Let the deception and mind games commence!
Netflix‘s second season of The Mole is upon us and with it come a new location, new host and of course, a new Mole. The premiere takes us all the way to Malaysia, where the game’s fresh emcee Ari Shapiro, a journalist and NPR host, claims that presiding over a reality TV show is “an assignment I’ve wanted for years.” Weird flex, guy, but hey, we’re excited for ya!
Ari explains that the new group must work together to build a prize pot that one of them will win, but hidden in plain sight is an imposter. The Mole. A double agent sent by production to eff everything up! Wreak havoc. Remain undetected. The player who scores the lowest on each quiz will be eliminated.
FIRST MISSION | The players are told to find a clearing in the middle of what looks like one sweltering jungle. We meet Muna, a proud Muslim woman and software engineer; Andy, a 65-year-old forensic accountant; and Hannah, a marketing consultant hiding behind a “dumb blonde” facade, among others. When Ari greets the group, he breaks down their first challenge. Lurking in the grass are five intruders who he says juuust missed the casting cut. In front of them is an assault course. The intruders’ goal is to try to make it into one of the cars at the very end. If they do, they’ll take the place of one of the players. But the players have strategically placed paintball guns, and once they hit an intruder, he or she is out of the game for good. If the team stops them all, they’ll bank $20,000.
They get five minutes to pick a leader for the mission, but there’s a catch. If an intruder makes it inside a car, the leader will be the one who’s replaced. (No pressure!) If they can pick a leader within the time frame, they’ll earn an easy $10K. Since Neesh originally raised his hand before hearing the rules, the group elects him to step into the hot seat. He begrudgingly takes it on.
The intruders must crack a four-letter code to unlock their padlocks and enter the course. Neesh is in control of placing the players in specific locations throughout the course. There’s a couple of slingshots, a sniper position and three additional paintball guns in the final zone before the car. There’s also a drone they can use as their “eye in the sky.”
The two slingshot teams are slow to react and the intruders breeze past Zone 1. Andy, the sniper, is able to shoot one down, but thanks to some expertly used smoke bombs, the rest of the intruders sneak by to Zone 3. However, Neesh, Jennifer and Ryan are able to take the rest of them out, securing Neesh’s spot in the game and the $20,000 payday.
TOTAL POT | $30,000!
SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR | Three players were responsible for swiveling the platform that Andy was firing from. Any one of them could’ve easily sabotaged his placement and thus, the accuracy of his shots. But to be fair, with every player having a separate position and vantage point, anyone could’ve missed his or her shots on purpose. Ryan is the last one to hit a target… does that clear her from suspicion?
Hannah wonders why the task seemed so easy, which leads her to suspect team leader Neesh. Was it all a rouse set up by the producers to throw them off? Others question the players in the slingshot positions. Why didn’t they hit any of the targets?
A TEST OF TRUST | Tony, Hannah and Jennifer bond fast. Jennifer says she doesn’t think Tony could possibly be the Mole (we’re only 30-ish minutes into this thing, and I’m kinda with her on that one), while Tony and Hannah appear to be jump-starting a flirtmance. Outside a beautiful Malaysian compound in the jungle, a phone rings. Jen picks it up. Ari tells her to go back to the group and have everyone nominate the three most trustworthy players. Those players will each get a call which will give them a choice between helping the group or helping themselves. If all three players pick to help the group, they’ll earn $5,000. They select Muna, Tony and Deanna.
Deanna takes the first call. Ari offers her a choice to choose the cash for the prize pot or an advantage in the first quiz. One of her wrong answers will be corrected. She picks the cash, as does Tony. Muna, however, takes the correction, but lies to the group about it. When Ari reveals the results to the rest, everyone is gobsmacked. (Welcome to The Mole, you guys!)
SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR | Muna taking the correction is totally Mole-like behavior! Especially since she can hide behind anonymity. Tony then misspeaks to the group, accidentally stating that he “said no to the money.” OK, maybe that’s not suspicious, but it sure is dumb! Could it sway anyone’s mind ahead of the quiz though?
FIRST QUIZ | Strategies vary when players sit down to answer the game’s first questions. It’s only Day 1, so the group doesn’t have that much to go on, really. Ari starts to reveal the results and when Episode 1 comes to a close, everyone is safe except for Neesh, Deanna and Jennifer. So who’s going to be first out? Binge your way over to Episode 2 to find out!
So what are your thoughts on the season so far? Grade the episode below, then fire away in the comments!
Overall feels like an improvement on last season, but they really need to ditch pot-draining twists that completely overshadow any sabotage the mole is actually doing.
I want to know what would have happened if an “intruder” made it into the game. They’re obviously not the mole, so it made no sense.
Then there would simply be someone everyone knows isn’t the mole.
The past season of the Dutch show had an eliminated player reenter the game. At that point everyone knew she couldn’t be the mole.
Binged the first 5 eps. Game is as cerebral as ever, but agree that the pot-draining twists are a bit much. Feels like the producers took the wrong lesson from Survivor and added twists because they don’t trust the cast to act they way the producers want them to act.
I’m down to three suspects for the Mole. I hope I’m right.
Get rid of the host, horrible host,,,,