SPOILER ALERT!!!  The following blog post contains a synopsis of the final episode of the ABC reality show, The Mole.  Do not read if you don’t want to know what happened!

Last night’s Mole finale did not disappoint.  Well, maybe for those of us who got 0 points in the tangents.org mole poll…  But as far as dragging out the results episode like most reality shows do, the Mole was not guilty of this.  The episode was only an hour long, they still had one elimination to reveal, and they revealed the winner of the game without dramatizing things by adding a commercial break.  Turns out,  good guy Mark took home the cash, all so his wife can stay home with the kids and not work anymore (be careful what you wish for; sometimes I wish I could go back to work and get away from the daily chaos of the chorus of crying kids!).  Then, it was time to reveal the mole…  but first a dramatic commercial break, of course!  We returned from commercial, and they milked it even further with some more dramatic pausing…  and then we learned – CRAIG is the MOLE!

At least I don’t have to go back and count up points for our tangents.org mole poll – I believe Jamiahsh is the only one who ever guessed Craig, therefore, with 1 point, he is the winner of our tangents mole poll!

After the big reveal, which happened quite early in the hour I might add, compared to the way they’ve done things in past mole seasons, time was spent recapping episodes with the knowledge of the mole’s identity.  It was fun to see the different contestants’ reactions to Craig being the mole, and it was even more fun to watch the clips that were recorded during the playing of the game of them suspecting Craig.  I always like when they explain the hidden clues from every episode that (supposedly) pointed to the mole.  I say supposedly pointed to the mole because a few of the clues were far-fetched; for example the business about the latitude and longitude.  One of the clues I liked is the one where they altered the backround where Craig was giving an interview.  There were two “i” statues, and they altered them so there were 4 “i” statues when Craig was doing his interview.  Get it?  4 “i”‘s = four eyes – Craig is the only player to wear glasses.

Anyway, it was a great season like always.  Even though I lost the tangents.org mole poll, I’m actually glad I did because if Nicole (she was my guess) was the mole, I would have felt it was so obvious it actually would have dampened my enthusiasm for another season.  But since I was SO taken by surprise, as far as another mole season goes, I say, bring it on, and soon!

SPOILER ALERT:  No one was eliminated and we didn’t find out who the mole was this week, so since there is nothing to spoil, go ahead and read my post!

I don’t have much to say about this week’s episode…  probably cuz I missed most of it.  But no matter, it’s not like we learned anything about the mole’s identity – that big reveal will be next week.  Chris thought Mark getting the mole’s dossier was mole-y, so that is his guess this week now that Paul is out.  Mark struck me from the very beginning as NOT being the mole; I don’t know why, so I am sticking with my Nicole guess…  any thoughts jamiahsh?

Chris – Mark
Lisa – Nicole

DISCLAIMER – Do not read this if you don’t want to know about what happened on the ABC reality show, The Mole, yada, yada, yada…

WOW – mole-y behavior abound last night…  but not too much from Paul, who was shockingly executed.  So, my friends who’ve been going with Paul for weeks now, it seems you have to pick a new guess…  But fear not, at least not yet, because if Nicole isn’t the mole, then I am right there with you with 0 points because I dont’ think I’ve ever guessed Craig or Mark.  But what am I saying, Nicole is SO the mole – let’s take a look at last night’s episode to find out why…

First, it seemed odd to me that Paul was making excuses about the camera in the very beginning of the camera-block game, though it’s not like it was mole-y behavior since Paul is obviously NOT the mole.  Then, during the same game, Nicole states that she is a lapriscopic surgeon, which caught me by surprise because during the entire run of the show, she’s been labeled (and said she was) an OB-GYN.  Suspicious yes, but even if she is the mole, I cannot figure out why they would change her profession.  And if they were going to change her profession for some reason, why would they keep her as a doctor and just change the type of practice?  I am convinced she is the mole, but this I do not get…  hopefully it will be explained.
Next up, players used the same camera contraption (one player holds the camera and the other player wears glasses that display what the camera is recording) to play soccer, and Paul did act a little suspicious because he didn’t seem to be giving his entire effort.  He didn’t seem to be trying to kick the ball hard or straight enough to get it in the net…  but again, it doesn’t matter how he was acting since we know he is not the mole.  Nicole on the other hand, would not stop shaking the camera.  The camera was extra jiggly during the chalkboard portion of the game, and it’s not like she even needed to mess with poor Craig all that much anyway given his problem with vertigo.  But why would a lapriscopic surgeon (or anyone for that matter, really) feel the need to shake the camera so much?  Very mole-y indeed.  When she and Craig lost the chalkboard challenge, she broke into a big grin and then quickly bit her lip to keep from smiling!  Did anyone else see that?  Nicole hopes not, but I sure did!  And lastly, a few things on the cell-paintball challenge.  She made sure she choose her cell first – if she is the mole then the producers could have told her what cell to pick so she didn’t get the exemption to let a legitimate player win it (much to Paul’s dismay – nice little tantrum there).  Also, a player noted (think it was Mark) how small and fast she is, yet she still got shot with a paintball…  that seems mole-y also.  I really enjoyed this episode; I liked the camera games a lot.  But when it’s all said and done, Nicole is still my top guess for the mole! 

Chris has changed his guess to Nicole.  I haven’t yet received an official guess from Jamiahsh yet…  either he’s lost since he can’t guess Paul or he doesn’t want to submit his guess yet until he’s sure we’ve seen the episode to avoid the teasing for spoiling the execution quizzes outcome 🙂
Either way, let me know as soon as you have one!

The following contains information and possible spoilers about the Mole episode that aired on July 14.  Do not keep reading if you haven’t seen it – consider yourself warned!

We’re getting down to the nitty gritty – there is only one woman left for one thing, who would have thought that it would be Nicole.  It was a rarity, but my 8-year-old daughter was the last one standing last night, so she was invited to watch the Mole with us.  I know it’s rated TV-14, but it’s just for language, and she knows better than to repeat some things they say…  it did bring it to my attention though; I would otherwise ignore it, but why can’t they just leave it out?  Do they really need to say words like (fill in the blanks) a** and c*ap on tv?  I don’t see why they can’t just edit them out.  But anyway, she really liked the show, and she said that everyone acts suspicious.  Her final guess for the most mole-y behavior is Nicole though, so I will add her to our poll at the end of this post.

Since we have a new baby in the house, I am SO tired, and it seems like the more tired I am, the worse my short-term memory is.  So I don’t remember too many details about the Mole, even though it was just on last night.  I was not surprised to see Alex booted, and if I had had one eye on the clock, I would have known that the first person’s quiz results they showed would be red this time.  They do that at least once a season – eliminate the first person whose results were given.  I figured Alex wasn’t the Mole, so it was no surprise when he was booted.  It was fun to watch how scared everyone got before they dove backwards off the plank.  I didn’t get much out of the brainteaser game because I would normally like to play along with something like that, but my brain is so fried lately and they didn’t give us enough time to think about the answers, so I just spent the challenge answered my daughter’s questions about the show instead.  But I’d have to say, aside from the language, it’s a good family show since it kept my 8-year-old’s attention, and I think my 4-year-old would like it too.

Mole Guesses for this week:
Taylor – Nicole

Chris – staying with Paul

Taylhis – staying with Nicole

Jamiahsh – staying with Paul

Hmmm…  interesting.  The two people with the strongest personalities have the most guesses.  I guess we think they could be exaggerating their attitudes.  At least that’s how I feel with Nicole.  I’ve begun to wonder, could anyone REALLY be that much of a total b*tch?

SPOILER ALERT – The following contains a synopsis of the June 30th episode of the ABC show, The Mole.  Do not read if you don’t want to know what happened, including results of the elimination quiz!

I got some really interesting comments about mole-y behavior on last week’s post.  They were thought provoking and fun to read, so keep them coming!  As for this week, unfortunately my kids were going completely crazy during my viewing of the show, so I won’t be able to go into much detail since I missed a lot.

My husband thought Craig was acting very mole-y.  I somewhat agree, although I just don’t get the moleish vibe from him.  Could someone really be SO intolerant to cold weather just from living in California?  If so, that seems really unhealthy!  But anyway, back to the episode.  In my opinion, Kristen and Mark were the least suspectable contestants left, so I just knew one of them was going to be eliminated.  I think Paul seems like too much of a loose cannon to be the mole, but who knows, it could always be an act.  This week, I think my official guess will be Nicole.  It stinks because I think I’m really influenced by my husband’s equation using Nicole’s name – (N+I) (C+O) L E = M O L E
In past seasons, the show has been known to do things like this, and I just can’t get it out of my head.  Plus, last night I noticed a change in her personality where she seemed to act like an actual human being for the first time during the run of the show.  So that makes me think the extreme bitchiness was just a facade and as the show progresses, it’s starting to crack.  I mean, could anyone really be THAT much of a bitch?  During the first few weeks of the show, I thought that her extremely bitchy and arrogant personality excluded her from being the mole, but now I’m not so sure, and I don’t know if it’s just that equation getting to me or not.

So continue to comment and post your thoughts and feelings – I really enjoy reading all the theories and observations.  Here are the official guesses for this week:

Jamiah – Paul

Chris – Paul

Taylhis – Nicole

SPOILER ALERT!!! – The following is a summary of Monday, June 23rd’s episode of The Mole – it contains outcomes and spoilers.  Do not read any further if you don’t want to know about past Mole episodes.

6/23/08 – The focus tonight was on Clay and Victoria.  Since Victoria ended up getting eliminated, the episode’s emphasis on Clay put my mole-suspecting focus back on him.  That and his mole-y behavior.  Before the gold-brick-up-the-mountain challenge, Clay made sure to talk about how little money he wanted his team to earn.  He was so focused on getting up the mountain to win the exemption from the quiz that he specifically said that bringing bricks to earn money was not important.  That’s understandable, but then when they did get to the top of the mountain, and Clay already knew that his team had won the exemption, he was still making comments about how much money his team had won.  And his comments were about how the team won too much money for his liking.  Then, when it was discovered that the team had earned only one exemption and they had to decide which of the 3 got to use it, Clay both insisted to and bargained with his teammates in order to be able to use the exemption for himself.  That seems like something the mole would do in order to “prove” his or her “need” for the exemption – ie, throw others off his mole-y trail.

I hated how Nicole was Ahem-ing and blinking rapidly during the journal question activity at dinner, but then again, I hate many of the things she does.  I hadn’t really considered her for the mole until my husband brought up a very intriguing point – Take a look at Nicole’s name: NICOLE.  It’s very easy to change Nicole’s name to MOLE with a simple equation:  If you “add” the N to the I, it makes an M.  If you “add” the C to the O, it makes an O:  (N+I )(C+O) LE= MOLE
The show has been known for slipping in little clues like this in the past.  They will even highlight some of them in the finale once we find out who the mole is.  Now I am really starting to consider Nicole.  Her ultra-bitchy attitude could be a ploy for the cameras because she is the mole.  She was just the woman you love to hate, so as an audience member, you don’t want to think her awful personality if fake because you’re busy hating her.  But it’s just a thought for now; I will keep a close eye on her now, that’s for sure.  For tonight’s official guess, I’m going to have to go with Clay again.  Chris is still guessing Paul.  Though that Nicole hypothesis is a good one, I guess it wasn’t enough to convince him of Nicole’s role as the mole.  Until next week…

After getting to watch week #2 of the new Mole season UNINTERRUPTED by kids since they’re with Grandma this week (can’t put a price on that by the way, it’s funny how simple pleasures like watching a favorite tv show uninterrupted can feel really nice :)), I am going to change my mole guess from Clay to Kristen.  I don’t really have a good reason why; she was just acting kind of moley.  And her way of sabotaging the task could have been to get that chain to keep falling off the bike, cuz that was unfortunate.  Clay had like, one comment during the whole episode, and I just don’t think they would shove the mole into the backround like that.  And I have to add that I just knew this week was going to be the end of Liz somehow.  Chris thinks the mole is Paul, going with his first week’s guess.  I guess what I will do is give everybody a point for every week they guess the mole correctly at the end once we find out who it is.  Do you have a guess this week, Jamiahsh?  I got your comment on my other mole post, and I will repost it here:

After watching the first 2 episodes. It is definitely NOT BOBBY. Trying way too hard to draw attention to himself with his ‘overexertion. It could be Alex… unless he really did leave his journal behind by mistake.
 

Interesting comment.  We too, think that Bobby is drawing way too much attention to himself to be the mole.  He’s just coming across as a lazy jerk, and it’s not fun to watch.  I will go with Chris’ theory on him – he is trying to throw off other players by acting like the mole.  I see Alex as the guy who wins everyting – there’s always one of those on every reality show – and I don’t think he’s the mole.  I don’t know whether or not he left his journal laying around on purpose.  He could have done so or he could have left it accidently and just tried to cover it up with the explanation of trying to throw others off.  But anyway, another good episode, and here is where we stand on mole guesses:

Lisa – Clay, Kristen

Chris – Paul, Paul

Jamiahsh – Clay, ?

The Mole is the best reality show ever, I think.  And now it is back for another season, starting Monday, June 2.  It airs on ABC, and I highly recommend it.  A quick synopsis in case you missed my previous post about the Mole – 12 contestants complete various stunts and missions, although one of them is the mole.  The audience and other players don’t know who the mole is, and he or she tries to sabotage the missions while staying undercover.  Each week, the contestants take a quiz about the mole, and the person who guesses the most answers incorrectly must leave the game.  About the new season, I must say how much I don’t like the new host, but other than that, the show seems to be just as it was before – extremely entertaining, thought provoking, and FUN!

I think it’d be fun to keep a running tally of Mole guesses for viewers who read my blog.  So if you’re a Mole fan also, submit your guess to me each week and I wil post it.  So far after week one, my guess for the Mole would be Clay, and Chris is guessing Paul.

It’s fun to see if anyone can guess who the mole is from early on, so stay tuned to my blog throughout the summer for updates on the show, and if you decide to watch it, and I HIGHLY recommend that you do, join in the fun by posting me a comment with your thoughts on the episodes and guesses on who is…
THE MOLE!

When I was talking about the best reality show ever, The Mole, the other day, it made me think of my second favorite: American Inventor.  It was a show where people brought their inventions in front of a panel of judges, and the “good” ones advanced until a winner was chosen.  This show was fun to watch because some of the inventions were horrible ideas, and when the inventor pitched them, it was hilarious to see their inventions and the judges’ reactions to them.  It was also heartbreaking at times because there were people who put up everything they had to pursue the development of their invention – and some were so bad, they never had a chance.  Take Bulletball, for instance.  It was a game invented one night while the inventor and his wife sipped wine and batted a cat’s toy ball back and forth across a table.  So the inventor proceeded to invest everything he had, even living in his car, to develop the “high caliber” tabletop game of bulletball.  One of the judges asks, “So if you invested everything, what do you have?”  His reply?  “I have Bulletball.”  Oh my.  His segment on the show was very memorable (and sad – you had to feel sorry for someone who was so determned, yet his idea was SO bad, all 4 judges said no and broke his heart) that we were talking about it the other day and decided to look it up on youtube.  So, I will share his clip with you.  I admire his determination, but even I wouldn’t get Bulletball if I spotted it at the thrift store…  see below.

I wonder if American Inventor is going to return?  It was a good show, but the problem with it was that the inventions that end up winning aren’t realistic.  Both of the winning inventions were born out of tragedy, one was a special protective car seat thought up by a guy who lost his daughter in a car accident.  The other was a Christmas tree that extinguished itself if it caught on fire.  Both good ideas, but not really practical when you take cost and other factors into consideration.  But anyway, I’d like to see the show again, even if they keep choosing winners based on emotional reasons.

While we were looking up American Inventor on youtube, we came across this wacky video from Japan.  They call these “inventions”, and they are contraptions that make a series – random objects falling, hitting other objects, etc. in order to cause the next reaction until there’s a whole chain of them.  Think of the game Mousetrap (found that one a few weeks ago, by the way, but it’s missing the big ball!) or dominoes without the dominoes.  Check it out below.  You’ll notice that after each series of reactions, there’s a cute little Japanese song that plays – it’s actually quite catchy.  There are a bunch of these on the video, it’s over 9 minutes long in case you’re wondering while you watch if it’ll ever end.  I wonder if these “inventions” are shorts that aired on Japanese tv, maybe before or after some weekly show or something?  Who knows, but it’s fun to see the different things they came up with: