wrote this writeup on clubs after rewatching the mole 2
nobody will probably read it but im gonna post it anwyays
~The Mole 2~
Way back when there was once a really shitty cable channel in the triple digits called "Fox Reality Channel". Their content was all really horrible real housewives-esque spinoffs that looked TERRIBLE and also one randomly amazing show called Solitary. How does this relate to the mole? Well one day, again super randomly, Fox Reality Channel had a The Mole 1 marathon that my sister was watching. As a reality tv fan from a young age I started watching and was HOOKED. I was rooting for Kathryn with a K and a Y and was slightly horrified that when she was the mole as the only ppl who were contenders were the two men that I didn't like. HOWEVER I was hooked enough to go search this show online and watch season 2 on the high seas and it delivered.
Flashforward to 2 weeks ago I bought netflix because I didn't want to wait for the new Arcane episodes which took a solid day to appear on the high seas. Then I saw the Mole is on there and though to myself "might as well make myself useful and give the mole 2 a legal stream to help the algorithm gods on netflix make more quality continent". The reason for this preface is to highlight that I had a lot of preconceived opinions on the mole 2 based largely on my teenage semi-casual viewer-esque watching of the show years ago as well as to lay out some #FunFacts before getting into the meat of this writeup.
Being an early 2000s show, the editing style is a lot more docu-style which I think really helps the show. We are going on this grand adventure that unfolds slowly and methodically with a level of storytelling that shows that debuted in this era have long but abandoned (the worst example being survivor). This show operates under the guise of ~the game~ and figuring out #WhoIsTheMole but at its core its a social experiment in a way that the contestants both were aware of and at times weren't which are some of the reasons that made me fall in love with reality tv. In these aspects the mole 2 delivers.
To highlight more specific thoughts of the season slightly more coherently I will kinda just start talking about the cast now:
-Bob - kinda the one "who?" in the cast. Can't remember anything about him fresh after rewatch sorry
-Ali - fun utrp/morp presence, the comments after her elimination made me appreciate her more but thats more of a Bribs moment than an ali moment.
-Lisa - another fun morp and cp-lite presence and was kinda robbed.
-Patrick - fun CPN turn towards his last few episodes made him a fun mini-villain
-rob - out of the "morp first half boots" rob is prolly the most forgettable to me other than bob? your hair isnt a personality trait
-myra - the last of the fun morp early boots and also one of the least developed? loved her during the pizza task where they got the fern to go with them for the day.
-Elavia - Absolute icon! The story of elavia is both compelling and full circle and panned out in a way that i am sure the producers could not have dreamed of going any more perfectly. The briefcase moment (and then the revelation that dorothy, her final 2 and eventual winner) is one that, when watched with virgin eyes stuck WITH me and really propels the mole into legendary territory in terms of having an iconic MOMENT that you can go back to and just be like "iconic iconic iconic".
-Katie - My favorite on first watch and honestly probably my favorite on rewatch. Served zany ottp fun frumpy rootable underdog while being an amazing foil to others that made their storylines better as a result (heather, dorothy). Some of her moments really highlighted the social experiment aspect of the game and the very real frustrations she had when she felt she got used and abused during the "lure ppl out of their room for an excemption" task was one of them. Are the people in the game really your friends or just pretending as part of the game? is one of the questions that KATIE's storyline proposes really well in a way unique to the mole.
-Darwin - I love how out of the whole cast Darwin is the most stereotypical "intellectual" person there yet out of the end gamers had the least knowledge of the mole to the point where he actively was ruining other people's games. he was the utrfun person out of the entire endgame.
Comments
Did you read the book bill wrote about being the mole? It was rly good tbh
wrote this writeup on clubs after rewatching the mole 2