The Mole 5: Episode 3

We'll go by people again. I like that. Except, this time I'm typing as I watch. It think it'll be interesting to see my first reactions as I'm watching it.

Nicole: Can I just say one thing. I know some people don't like her. I do. She's playing the game much like Paul is, trying to get under people's skin, trying to throw them off. I do think it's funny that Paul feels threatened by her, and I do think a lot of it is because she's very head-strong and is playing the game aggressively. I think it would be way too obvious for her to be the Mole, the way she screwed up the fruit task. "You're so cool" (to Paul). She's right. That is what he wants to be and that is what to say to piss him off. I love that they're both trying to push each other's buttons and sometimes one does it better than the other and sometimes it's the other way around. I'm fascinated that they've been showing quite a lot of people's suspicions. I had a 5 theory too, although I really don't think it means anything in the game. If her suspicions are true to how she voted, it is very interesting that we now know Bobby isn't the Mole. It points to Craig once again. I know sometimes I'll do what people tend to do and assume things point to certain people when they don't actually just because I'm suspicious of them. There's an image somewhere of Nicole standing in front of the bribe money and contemplating taking it. That's interesting. I don't know how I feel about that and whether it was staged or not. I'm feeling more like Nicole is not the Mole but instead a strong contender.

Clay: Good job on the avocado-pear thing, however the screw-up with the rules is interesting to me because the episode focused on Craig and Victoria messing up and not Clay and Bobby. This has traditionally been a way the editors try to mask the Mole's suspicious behavior. Finding out that he's been working with Bobby and Mark is fascinating to me. I don't know how I feel about him opting out of the public humiliation challenge. Bill opted out of a similar clothing-type challenge and it wasn't given much thought.

Victoria: "I was engulfed by Craig. It was like body armor." The green thumbprint helmets are back and in full force. Mark said Victoria kept the talking going, but I have to disagree on that. From what I saw, very early on, Craig was encouraging her to repeat the list. He repeated it a couple times at the beginning, which I think prompted her to repeat it. This is also what I would call editor-miscuing where the editors will show a player talking about one player's sabotage to move the focus off of another player's similar (or in this case same) sabotage. "Is it still too late to take the money." I won't go along with the VJG clue that people apparently think is a giveaway, but this line would be extremely clever for the Mole to say. Hmmm. I don't know what I make of it yet.

Craig: I give him the credit for breaking the rules and talking at the finish line. To me, it looked like he was the one getting her to repeat the fruit. "There's not a single person in Santiago that's my size." "Bobby and I looked like a walking impersonation of the number 10." HAHAHA I love Craig. Whether or not I'm right about him being the Mole, I'd love to see him stick around. What is the easiest way to sabotage the clothing challenge? Be too large for most people's clothes. This is the perfect type of challenge for the producers to set up to make it easy for Craig to "sabotage."

Paul: Once again, Paul was paying attention with the rule thing. I do hate how he gets so upset when people screw up though. He is good at playing the game, but he's not so good at playing the players. I have to stress that it is so important in this game to not focus on winning money, but to focus on winning the game.

Mark: He wasn't suspicious in the fruit task. His coalition with Clay and Bobby clearly shows he is not the Mole in the way he talks to and about them. Clay I'm still not sure about, but I think it's been clear that Mark is not the Mole. He opts out of the public humiliation challenge.. interesting. Eh. Mark gets offended when Paul says he's obsessive. I would have taken it as a compliment. I do think Paul is too harsh when he just attacks people, but he's doing it with the purpose of playing the game. I (begrudgingly) side with Paul on this.

Kristen: Wasn't suspicious in the fruit task. I like how when she was questioning Nicole about the game, she made it clear that she thought Nicole was a liar for trying to look suspicious, yet Alex, who went along with it, was stealthy, or whatever she said. I would hope from one well-educated strong woman to the next there would be more camaraderie.

Ali: Eh. I don't like that she's siding with Paul and yelling at Nicole for playing the game. Do I think it's hilarious that the girls couldn't get clothes? Yes. They were not trying hard enough or doing the right things. She wanted to give up because she was frustrated, not because she wanted to sabotage. The whole time the bribe thing was going on, I was thinking, don't do it Nicole, don't do it, because she was looking around a lot. Then I realized she was trying to get people's reactions and expressions. I'm not surprised that Ali took the bribe. She knew she wasn't going to win. She knew her place in this game, and I do give her some respect for knowing she'd be better off taking the money. If a stronger player had gone for it, I'd be upset. I was upset when Elavia took the bribe, but in the long run, it did save Dorothy.

Alex: Go away, Alex, this show is about sleuthing, not checking out the ladies. Alex's Spanish skills make him clearly not the Mole to me. What the hell was that question about the two apples on the quiz? Hello, way too specific. There's been a couple of those on these past three quizzes and it makes me wonder. Why would they do that. There's an obvious majority answer that any smart person would go for in the earlier rounds.

Bobby: They also screwed up the rules in the fruit game. He's not the Mole, though, so I won't dwell on it. Bobby, the apple probably isn't a clue for New York. I won't toss it away as a possible clue, but I think it's actually somewhat of an homage to Anderson's tendency to eat things while contestants were doing grueling tasks next to him. I love the lady who told him he didn't need clothes, he needed food. Holy shit I did not see that double execution coming. Not even with the larger cast. Wow. That was strangely cruel for this show. Well, he wasn't the Mole. He also didn't make it as far as I thought he would. Can't say I'm entirely surprised.. well, I'm pretty shocked.

This episode did raise some more suspicions in my mind. I might even take Victoria off my "not the Mole" list, but I'm not sure. I'll sleep on it. I predicted Alex gone and he's still not gone with his theory of Nicole being the Mole. I considered Bobby a pretty decent player, so I'm wondering how he screwed it up. From what he said, it seemed he focused too much on one player who perhaps wasn't in the majority on some of the questions. I'll post about new clues tomorrow. I need to watch it again.

Mole: Craig, maybe Clay
Definitely not: Paul, Alex, Mark, Kristen. I'm not so positive about Victoria anymore, but I hope it's not her. I'm close to adding Nicole to the 'not' list, too. I think she goes far as a contestant.