Kim gave this episode a grade of
C+
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A-
Previously on The Mole: The group tried to evade snipers. Jennifer bitched at Kate for not shooting anyone with her gun. Kate tried to shoot Steven to earn an exemption, but it was too late. Jim stopped the team from doing logic puzzles and losing money. Charlie wishes he never signed up for the show because he misses his wife. Kathryn gets busted snooping in the production notebooks (although, to be fair, it was a trap.) Henry gets executed.
Is it wrong that I get a big kick out of Anderson Cooper saying saboteur? I just love that word. I think it's going to be my career goal, just so I can get it printed on business cards.
Anderson, still dressed all in black, leans on a pile of stones. He tells us that Henry was eliminated, and now there are only six contestants left. The six are stranded in Spain, and miss their friends and family. Anderson hits on the whole "They're a team, but they can't trust each other" thing that they tell us every week. I'm completely distracted by Anderson's pants, which appear to be made of polyester or something. They're very stretchy.
Charlie says that he misses his wife. Aw, that's so sweet. Kathryn says that she's missing her fiancé, but she appears to struggle over his name. Is it because she's The Mole, and thus the whole engagement thing is a sham, or is it because she's in love with Anderson? Or both? You be the judge. Jim isn't homesick at all, but he misses flying. Jennifer is nervous that Jim is spending so much time with Steven. We see footage of Steve wiping an eyelash from Jim's face. Oh, he's such a tease.
The pot is at $310,000. It's day eighteen, and the group heads for another town in Spain. Does it really matter what the name is? No, it doesn't. Plus, they don't give us the Carmen Sandiego map, and that makes me sad. Anderson needs them to divide up into three groups of two: one group of Resourceful people, one group of Smart people, and one group of Stupid people. I would totally go in the Stupid group, because anything you do well after that is just a surprise. If you go with Smart or Resourceful, and then don't do well, it would be a disappointment. But no one expects anything of the Stupid people. It's all about diminished expectations. Kate immediately volunteers to be on the Stupid team. In an interview, Kathryn says that Kate had just said the day before that she was never volunteering for anything again. Three Creamer. I mean, really. Kathryn was cut off in mid-sentence, so we don't even know if she was referring to this incident or not. They divide up with Kathryn and Steven on the Resourceful team, Jim and Jennifer on the Smart team, and Kate and Charlie on the Stupid team.
Anderson lays out the challenge. Each group has to find the hotel where they'll be spending the night by 8 PM to earn $40,000 for the pot. Two out of the three groups need to get to the hotel for them to win the money. The Resourceful group gets a van. The Smart team gets a Smart car. The Stupid people get to go with Anderson, who'll take them directly there. Jim points out that one group will definitely get there, so they really only need one more to make it. Anderson tells Jim that he really is smart. Ha ha. If one group doesn't make it to the hotel, they have to find other accommodations for the night. Anderson confiscates all their money, but only Jim had any cash on hand. Kate wonders why Jim had so much cash on him. Way to deflect suspicion, Mole.
Jim and Jennifer come upon their "car." I use the quotation marks, because by North American standards, it's not much of a vehicle. Take a Geo Metro, chop it in half, and this car is even smaller. I kind of want one, just because it's so odd-looking, although I bet it has a poor safety rating. But great mileage! Anyway, Anderson calls it "the mini-me of European cars" in a really, really annoying Dr. Evil imitation. Please don't do that again, Anderson. Please. Inside, they find a cell phone and an audiocassette. They stick it in the tape deck, and Anderson tells them to go to Espera and find the village idiot in the town hall. They take off.
Steven and Kathryn find a really broken-down van. It's missing a tire. There's a cage inside with geese. Live geese. They try to open the back door, and an inflatable raft blows up. They find their clues -- a series of Polaroids that document their route to the hotel. Wow, that would be a really difficult way to navigate, especially since the pictures are basically of desert, some more desert, and some more desert with some rocks. Not a lot of landmarks along the route, apparently. Steven puts on a new tire while Kathryn investigates the van, and finds a water jug and a scooter. Steven is worried about an oil leak, but Kathryn wants to take off. They ask some locals for help. Steven finds one guy who claims to be a mechanic. Kathryn is suspicious of the amount of time Steven is wasting dealing with the van.
Kate and Charlie arrive at the Montecastillo Hotel in Jerez. They've been blindfolded so that they don't know how they arrived. The hotel is luxurious. Kathryn tells us that Kate rubs Charlie the wrong way, but she's not sure if the reverse is true. Kate and Charlie drink some champagne and do a toast.
A half-hour later, the Resourceful team takes off. They've jettisoned the inflatable raft and the geese. Are they just going to leave the geese sitting there? I guess the production crew will pick them up. The van sounds awful, but it starts.
The Smart team arrives in Espera at the town hall. Some guy the production team hired to play the village idiot gives them a clue. It's a multiple-choice question: What king built a castle on the hill above Espera so he could watch the stars? Each answer tells them to go to a different city . If they choose the correct answer and go to the correct city, they will get another clue. If they're wrong, it's just a waste of time.
Anderson addresses the Stupid team. They have a challenge of their own. If they can prevent the Smart team from reaching the hotel, they double the prize to $80,000. However, the Resourceful team still has to make it, and the Stupid team has no way of contacting them. So basically, if they want to sabotage the Smart team, they have to be confident that the Resourceful team will make it. If the Resourceful team doesn't, they don't get any money at all for the pot. Anderson gives them a phone and a guidebook -- the book contains all of the answers the Smart team needs. Anderson tells them that if both the Resourceful and Smart teams get there, Kate and Charlie have to sleep outside. Charlie and Kate want to take the challenge. Charlie explains that they'll be putting their faith in the Resourceful group, and in themselves. Kate points out that the worst case is that they sleep outside. Charlie uses the phone to call the Smart team. Kate explains that they have a guidebook. Jim reads them the question while Kate takes notes, and agrees to call Jim back. Kate and Charlie find out that Hespero is the correct answer. Kate decides to tell Jim that they found some info in the book, and it referred to the king, but didn't give his name. Man, she is crafty. I'm not that sneaky -- I would have just given a wrong answer. I'm not saying she's The Mole -- oh, wait. I am. Kate makes the call and reads everything from the book, leaving out the name. A timer tells us that there are over four hours left. Jim and Kate decide to go with an answer that will send them thirty miles off course.
Anderson introduces Kate and Charlie to their personal massage therapist. Charlie soaks in a tub, with candles.
Cut to the Resourceful team driving down a dusty road in their crappy van. Steven asks Kathryn how she would sabotage this, if she were The Mole. Kathryn claims not to even know where to begin. They're driving at about twenty miles per hour, and they pass a piece of wood, on which is painted, "Who is The Mole?" Oh, those production guys are such cut-ups. The van stalls out and Kathryn can't get it restarted. Steven gives it a shot, but he doesn't have any luck either. Slow motion shot of him smiling in what might be described as an evil manner as we go to commercial. They really want us to think he's The Mole, which is the one reason why I don't buy it.
Steven and Kathryn are still on the side of the road. Steven claims the van isn't working, but Kathryn tells him he didn't even try it. Ultimately, they end up abandoning the van. Steven hops on a motorized scooter while Kathryn rides a bike. In the shot, Steven is on the bike and Kathryn is on the scooter. Kathryn accuses Steven of being The Mole. Steven replies that it's either him or Kathryn. Kathryn points out that it could be Kate. Steven says it could be Jim or Jennifer. Kathryn says it's not Jennifer, and goes back to saying that it's Steven or Kate. Steven says it's probably Kathryn. I notice that no one thinks it's Charlie. Me neither.
In the Smart car, Jennifer wonders whether Kate and Charlie are getting "some sort of perk" for misleading them. Wow, she does belong in the Smart car. They arrive in El Gastor, the wrong town. They figure out they are in the wrong place when there is no message for them. Jim calls Kate again and says that they are going to go to Utrera now. Kate tells him to call if there's any way she can help and hangs up. She tells Charlie that Jim is "buying it" and going "in the completely opposite direction now." She is a smooth operator. Smooooth operator. The Carmen Sandiego map shows us that they are still headed in the wrong direction. An on-screen countdown lets us know that there are about two and a half hours left. Once they arrive, Jim finds out that the town hall is closed. Jim calls Kate again and tells them that they'll be heading for the third choice -- Ubrique. Jim laughs that they clearly aren't the smart ones. The timer tells us that they only have one hour and forty-five minutes left. While they're driving, Jim tries to get Charlie to see some sort of sign out the window. Charlie says that all he sees are "rolling hills" and that they're in "opulence." He also claims that they've stripped the room of any identifying marks while the camera closes in on his slippers, which bear the name of the hotel, and a nearby calendar, also bearing the name. That's pretty funny. The way it's edited, it's like Anderson is listening to Charlie lie and then looking at all the things that prove he is lying.
Back to the Resourceful team. The motor scooter has run out of gas. Steven begs for gas from a local farmer, and somehow it works. They get a refill and thank him. Once they're back on the road, Steven comments that they're "a spectacle." A car passing them in the opposite direction nearly crashes into the car in front of it, with much screeching of tires. You can see that traffic is backed up behind Kathryn and Steven for miles -- couldn't they go over onto the shoulder for a few minutes and let the traffic pass? How annoying would that be?
On the Smart team, Jennifer comments that they don't know if they should be trusting Kate and Charlie. An on-screen counter tells us that they are over twenty-two miles away from the hotel. Back to the Resourceful team, who are just over nine miles away. Some of the backed up cars start to pass them. Anderson explains that time is running out and Kate and Charlie are starting to worry. Remember that the Resourceful team has to make it in time for the pot to double. Charlie says that there are about thirty-six minutes left. Assuming that scooter reaches a top speed of about ten miles per hour, the Resourceful team is never going to make it in time. Charlie is "losing faith."