July 22, 2008
ABC, The Mole
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In the last Mole Alex was executed from the game which set a few people wondering who the Mole could be. Both Mark and Nicole thought Alex was the Mole and both were glad that he was gone. It means they now can move on to someone else and stop answering wrong. I don’t see it as good for them because now they know that they were obviously wrong, especially Mark. Guess all of his note taking didn’t help out too much after all!
Going into the next mission the final five were looking for a twist and they got one. Before they found out what the mission was they were asked to, once again, split into two teams. The “dumb” team would have two people and both Nicole and Craig quickly scooped up those spots. That left Paul, Mark and Clay in the “smart” team. What they had to do was run around Mendoza looking for clues to a number trivia question. Since they stupidly chose the dumb team, Nicole and Craig were given two more questions then the smart team and there was the slight twist. To win the $30,000 for the pot they had to get all of the questions correct which to me seemed kind of hard.
Nicole and Craig seemed to do well throughout the entire mission. They easily found all of their clues and seemed to remember them throughout the mission. Nicole however was less Moleish for once as Craig tried to mess her up several times. Their only problem was their last question where both seemed to get different numbers several times. Was that Craig messing things up once again or Nicole throwing her moleish behaviour in? The smart team had some problems as well. In their first question Clay tried to make Mark think that his number was wrong. Mark quickly proved him wrong with simple math and makes me wonder if Clay is the Mole now. On the other hand we has Paul who pulled a more visible sabotage. He misdirected the three guys 8 blocks from their final location which made the two others think Paul was the Mole. To be short all five players pulled some Moleish behaviour and I honestly have NO clue who it is right now.
When all the teams returned they quickly put in their numbers and they found out that the last question for the dumb team was wrong. It was the hardest I must say, counting over 200 tiles and lamp posts. Nicole was then given one last chance to check the number but while she was gone Clay figured that there was a pattern to the numbers. Nicole returned and gave them a number that was different then Clay’s so the guys went with their fellow man and took Clay’s word over Nicole’s word. Lucky they did since Clay’s pattern was right and they gained $30,000 with 10 seconds to remain.
Following the mission both Mark and Clay had a sit down. Mark believes that the Mole is either Craig or Nicole. Clay told Mark that he said Nicole was the Mole for the last quiz but also let us know that he took his coalition with Mark with a “grain of salt”. Following that chat Clay went to Nicole and had a little chat with her. He told her that he said that Craig was the Mole in the last quiz and she says that she did the same. They seem to have formed a new coalition and it should be interesting to see which alliance Clay sticks with in the end.
The following day the final five move out of Mendoza and over to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. When they finally arrived it was time for their next mission. Each player was first asked to choose someone they trust the most in the game. Mark chose Clay, Paul chose Mark, Craig chose Clay, Clay chose Nicole and Nicole chose Mark. What they didn’t know is that the person they chose would be the deciding factor between seeing a family member and not seeing a family member. When everyone heard they would get to see a loved one they all wanted the prize more then the money but like I said, it all came down to the person they chose to play for them.
First up was Craig who had to give Clay answers to several trivia questions on his friend Brendi. If Clay could get three out of five questions correct then Brendi’s train door would open and he would get to spend time with her. Oh yeah, $10,000 would also be added to the pot. Luckily Clay remembered enough questions to get Paul’s friend to exit the train as he did with Mark’s wife as well. Thanks Nicole Clay’s wife was able to exit the train and thanks to Mark, Nicole’s mother also got to spend time with the group. With four out of the five able to spend time with their family and $40,000 added to the pot so far, Paul was last to go. He wasn’t able to answer several of the questions which made it nerve racking to see if he would get to see his wife and daughter. Luckily Mark was able to get three questions right out of the so few that Paul answered and each of the final five got to spend time with their families and gained $50,000 for the pot. It’s amazing how well they did and I’m very glad the Mole didn’t sabotage this one since it really meant a lot to each member of the team.
The following day the group got to spend time with their loved ones. Nicole spent the time letting her mother know how badly beaten she is from the game. She feels that she is an outsider in the game and lets her mother know that she wants to quit the game and go home. Her mom told her to do so and basically egged her on to quit, does this mean Nicole isn’t the Mole? Before the quiz Nicole let the cameras know she will self execute herself by throwing the quiz. Later that night she was given the chance to do so as it was time for the quiz.
Before the quiz each family member was asked if their loved one was the Mole. Only Paul’s wife and Craig’s friend thought they could be the Mole while Nicole let her mom know about a few rounds ago where she wanted to kill Paul. Her mom took it rather well, once again egging her on a bit to do so. Oddly enough Nicole wasn’t sent home but Clay was instead. Nicole said as Clay exited that she couldn’t do it but I’m somewhat thinking she is the Mole now and this was all done to throw us off. Clay was a big player in the game, although he had little Molish behaviour. It should be interesting to see next weeks episode and if Nicole’s idea to quit continues or now.
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Tags: ABC, Alex, Buenos Aires, Clay, Craig, Different Numbers, Executed, Execution, Game, Give Up, Green Thumb, Last Question, Mark, Math, Mendoza, Mole, Nicole, People, Pot, Quit, Reality Show, reality television, reality tv, Red Thumb, Sabotage, Several Times, Smart Team, Team Nicole, The Mole, Three Guys, Trivia, Trivia Question
June 9, 2008
ABC, The Mole
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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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Tags: 2nd, ABC, Alex, Ali, Bobby, Challenges, Clay, Craig, Entire Show, Executed, Execution, Exemption, Gondola, John, Jon, Kristen, Liz, Mission, Missions, Mole, Mole 5, New Mole, Paul, Penalty Goals, Pot, Prize Money, reality television, Reality Television Shows, reality tv, Second, Soccer Expert, Soccer Game, Soccer Greats, Soccer Player, Soccer Players, The Mole, Trek, Uphill Battle, Victoria, Who Is the Mole?