The show opens with an explanation of how the game works, which I'm sure you all know by now. They started with ten people working together to complete tests to earn money. One of them is a Mole, trying to sabotage. Each week, one of them is eliminated via a quiz about The Mole. The last one left gets the money.
Last week, Jennifer threw a hissyfit, Wendi couldn't hear, and Afi got eliminated.
Anderson stands in the desert and tells us that the players are getting to know each other, and personalities are clashing. Charlie tells the camera that he's relieved it was Afi and not him. Jennifer tells the camera that she wishes Henry were gone. Why don't we get a shot of someone saying that they wish Jennifer were gone? Also, it kind of cracks me up how they have assigned a persona to each player, and always refer to said persona in the on-screen text. "Jennifer the Jock," or "Charlie the Retired Detective," for example. Henry tells the camera that he still feels "really confident." Wendi thinks this is all a dream. Steven claims that he's "just a simpleton," trying to "get through one round at a time." I love that he called himself a simpleton on national television.
It's Day Ten and the group is in Avignon, France. There is $135,000 in the pot. They leave France to go to Spain, and the Carmen Sandiego map shows us where France is in relation to Spain. I would make a crack, but actually most American probably don't know. Anderson voice-overs that the group's confidence is waning since they have failed two out of the last three tests. Montage of Spain while Spanish music plays in the background. I expect them to have a toreador and a woman in a mantilla with a rose clenched between her teeth or something.
Charlie, Kate, Wendi, and Henry are in a van. Anderson tells us that Charlie is getting tired and cranky. We see Charlie asking if they can crack a window and get some fresh air. Henry offers to turn on the air conditioning. Kate says her window is cracked as much as she is going to crack it. Because she's The Mole. Charlie accuses Kate of being "the window police." Heh. Kate says that Charlie got up on "the wrong side of the bed," and Wendi admits that Charlie was "a little snappy" to her this morning. Charlie just lies there and thinks, "I am in hell. HELL!" That's what the look on his face was saying to me.
At 11 PM, the players arrive at their hotel. Over dinner, Anderson tells us that they discuss friendship in the face of the game. Anderson asks the table how they can form friendships, knowing that they are based on lies. Aw, who cares! Show more Mole stuff! Jim says that everyone came to the table with the same expectations. Steven is afraid that he will lose friendships as the game goes on. Jennifer says that she applauds anyone who outwits her, and pointedly says, "You did your job, Steve!" and then laughs and laughs at her audacity at calling Steve the Mole. Jennifer is so the Richard of this show. They want us to hate her. It makes me not want to hate her, just to be contrary, but I do. I hate her. Shut up, Jennifer. Random shot of Charlie guffawing for no reason.
The morning, the players are "whisked away in a van, secreted to a country location." They get dropped off and have to hike up a dirt road. We see the group walking down the road, interspersed with shots of what is a calf at best, and surely not a mature bull. A toreador walks into a stadium as the camera pans from feet up to head. He's not wearing the cool little hat! We've all seen this challenge before on Road Rules Latin America.
The group arrives at the arena as the toreador dodges the charges of a slightly bigger bull. It's still not that big, though. Anderson announces that the bullfighting test could be worth $75,000. Each person has to go in the ring and face the "bull." Each time the "bull" touches the cape, it counts as a pass. Each player needs to get two passes. The players watch the "bull" and proclaim how vicious it is. Anderson's not done -- they can earn an additional $25,000 if five of them complete a tienta, which is basically pulling the "bull"'s tail until its butt touches the ground.
Henry is up first. Two random guys in tuxedos play the trumpet and snare drum. So sad. Henry's "bull" is tiny. Henry gets some instruction from the toreador, and successfully completes two passes. Then he grabs the tail and gets the tienta as well, before running behind a barrier.
Charlie is up , but he's a little nervous. Wouldn't you be? He's older and his reflexes are likely not as quick as Henry's. Plus, Kate wouldn't give him any air in the car. Charlie says he's "confident," but then admits that he's only saying that. Kate tells Charlie to pretend the bull is her. Charlie gets one pass. Charlie holds the cape right in front of his body. Hold it out to the side a little bit! Predictably, the bull rams right into him and knocks his legs out. That's why I was telling him to hold it to one side! Have these people never seen Madonna's Take A Bow video? We go to commercial before we can find out if Charlie died or what.
After the break, they replay Charlie getting knocked down about three times. He's got a scrape on his arm, which is hardly a big deal. The paramedics clean him up. Steven whispers to Jennifer, "I just want to go last to make sure everybody goes." Jennifer teases him about it and says that she still think he might be The Mole.
Kate is out in the ring now. She quickly gets one pass, but like Charlie before her, holds the cape right in front of her legs, and then looks surprised when the bull takes out her legs. After getting her two passes, she heads for safety. Kate claims that she has "a bruise on [her] rib." Whatever. She barely fell.
Jennifer is up . On the second pass, the bull takes out her legs too, and she ends up on top of the bull. Kate yells, and Anderson takes off quickly out of frame, like, what is he going to do? Jennifer is hanging onto the bull, going for the tienta, which she eventually gets. If I was the bull and everyone was yanking on my tail like that, I'd be pissed too.
Wendi claims that this is getting too intense. Anderson lets slip the information that all of them have to face the bull for the tientas to count. Hey, they didn't tell us that before! Anyway, Wendi is up . She somehow persuades the bullfighter to help her, and they jointly hold the cape. That seems like cheating somehow. Wendi gets her two passes, and everyone cheers.
Jim is up , and on the first pass he ends up straddling the bull's head. The second pass goes better, and he's done. Kathryn gets knocked down on her first pass, and asks if it counted. Anderson yells out, "Yes, it counts! Good job! I love you!" Okay, maybe he didn't say the last part, but he's clearly thinking it. Kathryn gets her two passes and Steven is the only one left.
Anderson tries to build up suspense by reminding us that Steven has to complete the task for the tientas to count. Everything goes slow motion. Seriously, the "bull" is so young that it's actually fuzzy and cute. They insert a silly mooing sound as the bull charges Steve. He gets a pass and a tienta in one shot. On the pass, he gets knocked down and asks if he's allowed to get two tientas. Show off. The sad trumpet/drum combo plays again. Steven is welcomed back to the group. Anderson informs them that they made $50,000, and then an additional $15,000 for the tientas, for a total of $65,000. The pot is now at $200,000. That's a lot of money! Anderon informs them that they'll be "camping in the bullring tonight." Setting up tents montage. They're roughing it.
Until a few hours later, when they get live music and a sit-down dinner. Granted, it's still all out doors, but it's not like they're eating deli sandwiches or cold ravioli out of a can. Anderson tells us that "Wendi, Charlie, and Jennifer let their hair down." In other words, they get wasted and dance to the crappy music. They even do a mini-conga line. I wish they had shown reaction shots from their teammates.
Later, they make a fire and hang out. Anderson tells us that "Charlie's feelings about Kate come to the surface." Wendi, Charlie, and Jennifer drunkenly talk about who they like, and Charlie slurs, "I don't like Kate. Kate is a [bleep]." We see a reaction shot of Kate, so I guess she can hear what he's saying. Charlie keeps going, though. Wendi tries to shut him up, but Jennifer eggs him on. Charlie complains that Kate always repeats directions to him. Wow, she sucks. Maybe Charlie needs to lighten up. Of course, Kate's The Mole. Everyone else just looks really embarrassed for the doddering old man. Jim asks Charlie if he's ever "hung out around a campfire." I thought Jim was going to say something about sound carrying in the circle, and that they can hear everything he's saying. Jim says, all non sequitur, "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out, all right?" Wuh? That doesn't even make sense. I mean, it makes sense, but was he telling Charlie to leave? That was strangely edited. Jim voice-overs that Charlie was being "downright mean." Kate tells the camera that her tactic is to "just ignore it."
It's the morning, and we see a waking-up/sunrise/brushing teeth with bottled water montage. Anderson voice-overs that everyone is on edge after "last night's emotional outburst" (outburst?), but they will have to work together today. More Spanish trumpet music. At breakfast, Anderson asks the group for three volunteers. He needs "someone who is fearless," and Henry volunteers. Henry is giggling the whole time, I guess to show how fearless he is. , Anderson needs someone "who has a winning smile." Charlie volunteers, albeit reluctantly. Henry is still guffawing over in the corner, even though no one else is laughing. The final volunteer Anderson needs is someone everyone trusts with their possessions. Um, none of them? Jennifer notes that Kate is looking at her. Anderson takes that as a sign that Jennifer is the third volunteer, and tells everyone to gather up their dirty laundry. Jennifer asks if they really decided on her, and everyone else is like, "What fool is going to volunteer now that we know you have to do laundry?" Jennifer tells them not to trust her, like they're all so scared. Cut to Jennifer, Charlie, and Henry picking up everyone's dirty laundry bags. Jennifer expresses regret that she has to spend the day with Henry. You know, it's funny. She claims to hate him so much, and yet she always ends up in the same group with him, or sitting to him. If she really hates him, wouldn't she just avoid him? Especially while the group is still big enough to do so.
The hell? They just showed footage of two guys riding a motorcycle together, and the guy on the back is holding the leashes of three dogs. Huh? What the hell was that? It's noon as the team of three starts out. Cooper explains that there are no laundromats in this town, and they end up by some running water and stone basins. Anderson explains that this is the old town laundry basin. Their test, worth $10,000, is to wash, dry, and fold all eight bags of laundry. But, they can only do one load at the basins -- they have to find places to do the rest by 8 PM. Each load has to be done at a different location. He gives them a Spanish-English dictionary and wishes them well. The team starts washing. Henry explains that there's a "huge language barrier." Jennifer looks up "laundry" in the dictionary. They finish the first load.
The rest of the team heads to a church in town, where Anderson tells us that they will be "playing a game of dice." The players will be completing a dice test here. They pick an envelope which holds two tasks -- one simple, one "unpleasant." They roll the die, and if they get a one, two, or three, they get to do the simple task. If they get a four, five, or six, they have to do the unpleasant task. Three out of five of them have to finish their task and earn $40,000 for the pot. Steven will go first, and the rest go upstairs so that "they won't know Steven's assignment, or his roll of the die."
Steven picks an envelope. His simple task is to paint a nude portrait. His unpleasant task is to pose nude. Steven rolls the die, and there's the cheesiest graphic of a rolling die that was so clearly inserted later, for those of you who don't know what a rolling die looks like. Steven gets a five, and appears upset. Anderson asks if Steven's going to do it. Steven contemplates and then agrees. Anderson chuckles.
Cut to a random shot of a half-naked little kid. Again, what is with the random shots? The laundry team tries to communicate with various townspeople, without much luck. They finally convince some poor lady to let them use her washing machine. Charlie explains that in the U.S., he would call the cops if someone came to his house and asked to use his washing machine.
Steven goes to an artist's studio to be painted by a male local artist. Steven asks about the pose. The artist doesn't speak English. Steven starts to get undressed. He takes off his sandals. Commercial.
Anderson goes upstairs and tells the others what Steven's assignment was. I thought they weren't allowed to know? Jim goes . His simple assignment is to get a cast on one leg, and his uncomfortable assignment is to get a cast on both legs. He asks how long the cast would be on for, and Anderson tells him that it would be until tomorrow. What is the big deal there? Upstairs, Kate, Kathryn, and Wendi discuss possible assignments.
The laundry team does more laundry. Henry explains that they ran into some guy who got them into various houses to do the wash. As for 6 PM, they have six out of eight loads finished.
Steven changes his mind about posing. He says he would if he had Henry's body. Wuss.
Jim rolls and gets a five. Jim claims that he has never worn a cast, but he agrees to do it. Some weird military music plays as Jim goes to the doctor's office. Upstairs, Anderson tells the ladies what Jim's choice was. They all agree that it's easy, and definitely easier than Steven's task. Kate says that they can count on one win. Kathryn decides to go , and she and Anderson have such a flirtation going on.
Kathryn picks her envelope. Her simple task is to dye her hair. She asks what color and Anderson picks green. Her uncomfortable task is to shave her head. I would totally do either one! Maybe. Kathryn wants details on the hair color, and Anderson tells her that it's not permanent. She rolls, and gets a four. She immediately says that she won't do it, because she's getting married in four months. I guess I can understand that.
Anderson tells us that Wendi, Jim, and Kate must complete their assignments to win the money, since two people have already refused. Wendi picks an envelope. Her simple task is to wear a ball and chain. Her uncomfortable task is to wear a stockade. She rolls and gets a five. Wendi agrees to wear the stockade.
Wendi goes to a cobbler, for some reason. She gets the stockade put on, but claims that she's still not sure about it. It ends up around her neck, with her arms and legs chained to it. She leaves the shop, staggering down the street. A car honks at her.
Back to the laundry team -- just as they were finishing up, Jennifer spotted a pair of unwashed socks in Charlie's bag. They have to go back to the house where the rest of Charlie's wash was done to wash them. Is anyone else having a hard time believing that all this laundry would dry in that time period? I guess for some loads, they had a dryer, but they had to hang some out on a line.
Back at the church, Kate gets a proposal. She can take all four assignments. If everyone else succeeded, and she does all four anyway, she doubles the pot. If they haven't succeeded, and she does all four, she earns the $40,000 herself. Plus, she will earn exemption from the execution. Well, that would be enough for me. She rolls the die for each task. She has to be painted in the nude, wear a cast on both legs, dye her hair, and wear a ball and chain.
The laundry team finishes their tasks by 7:44 PM, so they win. Jennifer says that Henry came through in the laundry task, despite their differences. Henry thinks that they should have earned more money. Hey, if you look at it as an hourly wage, they made a pretty good salary.
Henry, Charlie, and Jennifer hang out in a café somewhere. Steven comes up, and Jennifer tells him that her team earned $10,000. Steven explains his task and admits that he refused to be painted nude. Jennifer can't believe he refused. Jim walks up with no casts on his legs. Jim admits that he also failed. Charlie says he would have rather done either of their tasks than laundry. Word. Jennifer yells at everyone. Kathryn comes out. What are they, waiting in the wings or something? Kathryn admits that she also failed her task, but can't believe that Jim refused to put casts on. Again, word. Jim says that he would have shaved his head. Wendi walks up with her stockade. Jennifer explains that Wendi's task was in vain. Jim laughs at her. The women try to help Wendi get comfortable. Anderson comes up and laughs at Wendi too. Poor Wendi. She's taking it a lot better than I would if the rest of the team failed.
Anderson explains about Kate's offer. Jennifer says that she has faith in Kate. Anderson voice-overs, "Will Kate succeed where they all have failed? $40,000 is at stake." And commercial.
The group argues over whether or not Kate would do all of the tasks. Jennifer thinks Kate is a team player. We see Kate waddling down the street with two casts on her legs. I can't believe she did it! I might have to revise my Mole theory! No, I'm sticking with it. She's probably just trying to deflect suspicion, and make everyone hate Charlie for being mean to her. Yeah, that's the ticket. Jennifer spots her and runs up. Poor Wendi is completely forgotten. Kate has greenish hair. We see a montage of Kate completing all the tasks. Jennifer holds up the "nude" portrait, in which she has a towel over her entire body. So not nude. Jennifer is screaming. Take it down a notch! Everyone applauds for Kate. Wendi admits that she would've liked to have been the hero since she wore the stockade all day.
Anderson brings up Kate's incentive, and Kate tells them about her exemption. Suddenly, everyone's not so congratulatory. Yeah, she's a little less of a team player now, huh? They walk out of the town square carrying laundry bags.
At dinner, we see that everyone has signed Kate's casts. Anderson announces that it's after midnight, so Kate can remove her casts and such. Charlie does the cast-removing honors. Charlie voice-overs that Kate doing all those tasks improved her standing in his eyes. Jennifer says that Kate had all these ailments before, but since she get exempted, "she hasn't complained one a-ota [sic] about anything." Have I mentioned that I hate Jennifer? I do. She's such a bitch for no reason. Anderson explains that $40,000 will be added to the pot.
It's time for the quiz. Henry says that Wendi isn't taking many notes and fades into the background, and he doesn't see how she could keep scoring well on the quiz with that technique. That is about the lamest theory I've ever heard. Wendi says that she used to think Kate was The Mole, but completing all those tasks made Wendi change her mind. Charlie still thinks that Kate is The Mole, even though he gives her a lot of credit for her work. Kathryn tells us that Jim claims he doesn't think Steven is The Mole, but Steven is playing him. Got that? Jim says that he could be The Mole. Jennifer thinks that Steven is The Mole for not being painted nude, and yet he always wants to talk about sex. She and Henry really should get along better since they both have stupid-ass theories. Charlie thinks that Jennifer suspects him because of the sock incident. Steven says something nonsensical about "meditative breathing."
The group gathers to find out who got executed. Anderson says that the pot is at $250,000. Kate is exempted, of course. Henry volunteers to go first, and he gets the green screen. It's never the first one, although they could edit it to be in a different order. Steven goes -- green screen. I'm probably imagining it, but it seems like the delay between the name and the screen color is getting longer. Jim gets a green screen. Wendi is up -- red screen! Wendi is gone. She shakes her head and gets up. When she bends over to pick up her bag, Steven totally checks out her ass.
It's time for the Montage of the Executed Person. Wendi was great. Wendi was fun. We will miss her. She wore the stockades. At least no one cries this week. Anderson bids Wendi goodbye and says they're going to miss her a lot. Aw, what a nice host. He actually appears regretful and non-Probstian.
The disclaimer tells us that the show was "edited for time" and "dice close-ups have been inserted." No duh. That spinning die was so fake.
week: it looks to be some sort of sniper game, with the head-cams again. Jim snaps at Charlie. Kate points her gun at Steven (jokingly, I guess) and he tells her that you shouldn't point a gun at anyone, putting his hand on the barrel and pushing it away. He's right. Kate, because she's The Mole, keeps trying to point it at him. Anderson scolds them. Jennifer is still a bitch.