The Ninth Betrayal

Previously on The Mole: The contestants had the opportunity to earn the right to see their loved ones. Katie chose Heather to be her eyes, and Heather failed. Katie wondered if she had entered into a coalition with The Mole. Dorothy failed to figure out that her mother would predict she would do a bungee jump. Katie was executed.

After the credits, Anderson's exhortation for us to "watch for the hidden clue to the identity of The Mole" is back in its regular spot. The episode begins, as usual, with a series of interviews. Al says that he has "limited knowledge of The Mole and such little direction as to the identity of The Mole." Darwin thinks that Al and Bill have been chummy, and he wonders if Al is sharing information with Bill that Darwin shared with Al first. Bribs says that he liked the game the way it was, and now he feels like the contestants will be pitted against one another.

Lucca, Italy. Still. The six remaining players arrive for breakfast to find a clue from The Mole on the table. It's a note made of letters cut out of magazines in the manner of a ransom note. It reads: "Four more losers. Which will you be? I'm counting down, dwindling numbers are key." Well, it's better than most of the crap-ass rhyming clues on Survivor. Surrounding the words on the paper are a bunch of numbers. It appears to be the numbers one through fourteen, signifying that the game started with fourteen contestants and will eventually be down to two: The Mole and the winner. In an interview, Darwin says he thinks it's detrimental to try to figure out the clue before the mission, because it might throw you off-track. I can see what he means about keeping an open mind, but I think it makes sense to try to formulate some theories; just don't settle on something as the one, true answer. The contestants scribble furiously in their journals. Al thinks out loud about what the clue might mean, which would be so annoying. Shut up, Al. In an interview, Bill says that he came up with nothing from the clue.

Anderson knocks on Bill's hotel room door. Bill lets him in. Anderson says that since Bill was the last player to leave the table at breakfast, he's been given an opportunity for a neutralizing mission. If Bill succeeds, he will neutralize another player, which means that player cannot receive an exemption in this round. If Bill fails, he will be neutralized himself. Well, I guess that makes the decision fairly easy. Anderson pulls out a small sticker with a green fingerprint on it, similar to the show's logo. He hands it to Bill and explains that Bill must somehow place the sticker in the pages of another player's journal to neutralize that player. Anderson says that Bill can't tell anyone about his opportunity. If he succeeds, the neutralized player will be revealed at dinner, but even then, Bill's not allowed to confess that he was the one who did it. Bill accepts this mission, and Anderson leaves. In an interview, Bill says that neutralizing other players is part of the game, and in a way, he's trying to neutralize all of the other players in order to win. Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night, Bill. (I'm kidding. I don't blame him for doing this.)

The contestants gather outside. Anderson drives up in a small green Citron. He asks for two players who like to drink wine. Heather and Al are the first to volunteer, so they walk off. Anderson tells the remaining contestants that in order to win $20,000 for the pot, they have to get the car inside the nearby greenhouse. The greenhouse has sliding doors, but one of the doors is locked. They are not allowed to damage the doors or the building, and they have been given a full array of tools to disassemble the car. They have two and a half hours. The car has to be inside the greenhouse, and it has to start. The contestants can't start the car; Anderson has to do it. The clock starts, and the contestants surround the car and talk strategy. Dorothy thinks they should only disassemble what they have to, and lay out the parts inside the greenhouse in the right order. Darwin agrees. Bribs points out that they should avoid taking any of the engine apart. Bill tries to open the doors further. I don't know why they couldn't take the doors off their hinges and then put them back on. They aren't supposed to damage the greenhouse, but why can't they disassemble it? I would rebuild the whole greenhouse around the car, if that were what it took.

Anderson pours glasses of wine for himself, Heather, and Al. They're sitting at a table in a vineyard. Anderson tells them that the game is worth $10,000. They have ninety minutes to fill up five wine bottles with the juice they make from their own two feet. Al comments that his size fourteens will come in handy. I really, really don't want to think about Al's feet, now or ever. Anderson tells Al that he has an unnatural advantage due to his large feet. Al makes some stupid joke that only he thinks is funny. Anderson clarifies that only one of them can stomp grapes at a time, and in fifteen-minute shifts. Al goes first. He steps into a vat full of grapes in his bare feet and starts stomping. Meanwhile, Heather and Anderson drink some more wine. Al inexplicably says that Bill would have been good at grape stomping. Why? I don't know. Because he probably weighs the most out of the remaining contestants?

Meanwhile, Dorothy and Darwin discuss how best to get the car through the greenhouse door. Dorothy thinks they will definitely have to turn the car up on its side. They have two hours and fifteen minutes left. They all set to work taking as many pieces off as they can. They remove the doors. Why? What good is that going to do, especially if they are going to tip the car up on its side? The constraint isn't the height of the door. It's the width. They should try to take the roof and tires off, not the doors, hood, and trunk. Geez. Everyone is just ratcheting away, removing parts and carrying them inside. Dorothy helps, sort of. In an interview, Darwin says that in the back of his mind, he felt like the car wasn't as important as the greenhouse, because that's what The Mole is like. Darwin and Bribs investigate the greenhouse, looking for alternate openings. Anderson voice-overs that although the players are suspicious of the greenhouse, they decide to continue taking the car apart. More parts are removed. Bill measures the car and announces that they're going to have to remove the tires as well. They push the car closer to the greenhouse entrance and then jack it up so that they can get the tires off. The three men push the car over onto its side while Dorothy helps balance it. Bill voice-overs that when they tipped the car up, they realized that there was no way to split it in two. Bill suggests that they look at the engine again. Darwin doesn't think they have enough time to take the whole thing apart and reassemble it. Bill thinks there must be a way. The camera lingers on the padlock on the greenhouse door, which apparently none of the contestants have noticed or inspected in any way.

Al is still stomping away on the grapes. Heather and Anderson are still drinking wine. Al goofs around in the vat, doing different dances. He begins transferring the juice into the bottles. It looks like the method is basically dipping a sock in the vat and then squeezing the juice out into a wine bottle. Al manages to fill one bottle right away. Anderson picks up the bottle and sniffs it, then visibly recoils as he comments that the juice smells like Al's feet. Ew. Didn't I just ask them not to remind me of Al's feet? In an interview, Al says that his feet are clean enough to serve the wine, and that he showers a lot. Still. With those socks and his sneakers that he wears every day? I just grossed myself out there. Heather starts stomping. In an interview, Heather says that Al had already done most of the stomping, so she spent most of her time squeezing out juice. Heather fills the second bottle completely while Al drinks more wine. And more wine. And still more wine. Al asks Anderson if he has juice on his ass, and Anderson looks and says that Al does. Hee! In an interview, Heather says that she was trying to be conservative with her drinking because she knew something was going to happen.

The car group has an hour and fifteen minutes left. The contestants are considering removing the engine from the car, but first they decide to inspect the greenhouse one more time. Darwin finds the combination lock that is holding the second door closed and proposes that they figure out the combination. In an interview, Bribs says that he can't believe how asinine they were not to take the clue they got at breakfast into consideration. Darwin announces that the combination consists of four numbers, and Dorothy gets to work. First, they try the four numbers from the license plate. Negative. Bribs asks if they all agree that the answer is the lock, not taking the car apart. Darwin agrees, and reviews all of the methods they tried which won't work. Bribs says that they should start putting the car back together in preparation for getting the door open. Darwin agrees. Bill is strangely silent. Dorothy keeps working the lock. She reminds them that the clue said "dwindling numbers," and asks what that means. Darwin thinks it may have to do with the journal numbers of the executed players. Darwin grabs his journal, and he and Dorothy try a few more combinations. The camera zooms in on the car's odometer, so that's obviously the combination. Meanwhile, Bill and Bribs are trying to put the car back together.

Heather is still stomping grapes. Anderson sniffs a bottle of juice and says, "It's a fine blend of Heather and Al toe jam." I think he's drunk. Heather thinks there must be a hidden task involved. Heather finishes filling the fourth bottle and starts on the fifth and final bottle. Al drains a couple more glasses of wine. They switch places. Al squeezes juice into the fifth bottle, and fills it completely. Anderson says that they win $10,000. That's it? That seemed way too easy. Heather thinks so, too. I think it was just an excuse for Anderson to get drunk on the job.

Dorothy is still trying to figure out the combination. In an interview, Dorothy says that she figured that the combination had something to do with the number of players they had in the game at the moment, and how many would be left at the end. So she started with 6 and "dwindled" the numbers to come up with 6-5-4-3. When that doesn't work, she reverses it to come up with 3-4-5-6. That combination works, and Dorothy announces that the door is unlocked. They have forty-five minutes left. The other players are still trying to put the car back together, and they comment that the combination was ascending, not dwindling. But it worked, so they don't really care. In an interview, Bill says that he happened to glance at the odometer and just started laughing when he saw that the mileage on the car was the combination to the lock. Everyone laughs. Anderson voice-overs that with only thirty-five minutes left, Bill still has to neutralize someone.

Back in the vineyard, Al has had seven glasses of wine in an hour and Heather has had four. One glass would knock me on my ass. After seven in one hour, I would be passed out. Anderson voice-overs that they will now play a game that challenges their judgment and coordination. Anderson shows them a tray with five wine glasses; four on the bottom and one balanced on top. Al has to fill all of the wine glasses, and then carry the tray with one hand over to a table and set down the tray without spilling one drop of wine. If he succeeds, they get another $5,000 for the pot. If he fails, they lose $5,000. Heather is offered the same terms. They decide that if they both fail, they will only lose the money they just earned making the juice, so it'll be a wash. They decide to go for it. Al starts filling the wine glasses. As he fills the third glass, a drop spills from the bottle onto the tray, so he's out already. Al whines that he's never poured a glass of wine in his life without getting "a drip off the lip." Anderson brags that he was once a waiter, so he can show them how to pour a glass of wine without spilling. Al says, "Okay, Mr. Professional. Show me." Anderson starts pouring, and he's all turning the bottle as he pours to prevent dripping. Except that he totally screws up and drips wine on the tray too. Al and Heather scream and shout. Al starts jumping around. Anderson blushes to the roots of his hair and makes the excuse that he's been drinking with them for an hour and a half. Al does, I think, the tomahawk chop. Or something equally stupid. Anderson tells Al that he's getting a little unruly. Heather gets to try now. She spills on the first glass. In an interview, Heather says that they didn't realize that the pouring would count, and afterward, she realized that it was a nearly impossible task. Anderson says that they just lost all the money they had earned, so he's going to give them one more chance to earn money for the pot. They have to convince the other players to drink "one bottle of [their] gnarly toe jam wine." They can't tell the players why they have to drink it, and Anderson doesn't recommend telling them where it came from. Al mimes stomping grapes and then pointing at the other contestants. Okay, that was kind of funny. Anderson and Heather are laughing, but then again, they're drunk.

The car team has fifteen minutes remaining. Bill announces that they are done except for final tightening. They push the car into the greenhouse. Anderson voice-overs that, in order for the team to win the money, the car has to start. I get a little worried when Darwin picks up what looks like an important connection, like possibly to the battery, and then just drops it back onto the engine block like, "What's this? Oh, this attaches the battery to the rest of the engine? Well, we don't need to hook that up." Then again, I know nothing about cars. As they make their final adjustments, Bill decides to neutralize someone. Outside, he goes into someone's bag and drops the sticker into a journal. Anderson arrives, and I think he's still drunk. He points out the grease on Bill's shirt. Some other guy gets into the car and turns the key. I guess they don't want Anderson drinking and driving. The guy cranks the engine, but it's not catching. I think he flooded it. I don't know. That's my answer for everything car-related. That, or turn on the heater. And aim high in steering. That's all I remember from Driver's Ed. Oh, wait. My favorite one: speed plus rain equals hydroplane. That one has served me well over the years. Do you know that the most dangerous time to drive in the rain is during the first ten minutes of the storm? That's because the rain mixes with the oil and such on the pavement and makes it slippery. After that, the oil washes away and it's not as slippery. Wow. Who knew I paid so much attention in that class? That was a good fifteen years ago. Anyway, there's a commercial break before we get to find out if the car actually starts, so let's move on to a new paragraph.

Anderson reminds us that, for the team to win the $20,000, the car must start. The contestants look on anxiously as the old dude tries to start the car, then cheer when he succeeds. Anderson congratulates them as an on-screen graphic lets us know that the total pot is now up to $366,000. Anderson points out that the letters on the license plate can be rearranged to spell out "Mole," and that the numbers on the odometer turned out to be the combination for the lock, when reversed.

Al and Heather walk back from the vineyard, drinking even more wine. They discuss how to get the other players to drink their foot juice. Their gambit is to explain that they made the wine and won money, then took a gamble and lost it all. So now, they don't want their efforts to go unrewarded, so they want the others to share the wine with them. Ah, drunken logic.

As the players gather for dinner, Anderson voice-overs that if Al and Heather can convince the other four players to drink the wine, they will earn $10,000 for the pot, but they can't reveal that money is involved. Al walks by some giant wine vats and traces his hand along them. He's so drunk. Al and Heather discuss their plan some more. In an interview, Al says that he was feeling no pain due to the copious amounts of wine he had drunk. Darwin, Bribs, Bill, and Dorothy join them. Anderson asks Al to talk about his day. Al reveals that they earned the money and then lost it. Bribs takes notes. Darwin asks how many glasses of wine they had, and then wonders why they thought they would be able to carry the tray without spilling it. Darwin laughs at how drunk Al is. In an interview, Darwin says that Al and Heather argued that their task was impossible, but he couldn't take them seriously, because they were so drunk. Al produces a bottle of his foot juice and asks the others to please have some. In an interview, Al says that he elongated the "we" in the "weeee would be appreciative" part of his statement to emphasize that it would benefit them all. Bribs asks whether Al and Heather would be appreciative because they would get an exemption. Dorothy immediately says that she's not drinking wine. Okay, it's non-alcoholic. It's basically grape juice. Foot grape juice, but Dorothy doesn't know that. In an interview, Al points out that Dorothy is smart, and has to know that there's no alcohol in the juice. Darwin hesitates, wondering what the best move is. He tells the others that maybe Al and Heather should taste the wine first, before they finish the bottle. Bribs points out that there are even more possibilities than that. Heather says again, "Weeeee would be happy." A glass of wine poured for each of the contestants apart from Heather and Al.

Anderson walks back in at 1:30 AM. He tells them to keep hitting the ball, but asks who is the most tired. Al thinks that he is. Darwin asks if anyone wants to be the most tired, other than Al. No one does. Anderson tells Al that he can go back to bed, and that the rest of them should just eliminate Al from the order. Al heads back to bed. In an interview, Al reminds us that he had ten glasses of wine, then two hours of sleep, so he was ready to give up the money right then. Heather wonders if Al will be offered an exemption.

It's 2:00 AM. The game continues. The players are pretty sleepy now. Anderson comes back and asks again who is the most tired. Heather says that she is. Anderson excuses her from the game and tells them to eliminate her from the rotation. Darwin says that the game will get easier with fewer people. True -- fewer chances to screw up the order. In an interview, Bill says that they all knew that there was an exemption looming. Bill says that he's amazed at how easy it is to lose track of whose turn it is, because they're all in a daze. In an interview, Dorothy says that this is an easy game to sabotage, because you could hit it wrong and pass it off as an honest mistake. Darwin and Bribs run around, chasing the ball. In an interview, Darwin says he figured the game would be that whoever lasted longest might get an exemption, so he was in it for the long haul.

Anderson comes back and asks who is the most tired. Someone suggests that it's Bill, probably because he's lying down while the others are all standing. Anderson offers Bill an exemption if he purposely hits the ball out of turn, which means that they will lose the money. Anderson says that the other players can try to talk Bill out of it, or let him make the decision on his own. Bill looks exhausted. They keep hitting the ball a few more times. Finally, Bill reaches up and stops the ball, ending the game at 3:14 AM. In an interview, Bill says that he's never hit a tetherball for five hours before, and he never intends to do it again, if he can help it. Actually, he never has, since they only lasted three hours. Anderson says that Bill earned an exemption, and they can all go back to sleep. Darwin says that the whole thing was a colossal waste of time, and wonders if he will ever get an exemption. Before they enter their rooms, Bribs confesses to Darwin and Dorothy that before Bill decided about his exemption, Bribs hit the ball out of turn. Dorothy asks if Bill noticed, and Bribs says that he did not. Bribs figures that if The Powers That Be noticed, then no one will get an exemption, but they'll find out the day. Dorothy whispers, "If I can't have it, no one can have it."

The day is Day 29, and they are still in Lucca, Italy. Is there any travel in the show this year, or what? They've been to, like, three locations. Fast-forward to dinnertime. The players all sit down at the table outdoors. Anderson says that Bill had the opportunity to earn an exemption for stopping the game, and he took it. After the game, Darwin told someone that he saw Bribs hit the ball twice in a row. Bribs doesn't look surprised that Darwin ratted him out, so I'm guessing Bribs already knew that. And really, they would have figured it out. Anderson reminds them that the game was videotaped by many different cameras, and he has some tape to show them from the time that he offered Bill the exemption. Bribs hits the ball once with his foot, and then again before anyone else does, preventing Bill from the chance at an exemption. Anderson comments that Bribs didn't take the exemption he was offered in the gladiator game because of his "moral code." Anderson asks Bribs, "Has the game changed you, or does your moral code allow you to rob an exemption from another player?" Mrow! Catfight. Bribs explains that they had all discussed that anyone would have taken an exemption if it were offered, so he knew that the money was going to be forfeited either way. From a strategic standpoint, he didn't want someone else to get an exemption. Bribs concludes that he still thinks he has morals and integrity.

Anderson says that he has something else to bring up. He noticed something during the game last night, but he wanted to check the tape before saying anything. The camera keeps focusing on Darwin, so you know that something is up. Anderson says that this tape is from around the time that Heather left, and it involves Darwin. In the tape, Bribs hits the ball. Now it's Darwin's turn, but he encourages Dorothy to hit the ball, and she does. Everyone starts laughing, including Darwin, who looks like he knows he's busted. Anderson says that Darwin actually ended the game around the time of Heather's departure. Bill asks why Darwin didn't just let them all go to bed. Heather asks if Darwin did it on purpose. Darwin says that he knows it looks bad, but it was really a mistake, and he knows he can't convince them that he's being honest. Darwin points out that if he were really trying to end the game, he wouldn't have done it so secretly. Al counters that Darwin could have been trying to pin the blame on Dorothy so that she would be the focus of the questioning. Anderson reminds them that they face the quiz and another execution after dinner. Dorothy was neutralized, but no one got an exemption anyway, so they are all on the line. They raise a toast.

As the quiz begins, there is a quick shot of an elaborate cobweb. J-Dawg jokes that the cobweb spells out "Bill" because I was just complaining about how I want Bill to get executed tonight, just so that I'll know for sure that he's not The Mole. But when I pause the tape, the only thing that I see is what looks like a giant D. Then again, it's a cobweb, so how could the producers have planted that clue. Did they pay the spider off? Heather says that Al is always talking about what size shoe he wears. Because he's annoying. Darwin says he's not surprised that Bill hesitated about the exemption, because he's always talking about honor, but then he quickly took the exemption (or tried to), which was kind of weird. Bribs says he was surprised that Al didn't volunteer for the car assembly game because he's always talking about how mechanical he is. Good one, Bribs. Except that Al volunteered for the wine game before they even knew what the other choice was. Dorothy says she's not sure who neutralized her, but she suspects Bill because she found a white hair on the sticker. Oh, she did not. Al thinks that Dorothy neutralized herself. That would be a good strategy if she were The Mole, except then we would all know at home. Bribs says that Dorothy was the one handling the lock, and that's twice that she saved the game at the last minute. But if she were The Mole, would she save the game at all? Heather says that she never suspected Darwin as the Mole until recently, when he might have sabotaged the tetherball game.

It's execution time. Anderson stands in an eerie shaft of green light. What's with the drama all of a sudden? Anderson gives a really long speech about how execution works, like, we've seen the show before, dude. This is the ninth episode. I think we got it. Anyway, he finally starts entering names. Bill's name is first, and I cross my fingers, but he gets the green screen. Bitches. Dorothy's name is , and the Bass Note of Execution starts up, but it's a fake-out, because she gets the green screen. Heather is . She looks very pretty tonight. She gets the green screen as well. I hope and hope and hope that Al gets executed, and Anderson enters his name in . Come on, come on, come on. Crap. Green screen. Oh, I like Bribs and Darwin! I don't want either one to leave! Bribs faces the music, and gets...the green screen. Crap. Not Darwin! They actually make them all sit there and wait while Anderson types in Darwin's name, and for a second I think that this was all fake or something and no one is going to be executed. Darwin has a look on his face like, "Come on, dude. Cut the crap." The red screen appears, and it's time for Darwin's Wake.

Darwin grabs his bag and prepares to leave. Darwin says that the most important part of the game is figuring out what's real and what's not. He tried to go with his gut, and this time it didn't work out. Dorothy says she's surprised to see Darwin leave, because he was so smart and observant, and they're going to miss his sense of humor. Al says that the group will miss Darwin's push and competitive edge. Bribs says that Darwin was "a fierce competitor," but he was also a friend. Aw. Al says that Darwin had a coalition with Bribs and him, and maybe got played somehow. Remember when Darwin and Al had their pillow talk? Good times. Remember when Darwin wore the bunny suit? Remember when Darwin had that huge zit? Okay, they didn't show that, but don't think I've forgotten. Goodbye, Darwin. I started liking you because you were cute, but then I liked you because you were funny too, and that was more important in the end. Although I don't think I ever thought you were The Mole.

week: God, the ABC Promo Department sucks. There's some sort of fortress game, which looks pretty cool. And an unexpected alliance could. Change. Everything. No, it really said that. Good Lord.