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Tonight on The Mole: They "reunite the players and show [us] how The Mole outwitted them all." We see various shots of executed players hugging and greeting one another. Jennifer has a really terrible short haircut. It's basically the same footage we saw at the end of the final episode.
Previously on The Mole: "It all began in the California desert." The players greet each other and joke about The Mole's identity. They jumped out of a plane. They rode in boats and helicopters. Henry and Jennifer got into a spat. Kate couldn't walk up the hill very quickly. Wendi screamed while running through the maze. Charlie got knocked down by a bull. Jennifer did, too. Wendi hung out in a stockade. Jennifer showed off Kate's nude portrait. Jennifer yelled at Kate to cover her in the sniper test. Charlie was reunited with his wife (and for a second, I thought his wife was Kate -- what's up with that?). Charlie got drunk and made rude comments about Kate, and then did the same thing while sober. Jennifer was bitchy. Charlie successfully walked the plank blindfolded. We see the montage of the red thumbprint, where each player is executed. Anderson tells the three finalists that they wanted to be in the finals together, and now they are. Thanks, Captain Obvious. The three of them point Mole fingers at the others. In an interview, Jim says that it's the final execution, and he's either going to be "gratified or duped."
Anderson welcomes all of the previously executed players. They're sitting in a small room in two rows: Henry, Jennifer, Kate, and Charlie in front, and Manuel, Afi, and Wendi in back. Anderson points out that this is the first time they've all been together since each person was executed. He throws it over to Charlie, who has something to say. Charlie hesitantly (I don't think the hesitation was about his feelings, but more about finding the right words) apologizes to Kate for all the mean things he said. I bet his wife made him do that. Kate looks fantastic, by the way. Charlie says that Kate was "a real trooper," and that the two of them should have gotten along a lot better. Kate shakes his hand and gives him a kiss, saying that it was all "part of the game." Everyone laughs and cheers.
Anderson wants to go around the room and ask the players who they think is The Mole, and who they think is the winner. Manuel starts. Who? Exactly. He thinks that Kathryn is The Mole and Jim is the winner. Seriously, does anyone give him any credence? He was with the group for, like, three days, and he hasn't watched the episodes like the rest of us. Afi agrees that Jim is the winner, but she thinks that Steven is The Mole. Afi takes so long to say it that Anderson has to clarify. I think Afi and Wendi went out for drinks before the taping. Wendi says that Steven is The Mole and Kathryn is the winner. Henry agrees completely. Jennifer thinks that they're all wrong: Jim is The Mole, and Steven is the winner. Kate thinks that Steven is The Mole and Jim is the winner, although she thinks it was "really close with Kathryn." Charlie jokes that he's not picking any of the executed people. Ha ha. Give that man his own sitcom. Actually, they already have that Fighting Fitzgeralds show with Brian Dennehy, and that's pretty much the same thing. Charlie thinks that Kathryn is The Mole and that Jim is the winner, because Kathryn is Jim's "close, close buddy."
Anderson asks how many of them tried to be The Mole, "at one point or another." The cameraman totally misses the shot, showing only Wendi and Charlie, so that we don't get to see who raised their hands. Anyway, Wendi and Afi both did, definitely. Kate says that she didn't actively try, but her own incompetence worked in her favor. Nice. Wendi says that she suspected Kate. Hey, me too! Manuel starts trying to say something like, "Remember the first part..." but no one listens to him because he was the first one executed. Anderson segues to the commercial by saying that, , we will all learn who The Mole is. Oh, I'm so nervous! As a teaser, we see the group of executed players learning who The Mole is and expressing shock.
When we return, we see the results of the ABC.com poll on the question: "Who is The Mole?" Jim got 29% of the vote, Kathryn got 34%, and Steven got 37%. Anderson welcomes us back. Before we get to find out who is The Mole, we're going to take a look at each remaining player's "suspicious moments." God, they really are drawing this out. I guess it makes sense for the casual viewer, though.
First up is Jim. During the "Hostage Rescue Test," they couldn't find Jim. He was driving the van somewhere. In the "Carriage Library Test," Jim put his hand on the right book and then walked away. During the "Dice Test," Jim refused to put casts on both of his legs. I notice that the one casting the most aspersions on Jim is Kathryn. Because, you know, she's totally The Mole, and needs to deflect suspicion.
up is Kathryn. During the "Cartier Watch Test," Kathryn wasted time by calling more jewelers. Sure, but they still won the money on that one. Also, Kathryn refused to shave her head in the "Dice Test." During the "Fortress Test," Kathryn was guarding the interior, and they lost. Jim thinks the whole thing was a little too convenient.
Steven is the last one. Kathryn tells us that during the "Hostage Rescue Test," they called Steven, who said that he could hear their helicopter, when they weren't even in the right town. During the "Dice Test," Steven refused to pose nude. Kathryn thinks it was odd, since his wife would have posed nude. During the "Three Questions Test," Steven just answered his questions randomly, making it impossible for the others to guess his answers and thus win the money.
Anderson tells the executed players that it's time for them to find out who is The Mole's eighth victim. They all watch the monitor, and Manuel rubs his hands together. Steve, Kathryn, and Jim take their final quiz. After taking the quiz, the players were sequestered and then given the results individually. Anderson tells an unseen person that he'll be entering the person's name into the computer, and explains the whole thumbprint thing, like don't they know how that works by now? I guess it's kind of like the whole "extinguishing the torch" speech that Jeff Probst gives on Survivor -- it's part of the ritual. Except Anderson is about ten million times cooler than Probst. Anyway, we still don't see who is sitting there. Anderson types in a name, but we don't see it. Very suspenseful. The red thumbprint appears, and we see that it was Jim. Jim is The Mole's eighth victim. The previously executed players react with shock and dismay, except Charlie, who claps. Jim hangs his head, and then looks up and smiles. He gets up and grabs his bag. Aw, Anderson carries it for him. Anderson tells Jim that he "played very well," but Jim ruefully says, "Not well enough!"
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Part the EndJim enters the room where the other previously executed players are, and they cheer for him. Jim hugs Kate before he hugs his buddy Jennifer. Manuel tells Jim that he's "still the man," and Jim looks at him and says, "Who are you?" Just kidding. Jim sits down to Charlie, who says that he just voted for Jim as the big winner. Charlie, I don't think he really cares about that right now. Anderson says that now it's down to two -- Steven and Kathryn. One will win the money, and one is The Mole.
Anderson reminds us that the winner gets $510,000. Kathryn and Steven do not know that Jim has already lost. We return to the bullring. Anderson tells the rules to an unseen person seated across from him. The previously executed players look nervous. Anderson sits down at the laptop and types something in. We see that it's Steven sitting across from him. The screen goes green, and Steven leans back in relief. Anderson says, "Congratulations, Steven. You've just won the game." Okay, that was totally dubbed in after the fact. I wonder what he really said. Steven stands up and yells, "Are you kidding me?" He and Anderson hug. The previously executed players chuckle and clap. Steven looks stunned. Anderson says that they will "bring in The Mole." Of course, it's Kathryn. She walks out. The previously executed players applaud her (except Jim, who looks pissed). Steven and Kathryn hug. Anderson tells Kathryn that she "did great." He grins at her and shakes her hand. Are they going to reveal that they are in love now? Steven is just grinning and deliriously happy. They have a group hug. Anderson tells Kathryn again that she did an "amazing job." As they walk out of the ring, Steven grabs Anderson around the neck and hugs him. He's so touchy-feely.
The previously executed players cheer Kathryn and Steven as they walk in. Kathryn hugs Jim first, as she should. Everyone congratulates Steven. Kathryn exclaims over Jennifer's hair. Lots of hugs all around, and then everyone is seated. Anderson tells the group that he didn't know who The Mole was throughout the game, but he figured it out with a few days to go. Wow, that's interesting. I wish they had told us that before. It makes sense, because otherwise Anderson might give the others hints subconsciously. Anderson compliments Kathryn again -- they're so in love. Steven says that he was sure Jim did better on the quiz. Steven says that he was sure that he was going to be executed. Anderson tells them that the final quiz was "incredibly difficult," and had questions going back to the first day of the game. He asks Jim how many he thought he got right, and Jim says sarcastically, "Uh, three." Anderson tells them that out of twenty-five questions, Jim got thirteen correct, while Steven got sixteen correct. Wow, that was close. Jim has got to be kicking himself. So close! And he's supposed to be the smart one.
Anderson asks people whether they were surprised upon learning The Mole's identity. Henry definitely was. Kate says that she picked Kathryn "from the first two quizzes," but that Kathryn played it so well that Kate switched. Anderson sees a smile on Charlie's face, since Charlie guessed that Kathryn was The Mole "from day one." Charlie says that he always stuck with Kathryn as his pick, and he was waiting for an "overt or covert act to solidify it," but he never got one. But, he never got one from anyone else, so he stuck with Kathryn. So, it was just Charlie's lack of attention to detail that got him executed? Interesting.
Anderson tells us, "So, Kathryn Price is The Mole." I won't gloat much, because I only picked her about three weeks ago. I'll let the people who picked her the first week gloat. Kathryn is "not an actress," but is really a lawyer from Chicago. Anderson compliments her again, like just do her already! Anderson asks her what was the most difficult part of being The Mole. Kathryn says that she had to lie "twenty-four hours a day," in her interviews, and even in her journal. Anderson makes a lame lawyer joke, like, those are so 1988. Kathryn says that she was "terrified someone would find [her] journal and read it," so she wrote the whole journal as if she were a player, talking about her suspicions and how nervous she was about getting executed.
Anderson asks her about trying to get close to people and yet not being able to be herself. Kathryn thinks that everyone felt mixed emotions to some degree, because everyone was trying to raise suspicions, but that she might have had some extra stress. Anderson uses that to introduce footage of some of Kathryn's "more difficult moments." He chuckles and she laughs. They have so much chemistry -- I think they should get their own sitcom. I would watch it! The footage shows Kathryn's final confession. She confesses that she is The Mole, and notes that she's never said it out loud. She says that she "didn't anticipate how hard it would be to just constantly, constantly lie." We see footage of Kathryn sitting alone by a pool, and during the fortress attack. Kathryn voice-overs that "a chunk of [herself] couldn't be revealed." We see Kathryn "crying" while Kate comforts her after the fortress test. Kathryn says that in some ways, she was rooting for the team to win money because she liked the people, but that wasn't her job. We see Kathryn cheering Kate after the dice test. Kathryn says, "Kate was onto me early. She was the hardest." During the Cartier test, Kathryn tries to stall for time, but Kate's having none of it. Kathryn says that she sensed when Kate decided Kathryn was The Mole, because there was "a distance there." Kathryn tries to throw suspicion on Kate after the sniper test, when Kate was trying to earn an exemption. Kathryn says that she could also tell when Kate's suspicions moved away from her. Kathryn says, "The hardest part of being The Mole was when I knew that someone was not onto me and I knew that they were going to lose." We see Manuel being executed. Aw, that would be hard. After Manuel's execution, Kathryn says that she is "relieved and tired and sad, for Manuel, I guess." Well, her tears certainly make a lot more sense now. Sad piano music tinkles as Kathryn says that it was hard emotionally, not having someone that she could trust. We see the footage from the most recent episode, where Kathryn started crying and asked if they had to "do this right this second," and then Anderson comforted her. I know I keep saying this, but they are such a cute couple.
“ Kathryn shows real remorse, even though it's just a game, and everyone was expecting that one of his or her fellow players was The Mole. I just think that she's a class act. ”
Anderson tells us that that same day, during the "Hotel Room Test," Kathryn "broke down from the stress of trying to maintain her cover." We see Kathryn's empty hotel room, and hear her talking to a producer. The producer tells her that she's doing a great job. Kathryn doesn't feel like she is, and then sobs. The producer tells her that "it's been a rough trip." Kathryn finishes her confession by asking the players to forgive her if they feel that she lied to them, or if they believed in her "falsely," because it's been harder on her than anyone. The sad music continues. I have to say, this is a lot different than the final episode of Survivor, where Rich gloated and still revels in the fact that he played everyone else. Kathryn shows real remorse, even though it's just a game, and everyone was expecting that one of his or her fellow players was The Mole. I just think that she's a class act. The sad music ends. I notice that none of the executed players look at Kathryn and comfort her or accept her apology. Interesting.
Anderson compliments Kathryn on the job that she did, again. Then, he points out that some of the players were onto Kathryn early on, especially Kate and Charlie. Anderson wonders what set them off. Kate says that she just had an intuition, and points out that Kathryn always got the room closest to reception so that the producers could get to her without going by everyone else's room. That's smart, but Kate thinks that it was "totally ridiculous." Anderson points out that no one believed Charlie at first. Anderson voice-overs that only Charlie suspected Kathryn from the very first day. In an interview, Charlie says that he's sticking with Kathryn. Anderson says that not all of the other players were "as insightful as Charlie." In an interview, Jennifer says, "Princess Kathryn. Priceless. Love her. So far she has not failed at anything." The executed players laugh at Jennifer's bitchiness. Yeah, it's funny now. Kate says that Kathryn is "very far under the radar." Wendi says, in an interview, that her hunch is that Kathryn is not The Mole because Kathryn is "very genuine." In an interview, Henry says that he looked Kathryn right in the face and said, "You ain't The Mole!" The footage closes with a shot of Kathryn grinning, and the executed players laugh.
Anderson then turns to Steven, saying that he had the "most complex" strategy of everyone by developing a friendship with Kathryn. Steven says that he wanted to get close to everyone in order to get information. Anderson points out that the other players felt that Steve was "kind of a flirt, kind of a schmoozer." Everyone chuckles. Steven says that he doesn't know what they're talking about, and Anderson says he'll show him. Everyone laughs and Charlie yells out, "The camera doesn't lie!" The footage starts with Steve's wife saying that "he's flirtatious." Steve flirts with Afi. Kathryn points out that Steve uses his flirting and charm to "throw you off the track or throw you on the track." We see Steve flirting with Kathryn, and with Wendi. Jennifer says that she doesn't know why Steve flirts with her because she's "gay and everybody knows it." Wendi thinks that Steve is "a good-looking man." Wendi says that it bothers her that he goes "from person to person" and tries to find out what that person is thinking about the game. The final footage is of Steve brushing an eyelash off Jim's face. After the footage ends, Manuel says, "I taught you well!" and shakes Steve's hand. Steve looks at him like, "Who are you again?" Anderson asks Wendi if Steve is really a flirt, and Wendi says that he is, although he didn't flirt with her.
“ Jim tells us that Charlie is to Steve as Jennifer was to him. Is this an SAT question? ”
Anderson points out that many of them didn't realize how "ruthless" Steve was. Steve and Jim made a coalition on the second day, but Steve continued to "foster friendships" with the others to gain information. Steve looks a little uncomfortable. In an interview, Jim says that the nature of the game is "one that there can never be complete trust." We see footage of Jim running over the "hot coals" and then hugging Steve. In a voice-over, Steve tells us that he and Jim came up with a strategy where Steve would make people think that Jim was The Mole, and Jim did the same for him. Anderson points out that the bond had already formed at the time of the "Hostage Rescue Test" -- Jim was the only one who talked to Steve on the phone. Anderson voice-overs that "as a rule, Steven and Jim split up during the tests." Steve usually went with Charlie, and Jim went with Jennifer, and "they were so convincing that Charlie and Jennifer thought that they had begun their own coalitions with Steven and Jim." In an interview, Charlie says that he and Steve have bonded, and he relies on and trusts him. Jennifer says that she and Jim are "definitely in cahoots together," and that they trust each other. Because Steve and Jim both sabotaged the dice test, people naturally suspected them as The Mole. Steve tells us that Jim encouraged Jennifer to think that he was The Mole, and that "in effect, Jim took Jennifer out of the game." We see Jennifer get executed. Jim looks back to see Jennifer's reaction, and she looks kind of sick. On the monitor, Jim says that he liked Jennifer, but she never realized that he was more Steve's ally than hers. Anderson voice-overs that "Charlie was the coalition's last victim." Jim tells us that Charlie is to Steve as Jennifer was to him. Is this an SAT question? Anderson voice-overs that Charlie helped Steve get the exemption in the trust test, without knowing that Steve was out to get him. In an interview, Jim says that "the loser" will be the person to get one more question wrong than him on the quiz. In other words, they all knew that Kathryn was The Mole, so it came down to who answered the quiz questions correctly. We see Charlie get executed. Steve says that the one who "initially turned [him] on to Kathryn was Charlie," so Steve feels a little guilty.
Anderson voice-overs that "although Steven and Jim's coalition appeared strong, in the days leading up to the final quiz, Jim began to waver in his belief that Kathryn was The Mole." In an interview, Jim says that Steve might be playing him, and maybe he's The Mole, and that there's "so much second guessing." We see the three players preparing for the final quizzes. Anderson voice-overs how the quiz worked, telling us that if there was a tie, the person who finished first would win. Anderson voice-overs that Steven "brilliantly plotted his partner's demise." In an interview, Steve says that his strategy is to tell Jim that he 's going to go as fast as he can, and hope that Jim will try to go faster and make some mistakes. Wow. Good strategy. I never would have thought of that, but it makes sense, since they both had the same information and otherwise probably would have gotten the same score. Anderson tells us that it's exactly what happened as we see Jim get executed again. Anderson asks how they knew they could trust each other. Jim babbles about shaking each other's hands and giving their words, and that they were on the same page. I don't know what he meant. Anderson asks Kathryn whether the coalition made her job harder. Kathryn says that it did make it harder in some ways, but also easier in some ways. Jim and Steve "attempted to shield [her]," and that she knew they both thought that she was The Mole, and she could rely on the fact that they would try to screw things up as much as possible. Kathryn says that she wondered sometimes whether Steve wanted to make any money. Kathryn thinks she was "the closest to breaking Jim," because he would "get into it with [her]," where Steve wouldn't even talk to her. Although she wasn't successful in "breaking" Jim, Kathryn feels that she came close.
Anderson asks Steve what he's going to do with the money. Steve says that he hopes to go to Belize. Temptation Island! How funny. Anderson asks if Angie (Steve's wife) knows about the money, and Steve says she doesn't. Anderson calls Angie out. Steve and Angie hug. Anderson tells us that we'll find out how The Mole tricked everyone after the break.
Anderson welcomes us back, and tells us that Kathryn sabotaged a lot of the tests. Anderson voice-overs that Kathryn met with the producers often to go over strategy, and to get information that they could use as questions on future quizzes. Kathryn says that her original strategy was to try to fit in and maybe "reach out to a few people." In the second episode, the hostage rescue, Kathryn felt that it was "a comedy of errors," so she tried to "take advantage of small things to slow [them] down." We see Anderson telling the players that he told them Steve wasn't at a particular fort, and yet they stayed there and searched again. Kathryn points out that if she hadn't wasted time, then Jennifer's disappearance wouldn't have mattered.
up was the Dice Test. Kathryn knew that she wanted to sabotage the test. The day before the test, Wendi had asked Kathryn if she would ever shave her head, and Kathryn said no. Kathryn passed that information on to the producers, who made sure that she got that challenge during the test. That way, she could turn it down, but Wendi wouldn't suspect that she was doing it because she was The Mole.
During the Sniper Test, Kathryn wanted to take herself "out of the action," and just let her teammates screw up, and that way the suspicion would "fall on other players." We see Jennifer accusing Kate of screwing things up purposely while Kathryn watches intently. In an interview, Kathryn says, "The Mole wants the team dynamic to break down."
When Kathryn was on the resourceful team (where she was in the crappy van with Steven), she knew that the van would break down, because the producers told her. So, she let Steve waste a lot of time trying to fix it. At one point, they passed what Kathryn thought was the turnoff, and Kathryn saw it, so she engaged Steve in conversation so that he wouldn't see it. This worked even more to her advantage, because later she could blame Steve, since he was navigating.
Kathryn's favorite manipulation was during the fortress test. She knew that her best chance to sabotage the mission was if she could be on the inside of the fortress. So, she kept saying that she didn't want to be in the center, which made Jim and Steve put her there. Then, she was able to get the "secret information to the aggressors." We see "Hidden Mole Cam" footage of Kathryn saying, "The interior is weak -- the interior is very weak." Kathryn tells us that the hysterics at the end were mostly for Kate's benefit, because when Kate took a "motherly role," it threw suspicion off Kathryn.
During the art test, Kathryn tried to "throw as much junk as possible" into their composition. She could tell that the other pieces were very simple, so she tried to make theirs very complex. Kathryn "forced Jim to allow [her] to include the jewels," and threw a little girly fit to get her way. We see the footage from that episode where Kathryn convinced Jim to keep the jewels in.
For the trust test, Kathryn wasn't given any information going in, because the producers wanted her to show "genuine fear, and they got it." Nice. We see Kathryn fainting while she voice-overs that when she got up, she knew she had to go through with it or Steve would know that it was sabotage.
In the hotel room test, Kathryn's goal was that they would pass the test and she would be the hero, which would take suspicion away from her. Kathryn was given all of the details of the test beforehand, and she had everything written down. She was trying to "subtly point Steve towards the clues that [she] knew were in his room." However, she didn't succeed. Kathryn points out that the guys were "sitting in their rooms, chatting on the phone like schoolgirls." Shout-out? Kathryn finishes by saying that "The Mole has to love it and show no mercy."
Anderson tells us that there were "hidden clues" given to the players and the viewers. The first one was in the first episode -- when they had to repack all of the bags, Anderson held up a duffel that had Kathryn's name on it. Okay, so not a clue. I mean, I'm sure they could have edited that in afterwards. Lame. During the Cartier watch test, Kathryn said, "I think we should just pull the trigger," when they reached a final decision. But, the players weren't supposed to know that a gun would reveal the correct answer. Okay, I'll buy that one. Anderson tells us that if we had "done [our] research," we might have seen some "hidden clues." There are four letters in the word "mole," so "four was the magic number." Kathryn was the fourth to arrive in the first episode. After Henry was executed, Anderson said that Henry "paid the price." Kathryn's last name is Price. Of course, none of us knew that. Lame. Those clues were lame. I think they just threw those in there to try to get people to be as avid about this show as they are about Survivor in terms of looking for clues and watching each episode frame-by-frame.
Anderson asks if Kathryn ever decided not to sabotage a test. Kathryn says that you can't sabotage every single test and get away with it, plus it wouldn't be fun if the team never won any money. Steve thanks her for that. Kathryn points out that sometimes "they would lose the money themselves." Anderson asks if Kathryn fainted for real, and Kathryn says that she did -- she faints a lot, and was even worried that she would faint when they jumped out of the airplane in the first episode. Well, I was wrong. I admit it. Steve knew about her history of fainting, too.
Anderson asks Charlie if he would play the game again. Charlie says that halfway through, he would have said no, but now he thinks he would. Anderson asks Jim what he would do differently, and Jim says he would do nothing different. Well, except win, probably. Anderson points that out and Jim says that winning isn't everything. Jim thinks he played the game well, but maybe he would have worn the casts. Anderson asks Jennifer what the best part of the game was, and she says that it meeting all of the other people and traveling and making friends. Kathryn says that when Jennifer said that she would applaud The Mole, Kathryn was happy because she knew that Jennifer wouldn't hate her.
Kathryn was worried that all the people would hate her at the end, and "The Mole shouldn't care." Anderson says, "But you were a Mole with a heart." Anderson asks what the best part of the experience was for Kathryn. She replies that it was a unique experience, and "intellectually challenging and physically challenging," and that she would do it again. Actually, Kathryn would like to do it again, but this time as a player. Throughout the experience, Kathryn kept thinking that if she were playing she would win.
Anderson asks Steven what the best part of the experience was for him. Steve says that it was the end, when he won. Duh. Steve goes on to say that he enjoyed meeting everybody.
Anderson asks Kathryn for advice for future Moles. Kathryn advises them to show no mercy. Anderson asks Jim what his advice would be, and Jim says he agrees with Kathryn that the Mole should show no mercy, because it's just a game.
Anderson concludes that Steve is the winner, and goes home with the money. Kathryn is The Mole and goes home with "the satisfaction of a job well done." The show ends with a plug for people to sign up for the second season at the ABC website. You should! That would be cool. Let me know if you make it.