In 2001, ABC brought us one of the better reality shows in which a bunch of contestants got together and tried to figure out who among them was trying to sabotage their efforts. This was followed by a season two and then two very entertaining celebrity seasons. I often wondered what happened to the show, but wonder no more. It’s back. I’m not really sure what to call it, so I’m going to stick with The Mole 5.
Check out the full The Mole 5 cast.
The new host is Jon Kelley. It’ll be interesting to see whether he can live up to Anderson Cooper.
Not wasting any time, based on first impressions, they take a secret ballot who they think the mole is. Most people suspect that Marcie is the mole. This will allow Marcie to make all the decisions for the group for the next 24 hours.
The first mission is based on a bunch of German tourists who died on a waterfall. 6 people will jump for cash, while 5 will jump for a bag full of paper. Marcie will decide who jumps for what. They’re all attached and ready to jump off a raft toward a bag above the waterfall. Alex fails quite convincingly. Ali comes close but no cigar. Clay grabs the bag. Kristen, the neuroscientist who looks better than the model (just don’t tell the model that), also grabs her bag. Bobby, despite the slim chance he could hang himself doing this, is the third to grab a bag. Retiree Liz is happy to prove she can do it, and she gets another bag. Paul gets beat by a 60-year-old lady and just barely misses his bag. Victoria gives a humiliating performance. Craig, the heaviest contestant by a good margin, doesn’t get the bag, but he doesn’t die either, although he did apparently get choked. Nicole through some dumb luck grabs a bag. Mark is last to go and gets his bag.
This brings them to a total of 6 bags:
Nicole: paper
Kristen: paper
Bobby: paper
Mark: money
Liz: paper
Clay: money
Pot total: $20,000 out of $60,000
A couple of suspicious choices here, notably Kristen and Bobby.
Marcie’s got one more decision to make. Only 8 people can fit in the cabin. 4 must sleep outside: Nicole, Liz, Craig, and Bobby. Nicole lets us know she doesn’t have to do anything but stay black and die. She believes she’s clever. She goes inside but just won’t sleep, which she thinks is staying within the rules. She’s quite pleased with herself, despite the fact that she kept people up all night and also risked a fine.
Paul wants to form a coalition. He chooses Marcie. He also apparently has one with Alex.
The group unanimously chooses Nicole as the group’s biggest whiner. They’re right. Her first duty is to pick 6 scavengers, 3 appraisers, and 2 timekeepers.
Scavengers: Craig, Marcie, Alex, Bobby, Victoria, Clay
Appraisers: Kristen, Liz, Mark
Timekeepers: Paul, Ali
Timekeepers must refill an hourglass, which will only last 10 minutes if not refilled. The scavengers must run all over the beach and find things, which clearly out of shape Craig finds ridiculous. The appraisers must determine what the castaway Selkirk had with him, which thus would have been around in the 1700s (obvious hint: there was no electricity then). On the first try, they get one item correct. On the second guess, they get three correct items. Their third guess is the same.
Revolver: wrong (invented in 1835)
Musket: correct
Bible: correct
Jeans: wrong (invented in 1873)
Goat: correct
Pot total: $35,000 out of $85,000
The other correct items were tobacco and a teakettle.
Someone’s going to be left on the beach by themselves. It’s Nicole. Time to celebrate. Let’s see her try to find a way to circumvent this.
The women are all suspicious that Bobby was quite quickly out of breath on the beach. They also notice that Paul and Alex are in it together, but Paul says this is just his tactic.
Paul suspects Craig the most because he’s a nice guy, as does Mark. Bobby suspects Kristen. Marcie suspects Nicole. Victoria suspects Bobby.
The contestants will now take a quiz that contains 10 questions about the contestants and the past few days. There’s good news for Nicole. Because she’s stranded on the beach, she has an exemption.
Ali is safe.
Victoria is safe.
Paul is safe.
Bobby is safe.
Mark is safe.
Marcie is eliminated.
Strange to see the person everybody originally suspected the most is headed home, although her choices in the first challenge were a little bit too suspicious. Marcie is not the mole. Who is the mole?
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Mole 5 episode 2, which airs Monday at 10/9c on ABC.
This is the first “The Mole” I’ve seen, and I’m almost a little disappointed that I found the Mole on the first episode. [SPOILER WARNING!]
Listen to host Jon Kelly describe the incident regarding the German tourists going over the waterfall. Why include the tourists nationality in the story? While he told it, Alex wore his muskrat hat, typical of Russia, Germany, and the surrounding areas, to keep warm. Later at dinner, Jon Kelly drops another hint by using the phrase “music to the Mole’s ears.” Alex is a musician by trade. I found him pretty quick, but it doesn’t look like the other contestants (except for Liz, who jokingly assumed he was the mole when he went over the waterfall) have any idea about him. Good job!
Interesting theory. The music clues may be something to watch. They have a tendency to repeat the same line of clues throughout the season.