoes off, saying that would help her, because she's a barefoot country girl.

Kristin and Mark are back on the bike, riding for a bit, then they get off and push it for a bit. They run into Mr. Host Man, drinking Pisco Sours, and offers them a taxi ride for $5000 from the pot. They refuse.

Alex, Victoria and Nicole reach the gondola station, and they reach the top in the gondola before the rest of the team gets to the station. They all have to get to the top before they can see who wins. Mr. Host Man calls out to Kristin and Mark, and at first it looks like they are not there, but then they emerge. The Goal Team is really crushed. Victoria blames the breakdown in communication. Paul attacked Bobby for saying he was a good soccer player, when he wasn't. Well, Victoria brought up that Paul was not much better himself.

The bickering continues back in their hotel room(s?)... Victoria says that this is the worst team she has ever been on ever, and instead of making the Mole's job harder, they are making it easier by acting like children. Paul congratulates himself (in confessional) on throwing her off her game, but Victoria tells Kristin she can deal with idiocy and childishness, because she works retail. Since I work part time retail, I can relate.

The players head to Pomaire, and they see an arena with pigs. Nicole admits (in confessional) "I do love pigs, as long as they are cooked right." Classic. Pomaire is home to lots of ceramic piggy banks. Well, there are missing 50 pigs, and The Mole left a ransom note that the pigs are hidden through the town. Well, the producers left the note, but it was in the name of the mole.

There are three groups of three:

Alex, Victoria, Nicole
Ali, Mark, Clay
Bobby, Craig, Kristin

They are the Ham it Up teams and they have to go into town and find pigs marked with the Mole's green thumbprint and bring the piggies back, then use a slingshot to shoot the pigs to the other group of:

Liz and Paul - who have to catch flying pigs in a blanket.

Each pig is $1000 in the pot. They have about 1 hour to do the mission, while the potters make 12 pigs. There will be another exemption, too, hidden inside one of the pigs. They somehow have to decide that the thing inside the pig is an exception, and not something else, and smash it. If it isn't the exception, there goes $1000.

Right away, Bobby has leg issues, and he gets in the wheelbarrow, and Craig has to push him.

Alex proves very useful, because he can speak fluent Spanish. Victoria says that the pigs started falling out of the sky when he was speaking Spanish.

The Bobby Team is not doing so well, because they can't speak Spanish, and they keep looking in the same places. Bobby offers to bring the wheelbarrow of pigs Alex has helped collect back to the pen, and let them keep looking, which might be a good idea if there wasn't sabotage in the air... but there is, so Alex declines, and brings the piggies back to the pen with his team. Bobby does have a quotable moment about Alex though - "You might be good at Spanish, but you suck at life." Nice. Alex admits to not trusting Bobby, and Nicole said "I wouldn't want the Mole to take half our pigs and then drop them and claim a leg cramp."

Kristin said that she's just got a wheelbarrow full of Bobby, and he is looking pretty moley at this point.

Back at the pen, Paul can't leave well enough alone, and smashes he pig that was left there. Turns out, he was right, and it was exception. Score one for Paul. Liz says that she wasn't even thinking exception, and is feeling stupid.

It's time for flying pigs. Pigs are smashing all over the place. Craig's team shows up and Craig takes over the slingshot from Alex. He says (in confessional) "I don't think Alex is the mole, I just think he's kind of stupid." Funny. Once he takes over the wheel, the flying pigs go much better, and we see, in another confessional, why. "I never though that being able to operate a three person water balloon launch would earn me money!" Craig confesses. Now that's funny. Go Geek!

While pigs are flying, the girls chat about the ineptitude of Bobby. All the pigs get launched, but a lot of them get broken. Still, they brought in 26 pigs for Alex's team, and 18 pigs for Mark's team. Bobby's team brought in none.

They safely brought in 28 pigs, which is $28,000 into the pot, which now totals $63,000. Paul reveals that he has the third exception, and cost them $1000.

In the hotel, Bobby snags Alex's journal. That's stupid. Craig says "Maybe he left it there for you to find, so you would think he is stupid." "No," asserts Bobby, "he really is that stupid.

Alex, meanwhile, is singing a lovely tune about Mole hunting, to his guitar, and confesses that he thinks he left his journal somewhere, but then it seems that he did it on purpose. Hmmmm.. Tricky.

It's quiz time. My money's on Bobby for being the Mole, but I am probably wrong because it seems so obvious.

Question 1: Is the Mole Male or Female?
Question 2: In race to the summit, how did the Mole arrive at the summit?
Question 3: Did the Mole earn an exeption?
Question 4: In Race to the Summit, which group did the Mole join?
Question 5: At the start of the "When pigs fly" mission, did the mole grab a wheelbarrow?
Question 6: How many pigs did the mole's Ham it Up team find?
Question 7: In When Pigs Fly, what did the mole do after returning from Pomaire?
Question 8: During When Pigs Fly, did the mole wear protective head gear?
Question 9: During When Pigs Fly, was the mole transported in a wheelbarrow?
Question 10: Who is the mole?

For the Execution, the contestants are brought to a cemetery. Fitting. Green screen means they are safe, red means they are gone.

Clay is safe, then Alex, then Victoria, then Bobby (who acted shocked to be safe, but if he is the Mole, of course he would get it all right). Liz is going home tonight, and I think it is best for her. My husband thought she was the mole, so I guess he is wrong.

At this point, I am really thinking Bobby, but that's what they want us to think. I do not think it is Alex or Craig, because both of them actively helped the team get some money. There are some post-elimination words, where Paul goes off on Liz, then Bobby goes off on Paul, then Paul goes off on Bobby, and Nicole breaks in with a cryptic "I could kill you and not leave any forensic evidence." What? She says she is determined to beat Paul in the game. Or kill him, apparently.

Still loving this show!