After last weeks double execution/bribery the Mole returned with only eight players. It seems most were sad to see both Bobby and Ali go as they became fairly close to them. Only one voiced a negative point to leaving and that was Nicole. She thought Bobby was in deed the mole and realized she now had to re-evaluate her strategy in order to stay in the game. Other then that everyone who talked was crying for those two to go as they felt they lost two close allies and friends.

The next morning everyone was driven to Argentina, their next location in the journey. In the Andes mountains the eight broke into two teams of four each. Nicole, Victoria, Kristen and Clay became the “selfish” team while Craig, Mark, Paul and Alex became the “selfless” team. John then explained to everyone how the Inca used to carry gold up the Andes mountains for the Spanish. Their mission was to do just though, carry bars of gold up the Andes Mountains. Each gold bar weighed about 5 pounds and for each that made it to the top $250 would be added to the pot. Oh there was one more thing, the first team to make it up the mountain got a chance for a small little reward: exemptions.

When the two teams started to grab their bricks it was obvious who the selfish team was. They wanted to take up the least amount of bricks they could so they could be the first up the mountain. Kristen ended up taking more then half the selfish teams bricks while Clay took five although he claims he could have taken twelve. For the selfless team it was obvious they wouldn’t be up for considering Craig was on their team. They made the decision to grab as many bricks as they could and started up the mountain a few minutes after the selfish team.

As the selfish team started up Nicole made it seem as if she was tired. She says she wants people to think she’s the mole, casting doubt on her and less on the real mole. It’s smart but really could come back to bite her. As they got half way up the Andes John was waiting for them and told them they now had to carry a scale the rest of the way. Two scales were available, one weighing ten 10 pounds and another weighing at least 20 pounds. They had to decide which scale to take based on looks along and the selfish team chose right as they picked the lighter of the two.

The selfless team wasn’t having as big of a problem as they thought as Craig was keeping up. Although Mark complained a bit they mostly worked well together. At the mid-way mark they took the heavier scale, leaving a few bricks behind, and started back up the mountain. Mark wasn’t too happy about Kristen taking the lighter one but continued on. But as the second scale and second team head up the mountain the selfish team was just finishing. They made it to the top with around 25 bricks and were happy with their choice. A little later with only 30 seconds to spare, the selfless team crossed the finish line and all the bricks were tallied, adding $14,000 to the pot. Well at least for the time being.

Knowing their exemption came at a cost, the selfish team waited to hear what they would have to do. John told them only one of the four would get the exemption and the four had to decide unanimously who would get it or they had to forfeit the exemption AND all the money  they just made. After a few minutes they decided Clay should get it. Although the girls thought Kristen deserved it more, Clay complained the loudest. Some thought it was moleish behaviour but I’m not so sure.

As if the drama wasn’t enough thanks to the mission, while hiking down the mountain Craig didn’t do so well. At the bottom an ambulance was called in as Craig had trouble breathing. They said he went in and out of consciousness and was diagnosed with hypothermia from the cold and low air pressure. Everyone seems a bit worried about him but he still worried about the game. When Craig returned he was told that he had to stay warm and rest but he still worried some would think his trip to the ER was him playing a mole game.

The next day everyone woke up ready to play. Alex and Victoria had a small chat as we learn he thinks she may be the mole. They both thought coalitions wouldn’t last but we all know Alex has one with Paul. That night at dinner John asked everyone for their journals. As they ate they worried what would happen to them, especially Mark. His whole game is in that journal and without it he feels there is no more game to play. Little did they know the journals were their next mission as John returned with the journals still in tact.

The next mission was a rather fun one as it had to deal with quotes in the journals. Each player was told a quote and asked to guess who said that in their journal. Five of the seven questions were guessed correctly but one didn’t count. Nicole continued her fake (or real?) sabotage streak by coughing and blinking at the quote that was hers. This put several more people on her for being the mole. If she really isn’t though she’s one great actress. Since John rounded the pot up to $144,000 and four questions were correct,

Directly following desert everyone was led outside. They were then asked for one person to take a risk a sacrifice their journal. Nicole, Alex and Paul all said they would give theirs in but Alex’s journal was chosen to be sacrificed. John then pulled out a torch and waved it over Alex’s journal but didn’t torch it. He then asked Alex to collect all the other journals and set them on the table. As he did so the table was lit on fire, setting everyone but Alex’s journal into flames. This made Mark angry and he seemed to waver on quitting. His whole game and life in the game was based on his journal. With it gone he didn’t seem to have the will to play anymore. He even went missing for a short time but showed up in order to return back to base camp.

After that short melt down it was then time for the quiz and execution. Craig returned to the dinner table and everyone got ready to take the quiz. A few people seemed to change their tune on the mole. Alex and Paul along with Nicole feel Victoria is the mole while others felt it was Nicole. The only real strategy for the quiz we got to hear was Nicole’s. She said that she will answer as quickly as possible in order to win in the case of a tie. It was good she did that too as John let everyone know pre-execution that there was in fact a tie. Only 5 seconds were split between the two and in the event of the tie, the person who answered the quiz slower would be executed. It ended up being Victoria to get the green thumb and sent packing. She said she expected it but most mouths dropped. She was the biggest mole suspect yet and once again the suspect was sent home.

Next week it seems Craig is given some power that some don’t like. Nicole is put into a lama costume with Paul, her favorite person. Now that should be some great reality television! It seems Paul is getting on some more nerves as everyone thinks he’s a trouble maker. Um having we been seeing that since the first episode?

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Last weeks Mole left us with some things to ponder. Like would Nicole really kill Paul in sleep and could she REALLY do it without leaving DNA evidence? The answer to both these questions is no as Paul was still alive come the next day. Good thing Nicole didn’t go through with it though since now we get to see her and Paul continue their feud! The next morning everyone, including Paul, awoke and Nicole’s tirade was the talk of the town. Paul wanted to use it to his advantage and Ali ate it up. She finally spoke for once and let us know that her hatred for Nicole is growing along with Paul’s. It seems the cliques are starting early and we learn about a new coalition that’s apparently been on for the past two episodes. Mark, Bobby and Clay are now in a coalition to share information on who they think is the Mole. Of course it won’t last long though as we soon find out.

In the first mission the players are forced into two sides, the “Can’t Trust” and “Blindly Trusts” groups. They then had to pair up with someone from the opposite side, creating five teams of two. The mission was fairly simple yet risky. Each pair would luge down a metal track with the person in the front blindfolded. The person in the back had to yell out pictures of fruit that they saw and the person who was blindfolded would then have to pick out those fruits in put them in order. For each fruit they got right, $2,000 would be put into the pot. They had strict orders to not talk after they passed the finish line but of course that wasn’t the case for some.

First up was Bobby and Clay. Bobby was the one yelling out the fruit and seemed confusing as he didn’t yell out the colors right away. They got 5/7 right but talked after crossing the finish line so they got no money. Next up was Ali and Paul who got a legitimate 5/7 for the team. Victoria and Craig broke the “no talking” rule as well and lost $14,000 as they got all seven fruits right but broke the rules. Kristen and Mark were the first to get all seven right and actually keep the money while Alex and Nicole had an interesting ride. She yelled out “green apple” twice which put Alex off by one for the fruit selection. This gained them one point and made everyone wonder how she could screw up so badly.

That night the coalition between Bobby and Clay/Mark ended. Clay and Mark now believe Bobby to be the mole and want nothing to do with him. Although they say they will talk to him if he comes to them, they won’t go to him for anymore information. The day the crew heads out for a nice spa retreat. Of course they all thought something was up but it seemed legit… at first. They spent some time in the pool and hot tub and then some time getting massages. Of course John showed up to screw things up and start their next mission.

Once again the players were split up. Kristen, Victoria and Ali made up one team, Bobby, Craig and Nicole another and the last team consisted of Bobby and Alex. Once Mark and Clay found out what the challenge was they dropped out because they had too much “pride” apparently. John then filled them in on the mission, they had to walk around Chile in their underwear looking for a shirt, tie and pants for the guys and a two piece shirt and skirt/pants for the girls. Alex and Paul had the easiest time once again thanks to Alex’s knowledge of Spanish. They quickly found shirts from cab drivers and pants from a few Americans. Kristen, Victoria and Ali had the hardest time it seemed. They couldn’t’ find any clothing for the longest time and Ali even almost quit. This put suspicion on both Kristen and Victoria but they kept moving and eventually got lucky enough to get fully dressed for dinner. In the third and find team was Nicole, who found her clothing faster then anyone, and Bobby and Craig. The two guys had a hard time finding clothing but once they want the laundry mat with their real clothing they were all set. Since 8/9 people made it to dinner they claimed an extra $40,000 for the pot putting them at $129,000 for the entire game.

That night at the pre-quiz dinner things got pretty heated. It all started when Paul said that Mark was playing the game hardcore and the two then went at it for a bit. Bobby, Craig and Nicole then barged in and Nicole’s statement from the last execution came into play. Of course she played the ‘nice’ card, which angered Paul a bit, but he had different plans. He wanted to get everyone heated before the quiz in hopes it would screw up their chances for a green thumb.

At the execution something interesting happened. John offered everyone $20,000 to leave the game right then and there, nobody bit the bait. Three people were then shown to be safe and another $10,000 added to the bribe. Ali was the first to take the $30,000 and walked out of the game. Funny thing is they all thought they were safe since she left and Bobby even said he wouldn’t take the money. John then came back and let them all know someone else was still going home. Bobby was then shown to get the red thumb and his words came back to bite him. Did Paul take out his biggest enemy by causing a ruckus at dinner? Who knows but something got to Bobby. That takes two more out of the game and puts us at the final eight. Next week it seems the drama continues as Mark’s crazy side is revealed, probably thanks to Paul.

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The Mole is once again growing on me as the first season did and I’m enjoying the new Mole just as I did the first. Tonight marked the second episode of the new season and it was much better then the first. Knowing the people helped a lot I think but the Mole does one thing better then most reality television shows. That is the way they handle their challenges, basically focusing the entire show on just that: the missions.

We jumped in right away to the night following Marcie’s execution and it was time for the next mission. With only $35,000 in the pot to start it was obvious everyone wanted to win. They had the chance to double their prize money by winning an addition $35,000 but they had to work for it of course! The 11 remaining players were told to divide into two groups. One group would be going for an “uphill battle” while the other team had to play a soccer game then ride a gondola to the mountain. Mark and Kristen were chosen to do the uphill battle and were told if they beat the other 9 players up the hill, by riding a bike that is, they would win an exemption.

The eight who didn’t get to start their trek up the hill first had to score a goal against great Chilean soccer players. They just ended up to be KID Chilean soccer players. At first everyone underestimated the kids. Bobby, the self proclaimed soccer expert, said it would be over in 10 minutes. Yeah right! They ended up not scoring a goal in the allotted 20 minutes since the “soccer greats” Alex and Bobby basically sucked. Paul didn’t do too well either but he doesn’t remember that. After the 20 minutes they were allowed to shoot penalty goals to score. Alex went first being the amazing soccer player he is and show the ball right at the kid goalie. Great going there Alex! Ali was up next and easily scored a goal, giving the team the ability to start going towards the summit.

Meanwhile up the hill went Kristen and Mark. It was obvious they didn’t care that the pot wouldn’t grow if they made it there first as they sped up the mountain. Their chain on the bike broke several times though (producer induced?) which mad it a bit more difficult. They ended up walking/running most the way with spurts of bike riding. Half way up they met Jon for a drink and he gave them the chance to take a taxi the rest of the way. The catch was they would lose $5,000 of the $35,000 they already won. Mark quickly denied since he didn’t want to be bothered and they went on their way back up the hill.

Now that the soccer was over it was time to actually find the gondola’s. I’m sure we’ve all seen the statue of the Virgin Mary in Chile several times on the Amazing Race now so it’s no big deal seeing it again. But don’t you think they would just look for that and head that way? Victoria and Alex took the lead and went off without everyone. Apparently the rest found a “shortcut” but it didn’t get them there any faster. Craig and Liz were the obvious slackers as they were in previous challenges. Liz played a bit moleish with her “my feet hurt” and “I have to pee” comments while Craig kind of didn’t make excuses. Bobby on the other hand was back with them which is odd. Bobby is rail thin and well obviously not in shape. He said he played soccer for how many years yet he can’t run? Give me a break! Soccer is a running sport so obviously he lied about playing soccer or he’s playing a mole’s game.

In the end the team finally made it to the summit together. But they were surprised when Jon called down both Mark and Kristen who got there before them. This gave both Kristen and Mark an exemption from the execution and meant no money went into the pot. At lunch temperatures boiled over as Paul let loose on Bobby. He told him it wasn’t right to say he was the best soccer player then basically die on the field. Victoria was the only one who stood up for Bobby and its obvious her and Bobby are becoming close friends or maybe even an alliance. She stood up for him again that night when Paul went off on Bobby again. This time he also took it out on Victoria who claims she will never forgive Paul and reminded us all Paul did the same thing as Bobby during the challenge: died on the field.

The next morning everyone was up for their next mission. They once again split into groups, three groups of three and one group of two. Paul once again took the “two person” group along with Liz. The other teams were split as follows: Bobby/Kriste/Craig, Victoria/Alex/Nicole and Ali/Mark/Clay. Before the mission started Jon told everyone one more exemption was up for grabs. What the mission entailed was that the teams of three had to search through a town looking for clay piggy banks with a green thumbprint on them. They would then have to bring back the piggy banks and slingshot them over a wall where Liz and Paul would “hopefully” catch them. For each one they caught they would earn $1000 and they started off with one piggy bank to begin with.

Paul was smart in this mission, I give him credit. Liz and Paul had the easy job for most of the time as the basically stood there for 40 minutes until the other teams got back. During this time Paul started rattling the piggy bank and realized someone was inside. Liz thought he was just playing with it but he then slammed it against the wall shocking not only Liz but himself as well. Inside was a exemption chip, giving Paul the third exemption for the round.

The three other teams had some interesting dynamics. It seems like everyone has turned on Alex now since he acted very cocky during the mission. He was the only one to know Spanish and used it to his advantage to get the most piggy banks with his team. The group of Ali/Mark/Clay wasn’t that interesting but did get lost during part of the mission and Mark blamed it on Ali who it seemed had nothing to do with it. The last team and the worst team was Kristen/Craig/Bobby. I felt bad for Kristen as she got stuck with both nonathletic guys but it did make for some fun scenes! Apparently Bobby’s thighs hurt from the soccer game and he couldn’t even walk. They had wheelbarrows to carry the pigs but instead it carried Bobby pushed by Kristen no less! Everyone was a bit shocked by this and there is more to come when Paul finds out!

When all the pigs were back and time almost ran out 28 pigs were caught. This put $28,000 in the pot (finally!) and makes the total prize worth $63,000 so far. Not too bad but still they had so many chances to earn more. When it was all said and done Paul revealed he won the exemption and it didn’t really get much airtime about reactions. Apparently it wasn’t that big of a deal. The one thing that did get airtime was the feud brewing between Alex/Paul and Bobby. Both are getting on Bobby’s nerves as he feels they make fun of him all the time. Alex also left his journal in Bobby’s room, which he said was on purpose, and gave Bobby the chance to get his allotted Alex bashing out for the day.

At the execution it was obvious that some people had no idea who they were going to answer as the mole. Victoria and Bobby were stunned when their names were called as being safe. During the questions Liz made a very upset shake of the head, meaning she had no idea who to answer for some of the questions. She was a good one on the show but sadly Liz, the mole mother, was executed. This episode showed her in a great light with her witty comments and possible attempts at sabotage. I wish she could have stayed longer but at least next week looks good! Apparently Nicole is no longer staying mute and you know what that means! DRAMA! I can’t wait!

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