The First Betrayal

After absorbing this information, Darwin comments that he thinks the biathlon is "the most solid event." Bill agrees. Darwin suggests putting Bob, Bribs, and Rob on the biathlon, because "they all look the most athletic." This despite Bob telling Darwin earlier that he's not strong at biking. Bill also doesn't speak up to say that Rob said he never leaves the house. Anderson interrupts to remind them that The Mole will be completing one of the events, or that one of the leaders could be The Mole. Darwin says that he doesn't worry too much about that.

Bob is set to go first in the Crossbow Biathlon contest. Everyone cheers for him. Anderson voice-overs that the contestants have to bike down a hill, grab two arrows, bike back up the hill, and shoot the arrows at a target using a crossbow. If the contestant doesn't get a bull's-eye with one of the arrows, he must ride back down the hill, get two more arrows, and repeat the process. They have thirty minutes total for all three players to complete the task. They also won't know how much their leaders wagered on each section until all three sections have been completed.

Bob glides down the hill and grabs two arrows. He starts back up, but is making little progress. In an interview, Bob explains that the altitude was affecting him, and that his legs locked up, causing him to fall. The other contestants gasp, even though he fell in, like, slow motion. There are still about twenty-eight minutes left. Bob gets to the top of the hill, and stops to catch his breath before shooting the crossbow. His first arrow misses, but his second arrow hits the bull's-eye.

Bribs starts down the hill with over twenty-four minutes left. I think I'll take a minute to comment on what an odd name he has. "Bribs"? Anyway, in an interview, Bill says that he thinks it would be odd for The Mole to make "an overt move" on the first day, and Bill thinks it would be a great strategy for The Mole to do great on the first day. Bribs is hauling ass. He gets to the top of the hill, and also misses with his first arrow. But his second one hits the center, so he is successful.

Rob is the final rider down the hill. He begins his journey with just under twenty minutes left. He doesn't look too steady on the bike, which Darwin notes. Partway back up the hill, Rob dismounts the bike and starts walking it, and then he starts retching. Darwin says, "This looks like strategery to me." That clinches it. Darwin is my favorite male contestant. Bill thinks that Rob would make a great Mole. In an interview, Bob says that Rob's performance made him a Mole suspect. Rob continues up the hill with seventeen minutes left. When Rob finally reaches the top, Anderson comments, "Not a big biker, are you?" Rob retches a few more times and then prepares to shoot his arrows. Rob hits the bull's-eye on his first shot, and everyone congratulates him. Anderson says that they won't find out until later whether they won any money or not. In an interview, Rob says that he may have aroused some suspicions, "but, eh, whatever works."

Anderson explains the second section: the Pulse Rope Walk. Heather, Lisa, Myra, and Al have to walk across a rope, which is stretched between two trees. While crossing, if anyone's heart rate goes above one hundred thirty beats per minute, the person has to stop and stand still until his or her heart rate goes below the mark again. The first three players get to cross the lower rope. The last player has to cross the lower rope and then also cross the higher rope. All of the crossings have to take place within one hour. The contestants discuss in what order they should cross the ropes. Lisa suggests that Myra go last, since she's a pilot and might be used to heights. Myra demurs, claiming that she just got over a cold. Al volunteers to go last, joking that whatever he does, his heart rate's up. Lisa asks whether he's sure. Al says that he's not scared of heights, but that he is nervous.

Heather heads up to the ropes first. Bill voice-overs that they tried to pick the women they thought would be calmest. Heather starts across the rope, and her heart rate barely moves above seventy. Al thinks that Heather is "as cool as the other side of the pillow." Bill comments that Heather's current heart rate is lower than his resting rate. Heather finishes her crossing quickly, and descends while the others applaud.

Myra is up . In an interview, Bill says that Myra was "a natural selection," since she's used to high places, being a pilot. I think there's a world of difference between standing in a high place, and being in a plane. Myra says basically the same thing in an interview. Myra crosses fairly quickly, and her heart rate doesn't get above seventy-four. The others cheer as she descends.

Lisa is the third contestant. Bill thinks that Lisa is used to pressure, since she's a litigator. On the ground, Myra asks Al whether he heard her breathing heavily while she was crossing, and Al says that he couldn't hear a thing. Al thinks that he'll be fine during his crossing, after watching the others do it so quickly. Speaking of quickly, Lisa is across. They never showed her heart rate, but I assume that it was low since she didn't set off any alarms. Heather tells Al that it's his turn, and that the three women did it in three minutes flat (which isn't exactly true -- it was more like thirteen minutes). Al says that now he'll be insulted if he falls.

Al starts climbing the ladder, and his heart rate is also climbing. Before he even gets to the first rope, the alarm sounds indicating that his pulse is over one hundred thirty. Al has to freeze, as the others suggest that he take deep breaths. On the ground, Heather wishes that Lisa had been firmer on her desire to go last, and Lisa agrees. They have over forty-six minutes left, but the alarm is still sounding. The noise of that thing would certainly make my heart rate go up. Al comments that he's fine (but his voice cracks while he says it) and that he thinks the monitor is broken. Rob mentions that Al seemed really gung-ho about it, which is fishy. Ali points out that you can't fake heart rate. Rob claims that he wasn't saying that Al is faking it; he just thinks it's weird.

Anderson voice-overs that, after eight minutes, Al was able to continue. There are now about thirty-five minutes left. Al gets a few steps further, and the alarm goes off again. Lisa advises him to stay calm and not to get annoyed. Al bugs out his eyes and sighs as he freezes again, and we go to commercial.

After the commercials, Anderson shorthands it for us: "With sixteen minutes remaining, Al's heart rate soars above one [hundred] thirty. So Myra, an ex-nurse, coaches him to massage his carotid artery." Myra tells Al to rub the artery on the side of his neck, slowly. Bill comments that a carotid massage is "very smart -- of course, if he does it too much, he'll faint." Al finally succeeds in getting his heart rate back down, and the alarm stops beeping. Al just stands there and looks dopey until Myra prompts him to start moving. With just over fifteen minutes left, Al has just started on the first section of the rope. Don't forget that he also has to do the high rope. Al only goes a few steps before the alarm goes off again. He finally finishes the first leg, which Anderson tells us took him thirty-two minutes. Al gets about halfway across the higher rope, but then wavers and almost falls, which of course causes his heart rate to soar and the alarm to sound. The contestants on the ground look frustrated. Rob doesn't think that Al will make it. Finally, with just over nine minutes left, Al is allowed to proceed, and he finally makes it across. Everyone cheers. When Al gets down to the ground, he asks Myra to take his pulse, I guess because he thinks that the monitor is screwy. Myra does, and expresses surprise that Al's pulse is at about one hundred fifty. Heather, who had Al's other wrist, agrees. Al still claims that he doesn't have a problem with heights. Anderson congratulates them, but repeats that they won't find out whether they won any money until later. They move on to the final section.

As the contestants walk out on a bridge, Heather pauses to look over the edge and then comments that it "scares the crap out of [her]." Me too! Yet another reason that I could never be on this show -- my fear of heights. That coupled with my general lack of fitness makes me a poor candidate for any reality show. ["Except maybe the aforementioned Big Brother, which is really tailor-made for a hermit like you." -- Wing Chun] Anderson tells the assembled contestants that the third section is called "the Swing for Life, or if you'd rather, you can call it the Swing for Death. Either one really. It doesn't matter." Hee! Ali, Katie, Patrick, Dorothy, and Elavia have to jump from the bridge and swing from a hundred-foot rope. The contestants get to decide the order. Ali quickly volunteers to go first. Katie wants to go second, and Dorothy wants to go third. Patrick says that he will defer to the ladies, and Elavia decisively says that she will go last. So Patrick is fourth.

Ali descends to the platform. The others watch nervously. Anderson, nonchalantly eating a sandwich, comments, "This looks pretty scary." Patrick asks Katie whether she's going to be okay, and Katie says that she's centered. Ali crosses herself, and makes the leap. She grits her teeth the entire way down, but makes it without a scratch.

Up on the bridge, Katie prepares to go . She hands Patrick some items to hold while she jumps. Patrick asks whether she wants to take her rosary, but Katie is afraid that it will fall out of her pocket when she jumps. Patrick suggests that she tie it to her shoelace, which Katie does. As Katie gets buckled into her harness, she comments, "Tell Michael J. Fox I love him." Okay, Katie is now my favorite female contestant. And it's not just because I watched the Family Ties marathon on Nick at Nite last week. Katie descends to the platform and thanks God that there's no heart rate monitor on this section. Katie hyperventilates and tears up, but then the others count down and she falls. I think that while she fell, she actually said, "Holy schnikes!" just like Chris Farley in Tommy Boy. In an interview, Katie says that she wants to trust Patrick, because she doesn't think that she could have done it if Patrick weren't on her team.

Dorothy is up . As she prepares, she voice-overs that since she didn't know how much money was riding on their section, she didn't want to let down her team. Dorothy completes the task without much in the way of histrionics. Patrick gets even less fanfare. He just shouts, "Geronimo!" and takes the plunge.

Inside the house, each contestant furiously writes in his or her journal and starts to share information from their applications, which will be necessary to answer the quiz questions at the end of each episode. Katie sits outside by herself. Bob asks Elavia a bunch of questions from the application, which she answers briefly. In an interview, Bob says that he "grilled Elavia a little bit."

Anderson voice-overs that most of the players took notes inside, but that Katie and Heather sat outside and discussed forming a "secret coalition." I love that every reality show has to think up other words for "alliance" in order not to rip off Survivor. Interesting that they are revealing this coalition in the first episode, when last year we didn't find out about Jim and Steve's coalition until the final episode. That makes me think that the coalition is ultimately not very successful. Heather and Katie say that they immediately felt that they could trust each other. Katie suggests that they work together, because she needs a sounding board for her ideas.

Inside, Bob asks Elavia what her greatest talent is, and Elavia replies, "Lying, cheating, and flirting." Katie explains to Heather that Elavia is her prime suspect. Katie remembers that Elavia seemed apprehensive about jumping from the bridge, and immediately offered to go last. Well, I love Katie and all, but that's not exactly how it happened. Actually, Elavia was given the choice to go last or second-to-last, and she chose to go last. All of the other spots had already been claimed. It's true that Elavia didn't immediately volunteer to go first, but she doesn't seem very outspoken anyway. Katie does all the talking and Heather does all the listening. In an interview, Katie says that she and Heather have a lot in common. Katie confesses that she often has a hard time reading people. Is this the reality show to go on if you have a hard time reading people?

Everyone gathers in the house. Bribs announces that he has something to show them. He was cleaning out his grandfather's garage, and he found something he hopes would be passed on if he gets executed. He pulls out an old-timey looking jar labeled "Force's Mole Killer." It totally looks like something Glark would own. Someone on the forums comments that it was "Price's Mole Killer" and Kathryn Price was The Mole last season. Great theory, but the name on the jar is actually "Force." That Bribs is kind of cute, though.

A technician lights a gigantic fire. Anderson leads the contestants up a road as he voice-overs that, after sharing information for hours, the contestants' knowledge of each other will now be put to the test. Anderson instructs the group to select the four contestants who know the group the best. Heather (who is wearing a cowboy hat because she's from Texas, y'all) says something about the four people about whom they were talking before. They all agree that Katie should definitely be one of them. Um, wasn't Katie sitting outside while everyone was caring and sharing? They somehow land on Katie, Ali, Patrick, and Dorothy. Patrick encourages people to speak up if they disagree, and no one does. Anderson then asks whether everyone is happy with the decision, and everyone agrees.

Anderson sets out the terms of the game. It's worth $40,000, but there is more than that at stake. Anderson gestures to a crane behind him. Suspended from the crane is a giant mesh bag, and the crane is holding the bag over a fire. Heather immediately guesses that their duffel bags are in there. Anderson confirms that their bags are in there. Ali asks whether it's all of them, and Anderson confirms that as well. He hands some binoculars to Katie so that she can take a look. We see a closer view, and through the smoke from the fire, you can make out a few names. Definitely Katie. But then there is one that seems to say Michael, although there is no Michael among the contestants. All you can really see are the letters "HAEL" or possibly "KAEL." I would even buy that it was "EARL." None of the contestants' names even end in the letter L. I would have thought it was a last name, but Katie's last name is not on her bag. So I don't know what that was about. Maybe we'll find out later. Maybe it's a clue of some sort. If you've got any idea, come post about it in the forums. ["For those who don't read the forums, someone's posted that Bribs's real first name is Michael." -- Wing Chun]

Anderson tells them that if they lose, they will not only lose the money, but also their belongings. Anderson jokes that he hopes they like what they are currently wearing. Katie has her hand over her mouth, obviously upset. Heather comments that her Bible is in her bag. The four contestants selected earlier have to follow Anderson. The rest get to stay where they are, and they'll be able to hear the contest through an audio system. Bob gives Patrick a high five before he leaves. In an interview, Katie says that the pressure was on, and that she never thought they would have to play for all of their possessions.

As we see the bags hanging over the flames, Dorothy voice-overs that having everyone's personal belongings and sentimental items weighing on you is a lot of pressure. Anderson asks a teary Katie what's in her bag. Katie says that it's stupid, but that she has a stuffed cow she's taken with her everywhere, and that it's in her bag. Katie jokes to Patrick that she should have left it at home, and Patrick comforts her, saying that they'll get through this. Poor Katie. Let's just say that a certain recapper got a teddy bear for Christmas when she was five, and has slept with it ever since. No names. Well, the bear is named "Musey" because it used to have a music box inside. I fear I've said too much. Anderson explains that the four contestants will be asked questions about the information from the contestant applications. If they get one question wrong, they don't get the money. And, if they get four questions wrong, "it is burn, bags, burn."

Ali is up first. Her question is: "Who wrote in their application that they would like to normalize relations with Cuba?" Ali says that someone was talking about it a day ago, and guesses Darwin. Anderson tells her that she's wrong, and that the correct answer is Patrick. So now they don't win the money. The crane lowers the bags closer to the fire. The other contestants listen intently.

Dorothy gets the question: "Who describes themselves as having a big ego internally, but is outwardly modest?" Dorothy says that she doesn't know, but that she's going to guess Bribs. Anderson says that she is wrong, and that the answer is Rob. The bags get a little closer to the flames. Heather covers her face with her hands.

Katie gets asked, "Whose favorite alcoholic drinks are Sam Adams lager, and wine?" Katie also has to guess, and gives the answer, "Bob." Anderson tells her that she is wrong, and that Al is the correct answer. The bags...well, you know the drill by now. Even if their bags don't burn at this point, they will certainly smell like smoke.

Anderson reminds Patrick that if they get one more incorrect answer, everyone's bags and belongings will burn. No pressure there, Patrick. Anderson asks, "Who has dressed as Marge Simpson for Halloween?" Patrick thinks and then shakes his head and guesses, "Lisa." He's wrong. The correct answer is Ali. Lisa starts crying as the crane lowers their bags into the fire. Katie also looks teary. The last name we see when the cameras zoom in before the bags go up in flames is Myra, if that's worth anything. All that nylon burning can't be good for the environment. Plus, I can't believe they really burned their bags. I don't think they were out of bounds in doing it, as some have argued in the forums, but it's still so wrong. I keep hoping that they were stunt double bags, and that they'll get their stuff back later in the season.

Katie cries about her cow, comparing it to "taking Linus's blanket away." Al says that he will miss the photo of his wife and daughters the most, since everything else is replaceable. Heather says that her Bible was in her bag, and that she's had it since she was thirteen, so it makes her angry. Bob feels like he should be upset, but he's not, and thinks he may be in denial. Darwin thinks that Patrick is sneaky, because Darwin would have guessed Ali as the type to dress up as Marge Simpson. Yeah, I have to say that Lisa would have been about my last guess there. I would have guessed Katie before Lisa. But maybe Patrick is just dumb. Lisa says that she's not happy with the choice of players, since she suspects both Dorothy and Ali of being The Mole. Well, maybe she should have spoken up when they were asked twice whether they had any objections. I think Lisa is going to be my Jennifer this year. Anderson informs the contestants that they will have the chance to get some more clothes later on, and that they will have their first execution the day.

At dinner, Anderson says that they have a bit of business to do. That night will be the first quiz, and the first execution. Elavia has an exemption. Anderson wishes them luck, and they toast. Anderson voice-overs that the quiz features ten questions about The Mole, and that the player with the lowest score will be executed.

The players take the quiz. I'm not going to recap every single question, because you can download it at the official site. I'll just tell you what the various players say during the quiz. Patrick remembers that Elavia chose to go last on her section. Rob thinks that Elavia is an obvious choice for The Mole, since she took the exemption. Katie thinks that Al could be The Mole, given his high pulse rate. Al says that he could be The Mole, but that he also might not be. Myra says that when they took the blindfolds off at the very beginning, there were two people who looked straight ahead and refused to look at anyone: Elavia and Bribs. I'd like to point out that, according to the tape, Al also did not look around. And Elavia did look around. She only moved her eyes, not her head. Dorothy is suspicious of Bob, because he evades answers and tries to get away from her. Bob points out that Elavia said she could lie, cheat, and steal very well. Ali says that her suspicions are driving her nuts, because she keeps changing her mind. Lisa says that some people were emotionless while the bags were burning, particularly Myra and Bill. Maybe they just didn't have anything of sentimental value in there.

It's time for the first execution. Anderson will type each name into the computer. If a green screen appears, that person is clear. If a red screen appears, that person is executed.

The Music of Freaking Me Out Every Week starts playing as Anderson types in Ali's name. Ali gets the green screen and doesn't really react. up is Katie. Green screen, and she lets out the breath that she was holding. The name is Al. He gets a green screen and closes his eyes, looking relieved. Patrick is . Another green screen, and he throws his head back in relief. Bob's name is typed in. Wow, this seems to be taking a long time. Red screen. Bob is executed. The other contestants just sit there, unsure of what to say.

The Piano Music of Being Sad to See Bob Go Even Though We Barely Knew Him plays as Anderson leads Bob down the hall. In his exit interview, Bob says that he's glad he took this chance, and that he wishes everyone else better luck than he had. Ali thinks that Bob would have been a good, trustworthy friend. Al was relieved to get to stay, and he was shocked when Bob left, because he suspected him as The Mole. Darwin remembers the flames on the sleeves of Bob's shirt. Seriously. The dude was there for, like, two days. It's hard to have a lot of exciting memories. Bob gets into his getaway car (and there's no sign of his duffel bag, for those of you who asked) and Anderson walks back up to the castle.

week: Al, Elavia, and Katie all look angry. The contestants have to dress up in costumes for some reason, and Darwin looks really pissed off in a bunny costume, complete with floppy ears. Bribs is wearing a flimsy pink negligee. Interesting.