The Sixth Betrayal

Previously on The Mole: Bill said that there were "a lot of Mole-ish maneuvers" in the swimming game. Dorothy thought it was odd that Bill ducked out of treading water so quickly. Bill thought it was odd that Dorothy had so much trouble while running. Darwin yelled out that he was The Mole. Katie screwed up the word jumble game and cried, as usual. Heather turned down an exemption so that Myra and Al could talk to their family. Rob was executed.

As the credits end, Anderson reminds us to watch for the hidden clue to the identity of The Mole. In an interview, Al says that someone will do something intentionally to hurt the group. Oh, really? Because that's only The Mole's job. In an interview, Katie says that she has completely ruled out Heather as The Mole, so if Heather really is The Mole, Katie is screwed. Elavia asks us if we think she's The Mole, and uses the word "punk" à la Dirty Harry.

Day Nineteen. Barga, Italy. Anderson welcomes the contestants to Barga. He instructs them to divide into three people who love to cook, three people who hate to cook, and three people who really don't care. The teams divvy up without much discussion or arguing, unlike last week. Al makes notes in his journal. Anderson tells the three people who hate to cook to follow him, and the rest to meet up with him later. The people who hate to cook are Myra, Bill, and Katie.

Anderson tells the hate-to-cook group that they have to know how this game works by now: if they say they hate to cook, they are going to end up cooking. Katie puts her head in her hands, and Anderson tells them that it's "basic Mole." Anderson tells them that they will have to make three basic pizzas and meet him at a church in four hours. If they have the pizzas, they win $20,000. If they don't, they don't get the money and they don't get to eat tonight. Katie knows that there must be a catch. Anderson agrees, and says that they need to get the ingredients from people in the town; there are fourteen ingredients. Anderson gives them a recipe, an Italian-English dictionary, some pizza boxes, and a cooler. The team departs.

In an interview, Katie lists off some of the ingredients that they had to get: ham, mushrooms, cheese, olives, and herb-infused olive oil. Myra rings a bell; a woman pops out of a window above, but she refuses to help them. The team heads off up another steep, hilly street as Bill pulls the cooler. In an interview, Bill says that Katie is a perfectionist underneath it all, and that she didn't want to ask questions of the villagers until she knew how to conjugate the verbs, which Bill found kind of silly. The team tries another house, with no luck. In an interview, Myra explains that they finally figured out that you have to ring the bell and then back up so that people can see you when they look out the window. Myra and Katie try to explain their mission to another family.

Anderson explains to the remaining contestants that they will have to bring the wine to dinner. They are given two bicycles: one is a mountain bike, and one is an older style granny-type bike. They will have to ride the bikes up the hill, or they can carry the bikes and walk, and they have one hour and forty-five minutes to get there. Along the way, they will have to pick up two bottle of wine. If they make it to Barga, they get $10,000; in addition, each bottle of wine is worth $5,000 for a potential total of $20,000. They need to split up into two groups of three, and each group picks a bike based on appearance alone. They cannot touch the bikes. Heather immediately walks over and tries to point something out on the bike, and Anderson asks her, "What part of 'do not touch the bike' did you not understand?" Heh. I love when Anderson gets all snarky. The contestants make their decisions regarding groups and bikes. Anderson tells them that, in Italy, biking is taken very seriously, so they need to look the part. The contestants leave to put on some biking gear.

The shot is of the contestants walking in slow-motion down the street in their biking gear, all Reservoir Dogs. Which is appropriate, since that movie also had a Mole. Anyway, the first team is Bribs, Heather, and Al, and they take the granny bike. The second team is Darwin, Elavia, and Dorothy, and they take the mountain bike. Darwin gives Elavia some last-minute gear-shifting instructions, and she takes off. A few minutes later, Al takes off on the granny bike. In an interview, Bribs explains that since he and Al are the strongest riders, they got the granny bike. The non-riding contestants get to ride along in a van. Anderson leans out the window and tells a struggling Elavia not to worry because it's all uphill from there.

Fifteen minutes in, the riders switch places. Al says that he's "feeling it, big-time." Darwin takes over for Elavia and Bribs takes over for Al. In an interview, Bribs says, "The granny bike had one horrible, slow, monotonous gear. It was unstable. It was heavy. It was an adventure." Anderson continues to taunt the riders by taking a sip of a drink with an umbrella in it and commenting, "These hills are a bitch." Bribs is the only rider I've seen who stands up while riding, and I don't understand why they all don't do that.

The pizza-chef group has already used up one hour of their time and has no ingredients. Myra begs for some food from some Bargan citizen, who isn't interested in helping her unless she can give him some cash. She can't, so he doesn't. In an interview, Bill says that it's already been an hour and they are realizing that the language barrier is too great for them to have much success.

The bike teams have an hour and fifteen minutes remaining to reach their destination. Bribs passes Darwin on the road and gives him some encouragement. In an interview, Elavia says that Darwin kept stopping and trying to fill the tires with air when they were already filled. We see Darwin pumping air into a tire that looks pretty full to me. Maybe he just wanted a break and was too proud to say that he needed to catch his breath. Or maybe he's The Mole! In an interview, Bribs says that they never set out a plan for how long each person would ride. Bribs stops, and Heather hops out of the van to take over. Around the same time, Darwin stops and Dorothy hops on. Dorothy claims that she can't reach the pedals when she totally can. Darwin helps her to get started, and she takes off. In my experience, either you know how to ride a bike, or you don't. It's not like some other skills where you can kind of know how, but not really. But I don't think that Dorothy is The Mole. If you did, that might be some evidence. In an interview, Dorothy says that she struggles with the physical challenges.

Heather struggles on her bike, but again, does not stand up to ride, which I totally don't get. Especially on the granny bike, where you don't have the option of shifting gears to make pedaling easier. Dorothy signals for a replacement and Darwin takes over. Elavia yells to him to save his energy for the end, when they will really need him. Darwin tells the camera that the bike is a piece of crap.

When we return from the break, the pizza chefs now have two and a half hours remaining, and still haven't found any ingredients. They finally have some luck when a teenaged boy gives them their first ingredient. They thank him profusely. In an interview, Katie explains that the boy is fifteen and knew how to speak English. Myra must have watched a few episodes of The Amazing Race, because she asks if the boy can come with them and help them. ["Except not really, because this season of The Mole was already in the can before The Amazing Race premiered." -- Wing Chun] The boy agrees to help. Bill tells us that the boy's name is Roberto, and that he knew everyone in town. Roberto takes them to another house, where they get their second ingredient. At the house, Katie waters some plants in return for some olive oil. The pizza chefs are cleaning up, with Roberto's help. In an interview, Katie says that it was amazing to be allowed into people's houses and just given things. In an interview, Myra says that one lady gave them all the cheese that she had, and even grated it for them. The pizza chefs check their recipe and realize that they have all of their ingredients, and now they just need a kitchen in which to bake the pizzas. They have two hours and fifteen minutes left. Wow, they found all of those ingredients in fifteen minutes. God bless Roberto.

The camera shows the road, and on the road are written some words: "The Mole will beat you." The first two words, and the first three letters in "will" are written in red. The final l in will, and the word "beat" are in yellow. The word "you" is in white. Is that a clue, or did a PA just run out of chalk? You make the call. The bike teams have one hour remaining. Bribs is on one bike and Dorothy is trying to dismount the other. In an interview, Elavia says that Dorothy is having a lot of trouble, and it could be that she never rode a bike, but it seems a little suspicious. Darwin takes over and voice-overs that Dorothy can't ride for very long, and Elavia only rides a little longer, so he is doing most of the riding, which isn't easy. Darwin waves his hand in front of his face and tries to shoo the flies away. He voice-overs that the bike-riding wouldn't be that bad if there were fewer flies in his face, and he's afraid he will breathe one in and start choking. Man, there are a lot of flies. That's just gross.

The pizza chefs have two hours remaining. In an interview, Myra says that Roberto took them to his sister's house, and they used her kitchen. The pizza chefs mix up the dough. Bill voice-overs that Myra "was" his favorite player. Interesting use of the past tense there. The pizza dough has black flecks in it, and the players joke that it's added seasoning. Ew. Bugs in the flour, I'm guessing. Not that they have time, but they should have stuck the flour in the freezer to kill the bugs. Or the microwave. In an interview, Katie says that when you heat the pizza in the oven, all the bad stuff will die anyway. The pizzas are rolled out and topped, and then placed in the oven. Bill puts some flour on Myra's face, and she tosses some on his shirt. I'm sure Roberto's sister loves that they are getting flour all over her kitchen. I hope they cleaned that mess up.

The bike teams have forty-five minutes left. In an interview, Heather says that she just started carrying the bike because it was too difficult to ride. We see Heather carrying the bike for a short distance and then dropping it so Al can take over. She claims that she can carry it for a while as long as she gets breaks. In an interview, Al says that if he were The Mole, he would make sure he was a bike rider and then fake a stomach cramp. Al takes off on the granny bike. Bribs stops and lets Elavia take over. In an interview, Elavia says that the first hour of the bike ride was all uphill, and she thought it would never end.

Back in the kitchen, the pizza chefs have an hour left. They do a toast to Roberto while the pizzas bake. The pizzas are finished, so they put them in boxes. Hugs and kisses are exchanged with Roberto and his sister. Anderson voice-overs that the chefs have finished baking their pizzas, but that they still have to get to the church in the twenty minutes. The pizza chefs take off, with Bill pulling the cart containing the pizzas.

Al rides his bike up to Anderson, who is holding a bottle of Lamole wine. Al puts it in the bike's basket, after wrapping it in a garment of some sort. Elavia stops and gets her bottle of wine, which Anderson puts in a backpack for her. Anderson voice-overs that both teams now have their bottle of wine, but they only have thirty minutes to reach the church. We see a shot of the church that shows that it is the very top of the hill on which the village sits.

The pizza chefs are still making their way to the church with ten minutes remaining. Bill pulls the cart up some cobblestone steps while Katie and Myra push the cart from behind. They aren't sure which way to go. Bill points one way and Katie points another, and they follow Katie's lead. In an interview, Myra calls Bill an ox, and says that he was pouring sweat. See, if Bill were The Mole, why wouldn't he say that he couldn't make it, or go slower, or something? The pizza chefs reach the church just as the church bells ring 7 PM, so they win $20,000. They complain about how steep the hills were, and Anderson advises them not to complain to the other contestants about the steepness of the hills.

Elavia rides one bike. Bribs carries the other bike up some stairs. In an interview, Bribs complains that he always gets stuck with the physical stuff. See, that's why I don't think Bribs is The Mole -- he tries too hard in the physical challenges. In an interview, Al says that he could see the finish line at the top of the stairs, but didn't know if he could make it. Their team reaches the top of the stairs with their bottle of wine and celebrates. Heather points out that if the other team doesn't make it in time, they don't win.

Cut to Elavia riding her bike toward the church. The other contestants sit down at a table near the church with their pizzas and their wine. Al says that he's just happy to sit down, and Anderson reminds us that the last team has yet to arrive. Bribs and Heather stand at the top of the stairs and look for some sign of the final team. Heather says she knows that something will happen. Elavia starts riding up the ramp, and then takes a digger, as the bike skids sideways on the slippery cobblestone.

When we return from the break, Darwin explains that Elavia fell over, so he picked up the bike and carried it. Darwin walks up the ramp as Dorothy and Elavia follow. In an interview, Dorothy says she was really thankful that Darwin was on their team. The other contestants cheer Darwin on as he reaches the top of the stairs. The bottle of wine is intact, so the two bike teams earn another $20,000 for the pot. Katie presents the pizzas, which look a little undercooked. Anderson announces that the contestants earned $40,000 today, bringing the total up to $246,000. Everyone cheers. Anderson explains that the pizzas are dinner for the contestants. In an interview, Myra says that if she had known that the pizzas were going to be dinner, she might have washed her hands before making the pizzas. Heh. Heather picks at her food, and Anderson makes a comment about it. In an interview, Bill says that they didn't tell the others about the dark spots in the dough, in order not to upset anyone's stomach. Someone comments that the only people who are saying that the pizza is good are the three who cooked it. Bill thinks maybe they should have cooked more. Al says that they earned the money, and that's what matters. In an interview, Darwin says that he doesn't know if they could have made more pizza, but that everyone was still hungry.

The roommates head down to the parking area where their vans are. In an interview, Bill says that there was a small restaurant nearby with an ice cream case, and that he and Darwin both bought ice cream. In an interview, Darwin picks up the tale, saying that Bill ate his ice cream right away, but that Darwin saved his for the ride. Darwin eats a Dove bar-type concoction in the van, and the other contestants ask him about it. He offers a bit to the others, but they refuse. Darwin says it's not like he bought an exemption, and that it's just ice cream.

Al walks to the front of the church, hands Anderson his list, and genuflects. Anderson asks Al why he put Bribs at the top of the list. Al says that Bribs reminds him a lot of himself. Oh, Al. In your wildest dreams, maybe. Anderson tries not to laugh in Al's face, and says that Dorothy is at the bottom. Al says that Dorothy seems nice enough, but that they don't have a lot in common. Anderson says he'll keep the list; he tells Al to go outside and not to discuss what they talked about, and to send Darwin in.

Darwin walks in. Anderson reads that Katie is Darwin's favorite player and asks why. Darwin says it was basically a pity vote, because he knows that Katie's greatest fear is being named most annoying, and he wanted to spare her that. I can't decide if that's nice or not. Anderson sees that Bill is Darwin's least favorite player. Darwin says it's only because Bill snores very loudly, and that Darwin can't get any sleep when he and Bill room together. Interestingly, Anderson and Darwin are wearing matching outfits of burgundy tops and black pants. I don't know whether that's coincidence.

Dorothy is up . Anderson asks why Bill if her least favorite player. Dorothy says that they don't have much in common, and that she doesn't feel comfortable hanging out with him. The players come fast and furious now. Anderson asks Katie why she put Heather at the top of her list. Katie says that she and Heather are the same age and have a lot of the same things going on in their lives. Anderson asks Elavia why she did her list alphabetically. Elavia says that Al really is her favorite player, and that Myra really is her least favorite, and that everyone else just fell in the middle. Anderson asks Heather why her least favorite player is Elavia. Heather says that she and Elavia would never connect outside the game, and that there's some friction between them. Anderson asks whether Heather trusts Elavia, and Heather says that she does not. Anderson asks Bill why he put Myra at the top of his list. Bill says that they are close in age, that they can talk about things, and that she views the game as fun. Anderson asks Bribs why Katie is his least favorite player. Bribs says that he can only take Katie in small doses. Anderson asks Myra why her least favorite player is Elavia. Myra points out that Elavia has not made any money for the group. Anderson asks if Myra trusts Elavia, and Myra says that she doesn't trust anyone. She adds that she likes everyone, but she doesn't trust anyone.

Outside, the players wonder what the purpose of the exercise was. Elavia thinks that the least-liked person is going to be offered an exemption. Darwin cheers because he thinks that he is the least-liked. In an interview, Darwin says that he figured most people would put Katie or Elavia as their least favorite. In an interview, Katie says that it would bother her to be the least favorite, but that she knew she wouldn't be the most-liked. In an interview, Elavia says that she might be last, but eventually everyone will crack a little bit. Anderson walks out of the church and joins the group. He asks one of the contestants to come with him, but we don't see who it is until after the break.

After the break, Anderson voice-overs that the players have ranked the other contestants from most favorite to least favorite, and now they will learn the purpose of their lists. Anderson steps outside and asks Elavia to come with him. She follows him back into the church, and he tells her that he has some bad news; she says that she figured. Elavia was voted the least favorite player. Anderson says that there is an upside to it; he's going to offer her an exemption. She can take the exemption, but if she passes it up, he will add $5,000 to the pot and possibly earn her some favor from the others. Elavia says that since she's the least favorite, she should probably stick around, so she's going to take the exemption. Anderson clarifies her response, and then offers to sweeten the deal; he will offer $10,000 to the pot if she doesn't take the exemption. Elavia thinks it over, swings her braids around some more, and decides that she's going to take the exemption. Anderson offers to add $15,000 to the pot. Elavia asks if he's going to keep going up until she says no, and Anderson shrugs and smiles. Elavia says that she'll call his bluff and still take the exemption. Anderson clarifies the choice, and Elavia says again that she'll take the exemption and waits expectantly. Anderson says that he's only prepared to offer $15,000, and congratulates Elavia on getting an exemption. They shake hands.

The other contestants enter the church. Anderson thanks them for filling out the lists, and says that he was most interested in finding out who was their least favorite player, and it was Elavia. In an interview, Elavia says that she took it harder than she thought she would, and that it was pretty tough. In an interview, Katie says that Elavia didn't make much eye contact, and that it must have been a tough blow for her. Elavia explains the deal that she was offered. Darwin asks her what her cutoff was, and Elavia says that she probably would have accepted $30,000, but she didn't think the amounts she was offered were high enough. Heather asks if Elavia learned anything more about the lists, and Elavia responds, "No, just that you guys hate me." She says it with a laugh, but ouch. In an interview, Myra begs Elavia not to take the ranking personally. How could she not? Elavia says that she understands that someone had to be last. Anderson asks the others what they think an exemption is worth. Darwin says that he thinks $30,000 is a fair price, and he has no problem with what Elavia did. Katie says that she probably would have taken the $10,000, since that's what they lost in penalties. Myra says that she would have gone for $30,000, but she wouldn't blame Elavia if she held out for $100,000. Anderson announces that it's time to eat, and the contestants walk out.

At dinner, Myra offers up a toast to Elavia, and everyone joins in. Anderson announces that he has a story topic, and asks, "What's the most trouble you've ever been in?" Katie goes first and tells a story about when she was in Times Square on New Year's Eve and peed in the street, and then got arrested. Al talks about a time he was late picking up his girlfriend from work, so he went to her apartment. She wouldn't talk to him, so he climbed up the side of the building to talk to her, and the cops started chasing him. Everyone dies laughing. Turns out he fit the description of a robber in the neighborhood. Bribs says that his mom caught him peeing on his sister's head when he was four.

After dinner, they all return to the hotel. Al and Darwin share room 153. Actually, they share more than that -- they are sleeping in the same bed. Darwin says that he's curious about Dorothy and Elavia, and he thinks that everyone is voting as if Elavia were The Mole. Al agrees. Darwin thinks that Dorothy is very shady too, and he ranks Elavia as his first Mole pick and Dorothy as his second; then Heather is , because he can't figure her out. In an interview, Al says that he doesn't want to form any coalitions, but that he will try to get things out of Darwin. Al tells Darwin that if they both get through the execution, they will work as a team, and will try to be on different teams in any games. Darwin agrees. In an interview, Darwin says that he's had a lot of coalitions in the game. He had one with Lisa until she left, and he still has one with Bribs, and now he has a new one with Al. Darwin asks Al whom he put last on his list, and Al doesn't want to say. In an interview, Al says that he needs a coalition, but if he finds something out, he won't share it. This whole scene was just weird, mostly because the two of them were topless in the same bed, having this intense discussion. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The players sit down to take the quiz. Al says that he can usually read people fairly well, and he thinks he's reading Elavia, but he's sure someone is sitting at home watching this and thinking that Bill is The Mole and Al is an idiot. Well, now that you say it. Darwin thinks that the best thing for The Mole to do is to take an action that could be disguised as a mental lapse, like what Heather did with the bikes. Bill says that Darwin has made a bunch of glaring errors that cost the group a lot of money. Bribs says that Heather has been adamant about him voting for Elavia, which makes him think that Heather is The Mole. Myra says that her strategy has been the same for every quiz -- to complete it as quickly as possible with one candidate in mind. Dorothy thinks that Bribs could definitely be The Mole because "he is one of the most player-like players." I don't know what that means. Katie finds Bill suspect, and followed him into the kitchen while they made pizzas.

The players gather to find out which of them will be executed, but not before we see shots of some statues and, inexplicably, a black cat. I don't know. Anderson points out that Al and Bill are paying tribute to Rob with their hairstyles. Bill looks particularly ridiculous with the gelled spikes. Also, for the confused, the reason that Bribs's bag has his name written on masking tape is because his real name is Michael, and he must have put the tape on there with his nickname. Anderson reminds us that Elavia has an exemption and cannot be executed. Also, there was a tie on the quiz, so the person who took the longest on the quiz will be executed. Anderson starts typing names into the computer. First up is Myra. Well, at least we know that Myra is safe and...holy crap. Red screen. That was completely unexpected. But totally cool.

Myra gets up to leave and the Piano of Loving Myra plays. Myra tells Anderson that the longer she was in the game, the more she realized how much she didn't know. She adds that she was answering the questions with one person in mind, and that she was obviously wrong. Or she didn't know the answers to the question. Or everyone knows who The Mole is, and she was just slow. Al says that he's still in a state of shock, because it happened so quickly. Myra says that she had a great time. Katie says that Myra played her heart out, and just wanted to play the game well, and Katie thinks she did. Well, with all due respect to Myra, she just lost. So clearly, she didn't play the game all that well. Dorothy thinks that Myra didn't give herself as much credit as she should have. Bill says he is sorry to see Myra go. Anderson shakes Myra's hand and packs her into the car. Myra says that she will never forget the other contestants, and she hopes that they play hard and well, and win. Well, one of them will.

episode: there's some sort of gladiator battle. The players have to do another ranking that the announcer promises us will change the game forever. Anderson offers someone a bribe of $50,000 to leave the game immediately.