The Mole 5: Episode 5

Okay, guys. Here's this week's recap. I'm exhausted from having to wake up at 6:00A for student teaching and then not getting to relax and spend some me time until after 5:00P. That's pretty intense and it'll take some getting used to. At least I was able to get in my TV time tonight. I took notes tonight so I'll try to go off of those and hopefully not miss much because I probably won't have time to review the episode and edit this post.

All for one task-
I want to briefly talk about this because it's fascinating to me. Any situation that can result in everybody doing what was expected of them is fascinating. I don't find it interesting that Mark didn't go for the exemption. He wanted to be the hero. I am, however, very surprised that so many people were willing to leave him with the choice. I do think it's pretty apparent that Mark would not be able to completely alienate himself from the group, but it's still a pretty big step to take to leave the entire game in the hands of a lunatic.

Kristen: I give her credit for having the balls to be voting completely for one person. Obviously she was going for someone who had enough answers similar to the Mole for her to still be here, especially with strategic voting being a common strategy in the early rounds. I am very curious of who she tied with. When Katie left in season 2, I knew then that she had tied with Heather and that Heather now had a huge advantage in the game.. one which she screwed up, of course. This however, seems to me like Kristen's Mole pick suddenly ran out of common answers with the actual Mole. This quiz was very specific. I wonder if Alex actually still thinks it's Nicole. If he does, I would not be surprised if he tied with Victoria last time and now with Kristen. I don't see Kristen revealing her strategy to people, so I don't see this tie as anything particularly meaningful. It's too bad.. Kristen was a decent player. She just didn't stick her neck out enough.

Nicole: I find it fascinating that she suggests that she had voted for Victoria the last round. This makes me wonder how she's been getting through because the Mole has clearly probably been a male for many episodes already. I think she's funny and I think her interactions with the other players are very fascinating. Alex was right when he talked about how she varies her behavior. It's odd, and very clever. I hope she gets her shit together or else she's going to be in danger soon. I was disappointed, but not surprised, that she didn't get into the llama.

Paul: Speaking of llamas. Paul is interesting in this game. I think he tries to rile people up hoping that maybe they'll wonder why he keeps irritating people and whether it's a Mole tactic. However, I don't see anything he does as suspicious. I'm sticking myself out there this season. I hope readers appreciate the fact that I'm willing to state who I think is the Mole and who I've completely eliminated. I hope it makes it more interesting to read, in the case that I am wrong. Paul is not the Mole, guys. He's never been the Mole. Not even in theory. I'm not surprised he wouldn't get into the llama costume. I appreciate Craig trying to make the episode more entertaining, but I would never expect Nicole or Paul to become a llama. I liked how he called Clay's whole life a hypocrite. That was a nice touch to the episode. It's like when he said he had a photogenic memory in the first episode.

Alex: Alex is also not the Mole. I think he might still suspect Nicole and that will get him executed soon. The only thing is that I don't see how he would be getting through other than by tying with slower players. However, I have a bit of a hard time seeing Kristen voting Nicole the whole game. I can see her thinking it's Clay more than Nicole. This all makes me wonder about Alex's suspicions and whether he's lying in confessionals (or the editors aren't putting in his main suspicions). I predicted his elimination much earlier, so I am surprised that he's still here. If he actually is on the right track, I can see him lasting until final 5 or 4, but I don't see him making the finale.

Mark: I just want to say that I am worried about how much I dislike Mark because I have tended to dislike previous Moles, with maybe Frederique being the exemption.. not that I particularly liked her either. However, I could not stand Al, and Mark is more of an Al to me than anything else. I wrote down that Mark v. Alex v. Nicole for the exemption would be hilarious, but it ended up being not that interesting. It must have been really cold. I would have liked to see this task in a room with decent conditions. This is kind of like the jail cell task in season 2 when Myra let everyone out, but I much preferred that one because they weren't told of the exemption until a certain point in the task. Anyway, I wrote in my notes that Mark is a loser. I hate that he's moping and generally being Al-ish. I don't really have much to say about him this week except that he annoys me.

Clay: Clay has become more suspicious lately. There was so much God talk this episode, most of it surrounding Clay. I find his move in the first challenge a little suspicious, because I see him leaving as a sign that he was anticipating Mark possibly taking the exemption, so he wasn't going to bother with making himself look suspicious when he could just leave it to Mark to make himself look like a jackass. However, kind of like last week, if this was attempted sabotage, it was very unsuccessful. The thing with Clay is his fight with Paul was a little ego-driven and not what I would have expected from the Mole. I see the Mole more as someone who encourages fighting without actually being directly involved most of the time ::coughCraigcough::

Craig: Oh Craig, you Mole. I found it interesting that he referred to the pot as "my pot" in the first game. If I was the Mole, I would totally expect someone to take the exemption and wouldn't have even tried to look suspicious. In the second challenge, Craig does come out looking slightly suspicious, but I think it actually makes him look like he's looking out for himself rather than actually behaving suspiciously. I do find it interesting that he said "exemption" first. I don't know, I'm tired. I still think it's Craig. Has his name been entered during execution yet?

Mole suspects: Craig, Clay
Not the Mole: Paul, Alex, Mark, Nicole