The Mole: Luges, Spa Days, and Dress Codes

Lots of fun to be had, and lots of embarrassment, too. Paul ups the drama quotient. Must be another episode of The Mole.

We open up tonight once again in Santiago, Chile. Paul and Nicole are still at each other’s throats. Paul can’t believe that Nicole actually threatened his life (okay, neither can I), and Nicole is pointing out that men with ego problems always get brought down to size. Of course, there are several others who have reservations about Nicole’s death threats. Frankly, that’s taken the game to a whole different level. But Nicole is saying she was just trying to get under his skin. I’d say it worked.

Meanwhile, we’re in for a surprise to learn of another alliance. Mark, Bobby, and Clay have been working together since episode one. I always like to look and see if alliance partners get executed early because that’s been the work of The Mole in the past.

And so we come to the first mission of the night, which is all about trust. They are divided into two teams, those who can’t trust anyone and those who trust blindly. Then they found out about their mission. Entitled “Fruit of the Luge,” it involves a steal luge track. I’ve ridden on those before, and they are so much fun. I’m completely jealous already. Of course, I got to do it for fun. Here’s where things get tricky. The players from the Can’t Trust group are in front, blindfolded, and controlling the speed of the luge. The Trust Blind players not only have to steer, but they have to see the pictures of the fruit grown in Chile and call it out to their blindfolded partner who has to remember the order. Once the teams of two get back to the bottom, they must pick out the fruit from a market set up at the bottom, and but them in the correct order. All with out talking once they’ve crossed the finish line. Each fruit in the correct order is worth $2K, so they could earn $70K here.

Bobby and Clay – add $10K. Clay confuses the order of the ripe bananas and the tomato, while he gets the avocado right even after Bobby calls it a pear.

Paul & Ali – add $10K. Paul flipped the last two.

Craig & Victoria – Craig kept talking at the finish, however, they got all seven correct, adding $14K Or did they? Jon didn’t say they added like he did the others.

Mark & Kristin – add $14K

Alex & Nicole – add $2K. I’m not sure why Nicole doubled up on the green apple, but Alex’s mistake looked honest to me. He had the correct order, just two apples instead of one, making everything else off.

They could have gotten $50K. But Bobby and Clay and Craig and Victoria kept talking after they crossed the finish line. I missed Bobby still talking. So the total actually earned from a potential $70K and a real $50K was $26K.

Bobby’s mistakes during the game made his alliance partners Clay and Mark suspicious. So they decided to pull back from Bobby, not volunteer any information, and sift through anything he tells them very carefully.

The next morning, the group is sent out wearing their Sunday best. They were booked for a spa day that had lots of pools, a hot tub, and a water slide. Once again, I’m wishing I were with them. Okay, so this is the one show I would like most to be on. You caught me. They also enjoyed massages of various sorts.

While they were enjoying all this, Jon came into the locker rooms and stole their clothes. They were divided into teams of two and three. They mission was to get across town to the fancy restaurant where they will be having dinner. But they have to be dressed for the dress code. That means the guys have to have shirt and tie (and pants) while the women have to have blouses and skirts or pants. And they have to start out in their underwear. Everyone who makes it properly dressed is worth $5K.

Once outside, Clay is the first to opt out, saying dignity is more important then potential money. Mark is right behind him. Yet Mark was the first to drop his robe inside. Either he’s The Mole, or he wants to spend more time with his alliance partner. Neither of which is a smart move in my book.

Bobby, Craig, and Nicole had a hard time getting anyone to take them serious. In fact, Bobby gets told he needs food more than clothes. Victoria, Kristen, and Ali ran into two buses full of Catholic school guys. Paul and Alex had an advantage. Alex speaks great Spanish, so they got shirts right off the bat.

In the end, Paul and Alex were the first to arrive, after Paul found a New Yorker who had an extra pair of pants for Alex. Ali almost quit, but in the end, they made it fully dressed as well. Nicole found clothes early. Bobby and Craig got lucky running to some locals from a theater company. But Craig still needed pants. Looking for a laundromat, he found the one that had their clothes. All three put their own clothes on and arrived with moments to spare. That means that everyone who tried finished, which gives them another $40K for the pot.

Only at dinner did Jon reveal that the address of the dry cleaners who had their clothes was on the corner of the card he had given them at the start with their directions to the restaurant.

At the final dinner before the quiz, Paul steps in again, making going off on everyone. I especially loved it when he called Bobby a punk. Yeah, like you aren’t? At least Nicole did apologize to everyone, Paul specifically, for threatening to kill Paul. But he just threw it back in her face saying he didn’t need it. Frankly, I don’t know if I want him and his drama to go or if I want him to stay. I was laughing so hard at this scene.

At last comes the quiz and the execution. No exemptions tonight, so for the first time anyone could leave. This should make it interesting.

But before the execution starts, Jon offers $20K to one person to leave the game. No one takes it, however.

So Jon gives three results, then ups the offer to $30K. After much consideration, Ali decides to take the offer. The players left behind were shocked she left. Bobby flat out said he never would have taken the money even if it were down to two people with eight already safe.

Just when they thought it was over, Jon announces that Ali would have been safe, so they are continuing on with the execution. So we are loosing two players. And the second one to leave is Bobby. I guess that means Mark and Clay don’t have to worry about him being The Mole. And I was wrong about him. Victoria and Craig were the most upset. Paul, on the other hand was glad two people were gone because it meant less competition for him.

So, last week my top suspects were Alex and Bobby. Obviously, I was wrong on at least one count. But I’m back to Victoria. She and Craig were the most obvious people talking at the end of the luge. That doesn’t sit right with me. Not knowing everything about Alex and Nicole’s trip down, I don’t know who messed that one up. Of course, Clay and Mark skipped one mission. And their partner Bobby left. Then there’s my friend Paul, who can’t keep his mouth shut worse than Nicole ever was.

I’m going back to Victoria as a suspect this week. And I think I’ll stick with Paul. But just about everyone is on my radar now. Should make the next few weeks very interesting.

Mark