2.01 - The First Betrayal

The Mole, probably the slickest and most intelligent of the "reality" series on TV, is back. The new season opens straight into the action; a map shows us that we are in Switzerland and the camera pans over a beautiful Swiss countryside and onto the Castle Tarasp. Inside, we see 14 people wearing blindfolds and our host, Anderson Cooper.

"All of you are probably feeling a little disoriented right now." says Cooper. "It's only going to get worse. You may remove your blindfolds." With this, our 14 contestants get to see each other for the first time.

Actually, that's 13 contestants. The 14th person in the room is "The Mole". But, who?

The players are introduced and Cooper immediately sets them to work. He asks them to select the two of them who they think have the most leadership ability. The players quickly select Bill, the retired Rear Admiral and Darwin, the attorney. Darwin is surprised, he didn't think that lawyers were held in that high of esteem. (Darwin, just a hint; they aren't).

Everyone is sent into the next room where they find their Official Mole Luggage™. They are told to pack their backpacks with enough warm clothing for overnight. Bill and Darwin are told to observe them packing and to find out as much as they can about their abilities.

Darwin comments that it is hard to tell who is athletic and who isn't just by looking at them. (Oh? Really? Remind me not to get Darwin as my attorney. Darwin, another hint; fit, tanned = athletic, flabby, pale = not athletic.)

Shortly, everyone is outside on a hillside and Cooper explains what is about to happen to Bill and Darwin. There are going to be three events. The first will be a "Crossbow Biathlon" where players will have to ride a bicycle and shoot a crossbow at a target. The second will be a "Pulse Rope Walk" in which the players will have to walk across a rope stretched between two trees while keeping their pulse rates down. Finally, there is the "Swing For Life". Players in this event will have to swing on the end of a 100 foot cable from a bridge over a "raging river".

Bill and Darwin will have to assign players to these events based on what they learned of them from when they were packing their bags. Three for the biathlon, four for the rope cross and five for the bridge swing. In addition, they get to assign the cash values for the events. One event will be worth $20,000, one worth $40,000 and one will be worth nothing. The two confer and assign players.

First up is the Crossbow Biathlon. This event features Bob, Bribs and Rob. In this event, each player must first ride a bike down the hill and collect two crossbow bolts. Then they must ride back up the hill and shoot a crossbow at a target. They get two shots and one of them must be a bullseye. (It is a fairly big bullseye.) If they miss with both shots they must repeat the ride down and up the hill to get two more bolts. They have 30 minutes for all of them to complete the task.

Bob goes first and simply coasts down the hill. He collects his bolts and starts back up but has some problems. He apparently has a leg cramp and falls about halfway back up. He walks the bike a bit then gets back on and completes the ride up. His first shot is wide but gets a bullseye with the second.

Bribs is next and takes off peddling down the hill. He quickly grabs his bolts and peddles almost as quickly back up. His first shot barely misses the bullseye but he nails it with the second one.

Now it's Rob's turn. He gets down and gets his bolts with no trouble but runs into problems on the way back up. He throws up and winds up having to push the bike all the way to the top. A few players talk among themselves and Bob comments "We have a suspect here..." Rob then aims the crossbow and nails the bullseye with his first shot! (Maybe not, Bob.) The first event is complete.

Next is the Pulse Rope Walk. Al, Heather, Lisa and Myra are the contestants here. In this event the players must cross a rope between two trees. (There is a second, higher rope that they can hang onto.) There are two catches this time. First, they will be wearing a heart rate monitor and they must stop moving whenever their pulse rate exceeds 130. Second, the fourth person must not only cross the lower rope, they must come back across on a higher rope.

Al quickly volunteers to go last. What a gentleman. Ali, Lisa and Myra quickly cross without even breaking a sweat; their pulse rates never go above 75. "My resting pulse rate isn't even that low!" says Bill.

Now it's Al's turn. He climbs to the rope but before he can even start to cross his pulse rate clears 130 and he has to stop. He seems to be stunned. "I feel fine!" he keeps saying. (Al? Those chest pains aren't normal. Trust me.) Still, he has to stand there for a long time before it drops below 130 and he can continue again. Unfortunately, no sooner than he does his pulse jumps back up again.

Several of the other players start talking about the Mole again. "Nonsense" someone says. "You can't control your pulse rate!". For his part Al is blaming the equipment. "I smell foul play!" "Try rubbing your carotid artery!" yells Myra, who was apparently a nurse as well as being a pilot. Talented.

Eventually Al gets to move again. He makes it across and back on the upper rope, having to make a few more stops along the way but completing the event with time to spare. Back on the ground Myra checks his pulse and finds it to be over 150! Yow!

Two down and it's on to the third event. As Cooper puts it, this is "The Swing for Life". "Or", he jokes, "you can call it the Swing of Death." Whatever. This one is relatively simple; the players will push off from the side of a bridge and swing out across the river on a 100 foot cable. Piece of cake, right?.

The remaining five players, Ali, Katie, Dorothy, Patrick, and Elavia have to perform the last event. While they are deciding in what order they want to jump, we briefly see Cooper eating a sandwich. (Where did that come from?) "Looks dangerous!" he comments between bites. (Thanks for the encouragement.) Ali goes first, crossing herself on the way down, and she is quickly followed by Katie who yells out "Tell Michael J Fox I love him!" (Huh?) Dorothy simply jumps and Patrick yells "Geronimo" as he leaves the platform. Katie comments that she is glad there is no pulse rate check on this event. (I thought it looked like fun myself.)

Elavia is the last player but before she can go Cooper makes her an offer. Refuse to jump and cost the players the event and he will give her an Exemption from the first Execution. "Tough spot to be in." she deadpans. She takes the Exemption, much to the chagrin of the other players. Al says he thinks it's too early in the game to be going for the Exemption but Darwin says he would have done it himself. (Yeah, but you're a lawyer Darwin. We expect things like that out of you.)

Now we get to find out how much Bill and Darwin bid on the events. It turns out that the Biathalon was worth $40,000, the rope crossing $20,000 and the bridge jump was worth nothing. Elavia has her exemption without hurting the players.

The successful players return to the mountain lodge where they are staying and Cooper distributes the notebooks they will use to keep track of information about who The Mole is. The players spend the next few hours talking to each other and collecting information for their notes. All the players that is, except Katie and Heather. The two of them meet outside and agree to form a Coalition to share information.

Bob is questioning Elavia and asks her what her greatest skills are. "Lying, cheating and flirting" she tells him. Just the confession I would make on national TV. Bribs meanwhile shows them something he found while cleaning out his grandfather's garage; a can of Mole Killer! He promises that if he is executed he will pass it on to the survivors. Most people seem to suspect Elavia but Dorothy mentions that she suspects Bob because he doesn't seem to want to talk to her.

That night the players make their way up the hill where a large bonfire has been built. (What is it with reality shows and bonfires?) There, they get their next challenge. They must pick four of their number who will answer questions about the other players. Questions about information which was given on their player application forms and which they have hopefully gotten from each other during their question and answer session. Ali, Katie, Dorothy, and Patrick are chosen.

After the four players are selected Cooper tells them the reward for the challenge will be $40,000. If the players miss even one question they forfeit the reward.

However, there is a penalty associated with the challenge as well. A crane swings into view and positions a net over the bonfire. The net contains the player's Official Mole Luggage™ and, presumably, all of their possessions.

This, Cooper tells them, is the penalty. If the selected players miss four questions then all of their possessions will be lowered into the bonfire and destroyed.

Katie is upset. Her stuffed cow, which she carries with her everywhere, is in her luggage. Heather mentions that her bible is in there and that she has had it since she was 13.

Obviously, tensions are high. Ali goes first. "Which player wants to normalize relations with Cuba?" She answers Darwin. Nope, it was Patrick. They lose the money.

Dorothy is asked "Which player says they have a big ego internally but is externally modest?" Bribs? Wrong, it was Rob.

Katie gets "Whose favorite drink is Sam Adams Lager and Wine?" (Not together, I hope!) She guesses Bob. Bzzzt. Wrong. It was Al. (Guess she should have been inside asking questions of the other players instead of forming a Coalition with Heather, huh?)

It comes down to Patrick and the pressure is on. "Who dressed as Marge Simpson for Halloweeen?" It is obvious he doesn't know. He shrugs and guesses Lisa. Unfortunately, it was Ali.

The bags are lowered into the bonfire. Most of the players stare on in shock. Katie is in tears over her stuffed cow. Heather looks stunned. "My bible was in there; not something you burn.". Rob is in the background pulling his hair. Al comments, in an interview, that the only thing he misses is the photo of his wife. "Don't put this on!" he says as he starts to cry.

Cooper looks on stoically. After dinner, he reminds them, they will have the first Execution.

We briefly see the players at dinner then we get the first Execution quz.

During the test we hear comments from several of the players. Most are suspicions of Elavia but Dorothy is suspicious of Bob. Lisa thinks its Elavia or Bribs because they didn't look around when they removed their blindfolds back at Tarasp Castle or Myra or Bill because they didn't have a strong reaction to the bag burning. (Gee, Lisa. you've successfully narrowed it down to, oh, a third of the players there...)

Cooper then types in the player's names one at a time to see who gets the Red Screen 'o Death. Ali gets a green screen, as do Katie, Al and Patrick. Then, Bob is red screened. Executed.

Cooper escorts Bob from the room and he is driven away. The other players look around in suspicion.

One of them is The Mole.

We are told at the start of the show that there will be clues as to the identity of The Mole during the show. Here are a few observations from this episode.

While the players are packing their bags at the start of the episode, Rob tells Bill that he isn't very athletic and doesn't get out of the house much. So what happens? Bill and Darwin put Rob in the Biathalon; the most athletic of the three events and they put the most money on that event! They also put no money on the Swing for Life, which actually required the least physical exertion. Hmmm...

Bob falls during the Biathalon but still hits the target. Of course, he is later executed so he can't be the Mole.

Rob also has a lot of trouble with the Biathalon. He is throwing up and has to walk the bike up the hill. On the other hand, he could easily have thrown the event and didn't; he hit the target first try.

In the Pulse Rope Walk Al volunteers for the more difficult crossing and immediately has trouble with his pulse rate. Of course, he can't control his pulse (maybe he drank a lot of coffee?) but maybe he knew he had a high pulse and volunteered anyway?

Myra suggests to him to rub his carotid artery in order to slow his pulse rate. I've never heard of this but she could have said nothing without raising suspicion so the fact that she did offer the suggestion is a point in her favor.

On the Swing for Life Katie is in near panic but still makes the swing. Either a point in her favor or a move to avoid suspicion?

Elavia of course takes the Exemption and costs the players the Swing for Life event. Turns out that it didn't cost them anything but she didn't know that at the time. (Or did she?) On the other hand, why would the Mole need an Exemption?

Katie and Heather go outside during the time when everyone is learning about each other which limits what they can learn in that time. The Mole, of course, doesn't need to know anything about the other players but would want to prevent other players from learning things.

Bribs pulls out his can of "Mole Killer". From his grandfather's garage or from the prop closet?

When players are selected for the questions for the Bag Burning, Katie is one of the players despite the fact that she was outside with Heather during the question and answer period. Hmmm...

Heather is the first person to realize that the net contains their bags. She also talks about her bible. We had seen Katie's cow earlier but not Heather's bible.

When Katie looks though the binoculars at the net we can see the names on two bags. One is her's and the other is (I think) Elavia's. Later, we get another close up of the net and see Myra's and another bag whose name I could not make out.

Be seeing you...