All is now revealed. And all is basically right in the world of The Mole, as Mark won, and Nicole was revealed not to be the Mole, winning nothing as reward for her crappy behavior.Craig certainly had me fooled, but I took some pretty serious consolation in learning tonight that even the winner of the game didn't actually know he was the Mole until there were only four players (one being himself and another being the Mole) remaining. That sort of gave me a glimmer of hope that, had I actually been a player in the game as hopelessly lost about the identity of the Mole as I was previously, I might not have been eliminated early on.
Tonight, upon reflection, I and the friend I've been watching with together throughout the summer realized what should arguably have been the biggest tip-off of all to the Mole's identity. It's the fact that Craig was put back into the game after his brush with hypothermia and oxygen deprivation. If you watch any amount of "reality television," then you know the producers don't generally mess around. If somebody actually develops any medical problems, they'll yank that person off the show so fast that if you blink, you'll miss it. And yet Craig was given a night's bed rest and then sent right back into the fray. This should have been a siren going off -- he can't be taken out of the game, because he's the Mole!
I would argue, though, that the Mole was not nearly as Mole-y as he could have been. Clearly, almost nobody suspected him until very deep in the game. That means he could have taken some more early opportunities to sit idly by and "prevent" money from being put in the pot through total inaction. He didn't have to jump in on the When Pigs Fly mission to help man the slingshot when the team was suffering. He didn't have to find the clothes at the laundromat during the Dress Code mission.
I kinda feel sorry for Paul, having been the only one to really know the Mole's identity all along, and having missed the final three by only four seconds on the quiz. But then I remember what an ass he was throughout the game, often running a neck-and-neck race for who was more deplorable between he and Nicole, and I don't feel too bad for him at all.
So that about wraps it up. Who knows when or if we can expect another installment of The Mole again? But if it comes, I'll be back here to break it down.
Hopefully with a little more success.
2 comments:
I'm just glad that Nicole did not win. and I'm sure the producers would have rather had Mark win, too. he had a much happier ending story than Nicole would have. I think they might have even produced the show completely differently if they knew she was going to win (make her seem less "evil"?) it just goes to show one of the advantages of "reality" TV, that you can manipulate a weeks worth of video into an hour show of whatever you want.
the story of how Mark won was very fun, how he was almost executed many times. seeing the other player's reactions to it was a great mix of emotions. when Victoria clicked on a wrong answer (WTF? that's harsh if they don't let you fix mistakes?) and Paul's 4 seconds. I felt really bad for "V" but Paul gets a Nelson-esque "ha-ha!" (he was visibly furious at Mark's exemption in that episode!) actually a Paul-Nicole showdown would have made for a fun ending, too... so maybe I feel a little bit bad for him? and Clay's help-from-the-other-side was something us players at home should have got also.
your medical-problems situation analysis creates an interesting precedence for (hopefully) future seasons of The Mole? where the producers might not be able to remove unhealthy players from the game? but you're right, that whole thing should have been a major clue in itself.
I liked the Four "i" clue...
the mole
Okay, finally watched the final episode.
And all's well that ends well.
But did I hear that right? They waited three freakin' months before reuniting everyone to reveal the winner? This means that for three months, Mark and Nicole were wondering whether they had won or lost?
Ouch.
There are still a few questions left unanswered (at least for me).
For instance, I'd be curious to know how much they pay the Mole for his "starring role" in the show, and how they select him/her.
But I would really like to know whether or not the host actually knows the identity of the Mole going in.
Before you go "duh," think about it: in a TV game show where *any* slip of the tongue means disaster ("And now we find out who was Crai-- I mean, the Mole's latest victim..."), it makes much more sense for the host to have no idea as to the identity of the Mole. It might take some of the insider fun out of the host's job, but it would still be the safest way to do it.
But the real question is whether or not the show's coming back next year. On Jon Kelley's blog (on the ABC site), there's not hint as to the show's future. No "see you next year" or anything of the sort.
So we'll have to keep our fingers crossed...
FKL
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