Starts 5th January on AVRO.
Ten celebs travel around Colombia taking in the sights and sounds and completing mental and physical tasks to earn money for a group pot, a pot that only one of them will take home. One of the contestants is a double agent, a Mole, working with the production team to try and sabotage the tasks without detection. The winner is not the person who is best at the tasks but the person who best works out who the mole is and tracks their actions as week by week the contestants must take a computer test to determine how much they know, the lowest scorer is immediately sent home.
This year we have a new host in ex-contestant Rik van de Westelaken.
Who are these people?
Probably most important, new host Rik van de Westelaken (middle) – newsreader, quiz show host, sometime host of Moltalk and winner of WIDM 2015 (discussed here). One of the ten celebs behind him will win money by completing tasks and uncovering which one of the ten is being paid to work against the team for our entertainment. But who is the mole?
- Nikkie de Jaeger – Dutch make-up Youtube star. Over 11m subscribers!
- Evelien de Bruijn – DJ and host.
- Jamie Trenité – Adventure and Science show host.
- Evi Hanssen – Flemish presenter, ex-host of Expedition Robinson.
- Rick Paul van Mulligan – Actor.
- Robert van Beckhoven – Professional baker.
- Merel Westrijk – Newsreader and morning show host.
- Niels Litooij – Electronic musical artist
- Sarah Chronis – Actress.
- Sinan Can – documentary maker.
A link to discussion of relevant episodes follows. We thank Friend of The Bar Marieke (here’s her Twitter) for reliably translating episodes in her spare time. We ask our international friends to hold off from commenting on an episode until the subtitled episodes have gone up.
Man, I don’t remember feeling so gutted from an execution before.
Unlike Marieke, I am almost 100% certain that the mole is male. I think I’m probably getting tunnel-vision, but it seems that every time one particular candidate is making comments during his confessional, it seems like they are comments that could be played back during the finale after having just revealed him as the mole.
Sometimes the cast gels, sometimes they don’t- this time it’s the latter, at least to me.
And I’m wondering if they get to 5 figures at this rate- usually we get a big minus ep at some point, and we haven’t had it yet this year…
Man… I love The Mole so much and I’ve watched so many seasons of it, and I think this is the first time where an episode has kind of made me want to bail out early. I thought all of the challenges were pretty dull, all the candidates were remarkably incompetent at handling what should have been simple tasks, two of the only candidates that I actually like were eliminated, and one of them was eliminated through some despicable tactics. That was just a really rough hour in a lot of ways.
I’d be intrigued to find out the Dutch reaction given how big the show is over there, and especially given that things like alliances were really frowned upon in their version of Expedition Robinson, for example.
TBH I thought it was quite good television, and if it was Sangmin doing it on The Genius everyone would be falling over themselves. I don’t think it’s one of the more fun casts, but I appreciate that they’re playing quite hard, and that WIDM is all about the metagame in the last five/six years.
Feels like many more all-or-nothing tasks this year.
I think viewers get the impression that Evelien was eliminated due to despicable tactics…
But let’s be realistic about it… It would have been 1 more point on the quiz if she had used her own joker. The host did not indicate there was a tie (like they do sometimes), so there is a very high probability that Evelien would have been eliminated even with the Joker. The fact remains that she knew the least about the identify of The Mole.
I’m really torn as to whether the joker switch was Absolute Genius or A Bit Much, I very much agree that if it were Sangmin we’d all be loving it – but then again I’ve always felt that there was a little bit more honor and… sophistication(?) to Dutch WIDM than other shows.
Agree the games for the past 2 eps have been a bit meh, but I’m absolutely loving this cast and their more intense attitude. I wonder how much the mole is pushing that angle – I’d *die* if the mole turned out to be one of the more outspoken men like Sinan or Rick-Paul.
Both the eliminations for ep4 were a bit disappointing, and I’m worried this season might suffer for rolling bad eliminations.
EPISODE FIVE DISCUSSION START
I think TM was told to ease up a bit on the first two assignments just to put a little more money in the pot- the waterfall task was the only one where a sabotage could look like issues going down the falls. (If Niels isn’t TM, he seems to be getting a finalist edit at least)…
I noticed something that may have been a clue in Rik’s prologue this week, but apparently Rik himself doesn’t know the identity of the mole?
Others have noticed a scene in the opening titles that changes slightly each week too but nobody has managed to link it up to anything significant as of yet, perhaps a clue that will only make sense by the final episode.
A few people made fairly good observations on clues that seemingly pointed to this week’s eliminated contestant been the mole though which obviously turned out to mean nothing in the end!
Isn’t it a bit of a tradition to chuck in a clue relating to the year too? I haven’t spotted one of those yet!
Depends on the host, really. Some of them ask to know, some of them ask to not, and yet others find out in the natural course of the game as a result of certain challenges.
Soooo this season. It has been a bumpy road so far. The challenges all seem pretty sub par in my opinion and I feel like im missing something. There hasn’t really been a jaw dropping twist (yet) to the a challenge.
I do like the focus on the meta game of it all and that they are all there to play. I do feel that the joker switch was a little mean spirited since this is not really that type of game. Like if something like that happened on survivor or BB it would have been a great play. It comes down to if he played it that quiz and it helped him stay or not, and if he is the mole then that opens up a whole can of worms both on the production side and his personal image.
Not surprised about the quiz result, they have been low on my list from week one. I am thinking Sinan may have potential as he is pretty useless at everything yet has stuck around. But we are halfway through so there is really no need to switch up my list in a big way.
This was another great episode for fans of Hot Dad Sinan Can Do No Wrong By Virtue Of Doing Very Little. Incredible. Rapidly turning into one of my fave WIDM contestants.
I wonder what he does as a documentary producer? Delegate, probably.
I don’t know if it’s sarcastic, but if it’s not sarcastic, OH COME ON =/
I blame Sinan for causing this group to be rather hostile and incompetent. Many people accuse Sinan as De Mol but I think he’s simply De Jerk.
Aw come on, he talks a big game, but in reality he’s the real life version of the “Luigi Wins By Doing Absolutely Nothing” meme.
I grant you he’s not as good as the guy who was hilariously useless in all the challenges and fluked his way to the final a few years ago, but still.
Obviously there’s a chance he’s already figured out who the Mole is and he’s trying to throw the others off the scent, but let’s be honest if he isn’t the Mole he’s most likely just useless at all the challenges. It’s a good thing he’s the only one like this, imagine how frustrating it would be to watch if they were all like that.
Very proud of the fact that we identified his potential in Week 1. He’s trying so hard to be a villainous character it’s delightful.
Dan has come down with The Grippe, The Flu, or.. (sigh) Halle Berry-Berry [yes, he wrote that last one]
He’s asked me to fill in for him this week.
The Suspect List week 5 is available here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIbolM8xTxIIO37osd1QYIAv3LMAgd4n_mIk0c1Jj_gFZJvg/viewform
Good luck to everyone
EPISODE SIX DISCUSSION START
A good episode this week I thought. Bit weird to have a game for a group exemption again after everyone was safe in Episode 1, now meaning we have a mid-finale execution on the horizon, but whatever.
Af. 6 is up!
https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=AJw812dzVssi7Quv&u=/watch%3Fv%3DLom_VzUqfBk%26feature%3Dem-uploademail
I think this is one too many non-eliminations; though I think it could have been interesting is if they did something like this:
Knowing that they could all be safe, an offer was made- they would secretly vote as to if they wanted the execution to take place anyway. If TWO of them said yes (so TM couldn’t do it on their own), someone would be eliminated- but they would get €4000 for the pot. (if the assignment had been failed by one team, offer the safe team an option- if all three of them agreed, instead of the other team seeing their screens, they would see their own instead for €2000; if they were all safe, no one would go, if one wasn’t, the money was safe regardless. If both teams had failed, someone would go no matter what..)
Most series have two non-eliminations, no?
Notes:
Sinan is decent at tasks that involve sitting down. Who’d have thought?
Surely, surely, those colours on the zipwire said something in Morse.
For the ‘find the end of thread’ task I’d have taken the starting end and gone ‘here it is!’.
I’m 99% on Jamie. Niels has plausable deniability in the squares task, I don’t believe for a minute Jamie didn’t get it.
Fun thing is that I don’t believe Niels that he couldn’t get it. He also “took out” (the title of this episode) the most money. He is still my #1 mole alongside Rick Paul.
So there is quite a big hint going around I wanted you guys not to miss out on… it’s too much of a coincidence to not be anything so I’m choosing to believe this hint. However sad it makes me….
The red-green line has a meaning behind it. So the test was finished and the WIDM crew knew who had the red screen. If you place the candidates in order of age, you get a nice list and if you match the red-green combo, you can match anybody that’s gone to a red sign and the people still in it with a green sign. Except one…
Robert 57 RED
Evelien 44 RED
Sinan 41 GREEN
Evi 40 RED
Merel 39 GREEN
Rick Paul 37 GREEN
SARAH 32 RED !!
Niels 29 GREEN
Jamie 28 GREEN
Nikkie 24 RED
I’m still going to ride or die with Sarah as my mole because I just want to be right from episode 1 for once.
I saw that online earlier so thank you for explaining it in English, as well as your beyond super quick uploads! If it helps, I’m Team Sarah too but it is usually around this time of the series my Mole goes and I spend a week cursing myself!
It could be a double bluff by the production team in that Sarah is the odd one out in the ‘sequence’, all the other red are actual eliminated contestants.
Interesting theory….and in-season too, unlike the “clues” about another person that’s come up…
Although it could be a red herring pointing out Sarah should have been the one eliminated…
Week 6 of The Suspect List is here, WITH A TWIST. Good luck all!
https://goo.gl/forms/tah6cEKSKQIAtoOo1
Sorry it’s a bit later than I’d like, I’ve had the flu. Not recommended. Huge thanks go to Scott Rux who has manned The Suspect List whilst I’ve been recovering.
That twist is evil. You also know that I’m very tempted by a gamble, especially when I’m still not 100% on my Mole yet.
Two things I’ve noticed:
1) My theory from the first podcast episode (still available at all good retailers) about Art being on the money has been vindicated – the theme this year appears to be old Mole hosts, with Angela as 50EUR, Karol as 100 and Pieter Jan as 250. Could that be a clue?
2) Something hinky happened with the tuktuk challenge – it was advertised with a max of 1900, but only 1200 was accounted for at the end (+550/-650).
Hmmm, interesting observation.
The only reason to remove money from an envelope and not have it counted is if you earned money both times (or if you planned to earn money both times)… because otherwise you can leave it in the envelope and not arrive on time and the money would be negative money. So if a mole theoretically removed it from the envelope it would have been with the intent of coming in on time both times.
EPISODE SEVEN DISCUSSION START
That was probably one of the best twists to the Walk of Temptation they’ve done for a while.
Jamie was my mole so annoyed he has gone. Looks like it might be Sarah after all. Sad Rick-Paul had to leave, he bought a light touch to this year’s team.
Although I’d love it if after Sinan’s “they’re a very good Mole” it turned out to be him.
RP has been my highlight of the series, able to bring the light and the seriousness.
I was very much hoping for a reveal that “if any of you had gone to the last box in the Walk of Temptation, you would have won EUR 100,000 for the pot and an ultraviolet exemption for yourself”, or similar.
Jamie has been my top suspect too despite my gut feeling that it will be a woman this year. I am now leaning towards Merel since she pulled the double execution card. I have also started to grow suspicious of Sinan because he has become totally useless.
None the less I have no clue. The mole is playing really well this year for sure.
“Become”?
While I would do absolutely horribly in terms of points on the Suspect List if Sinan turns out to be the Mole, I think it would be absolutely hilarious if he is.
I’m leaning to the fact that it has to be Sarah! Hoping that it not Niels and he’s also not the winner but if he’s not the mole and really was on Jamie he has a big advantage right now. My money is on Sarah and her stalling tactics, she also does nothing but is just not a renowned for it as Sian 🙂
The 2 red screens was a great twist for the walk of temptation and finally brought this season to another level
I’ve thought Sarah quite a while, but there was a potential commentary/visual clue in this episode so I now have Niels as a backup – the word ‘focus’ was thrown around a few times and then Niels decided to pull out a Polaroid branded T-Shirt to wear
But a lot of people reckon Merel so it could be any of them! It’ll probably end up being Sinan :/
On a side note, I was being evil and hoping someone would pull out the double execution after losing nobody last week!
Well you always know there’s a assignment where there’s a big minus because of players acting in their self-interest, and that was it. Interesting one of the possibilities was basically “you win any time tiebreak on the test”- I don’t know if that’s been offered at least on this version before…and I knew the double elimination was going to be picked (though I wonder if the producers knew where the DE was each time, and set it up where if it hadn’t been chosen by someone else beforehand, TM would be told to pick it up so they would be back on schedule- remember, they might not have shown the actual order they played it)
I agree with this. The sure-fire to do that would be to make the Mole LAST (or 2nd to last is also equally viable I suppose) and then ensure the Mole picks it if no one else did.
exactly- and then just edit it in whatever order they wanted to (they could have put TM wherever they wanted- if someone had picked the DE beforehand, so be it, if they hadn’t, TM would get it. So who actually got the DE doesn’t mean they were TM- the producers could have gotten lucky and didn’t have to use their failsafe.)
My thoughts as well because I was expecting a double just do to the schedule one had to happen at some point. I wish at least one went to the last bowl because I was thinking there could have been a black or normal exemption in it since we haven’t seen much of either this season.
And on a strategy point they really should have cracked their jokers open for this execution. I hope that in the finale they say whether or not the joker RP used would have saved him had he opened it.
WiDM watchers! Week 7 of The Suspect List can be found here:
https://goo.gl/forms/qtTsCvzlYFSIfnr52
Last week I asked – would you like to open your joker and see what’s inside?
55% of you decided to take the risk and open it! We will see if it pays off in a few weeks time.
Talking of which, I’ve noticed that the opening of Jokers twist seems to have totally fizzled out on the show itself!
I’m torn between Sarah/Merel as to the mole but think im learning slighty more towards merel
The fact that the sneak peak showed Sinan run in a challenge can only imply one thing : The next episode is going to be the best episode ever, even better than 18X01.
But in a serious note, I love how Sinan delivered a lot of quotes and stayed compose in this episode.
I’m glad that my mole is still in the game. It’s just sad that I only switched to my mole at episode 3. I’m looking forward to see my mole eliminated at the last episode, leaving me flustered.
Similar but slightly different – Belgian Mole promos have started ramping up. It appears we’re getting something (hopefully a trailer) on Thursday at 4pm.
The first hint seems to be geenmol.be (yes, “no mole” .be) which has a cryptic hint spelling out the following phrases:
1) jij weet niets – you know nothing (this is the main tagline of the promos this year, like “heb je mij gemist?” from last year)
2) is dat vuile beest je steeds te snel af? – is that dirty beast always too fast?
3) En beiden de klassieke methodes geen oplossing meer? – and both the classic methods no longer a solution?
4) Dan ben je bij mij aan het juiste adres! – then you’ve come to the right place!
Pinch of salt obviously, cause I’ve used google translate.
I tried to comment about the advert campaign a while ago, but I guess it didn’t go through. Anyway, I was looking for English-language Mole forums and found this website again 🙂
You’re right. It just says: ‘Is that dirty animal too fast for you? And are the typical methods no longer working? Then you’ve come to the right place, because my motto is: ‘Don’t let yourself get pushed around and deal with the moles.’ It fits with the brochures that they’ve handed out about mole infestations in Sint-Gillis-Waas, but they misspelled it as Sint-Gilles-Waas. And on the other website that they created, it says: ‘You know nothing, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing.’
Also, at a contestant from 2018’s university, a banner appeared today that says: Betrayal is never alone. But it’s used in an expression that means more ‘When it rains, it pours’ or ‘Misery loves company’ in English.
Sorry Natalia, it must have fallen into the Spam trap by accident, you shouldn’t have problems now.
I’ll be setting up a separate page for Belgian Mole soon.
Definitely looking forward to it – the Belgian version is also so amazing
But have we figured out English translation this year yet? Last I heard, there was question about the person doing it again this year
Hi Natalia, thanks for confirming! Very excited for the Vietnam season to begin! Hopefully we’ll get a premiere date this week too.
Welp, Rick Paul was my mole from episode one. Guess I’m not winning the Suspect List. And as soon as Jamie got eliminated I knew he must as well, because it was too emphatic that Jamie said Rick Paul was his mole, and Niels said Jamie was his. Either all three of them had to survive, or Jamie and Rick Paul had to be eliminated. Ah well.
I called there being an unopened tube in the bananas task. Love the shot of it. Also the “bananas” song during that task was brilliant.
I’m sure you’ve seen the trailer for De Mol already, but people have found what are assumed to be the contestants’ names in it: Liesbeth, Joeri, Kaat, Axel, Bas, Bruno, Elisabet, Ingrid, Eva and Martijn. So I’m not sure if there will be a kick-off episode before the premiere.
Also, some info that wasn’t in the trailer (and spoilers about the twist…): There will be a thorough challenge in the first episode to test everyone before they choose the mole, and the mole will be chosen in front of everyone somehow.
You do an amazing job with the subtitles, ignore the idiots who moan because you don’t upload an episode with subtitles within 1 nanosecond after it has aired!
Wrong person.
Oops, my comment ended up in completely the wrong place.
To show how popular the show still is there- they’re having finale viewing parties at 25 movie theaters all over the Netherlands that have pretty much sold out…
And I was thinking- since next year is season 20, wouldn’t it be interesting if they brought back a few former Moles and had them play again for a special anniversary season in addition to the main one (they wouldn’t have to go out of the country if they didn’t want to, and they wouldn’t need to do a full 10 person cast- Say a 6 person cast for a 4 or 5 episode run)..
A tragedy how meanwhile here in the UK rubbish such as Hunted is being churned out year after year rather than investing a few quid in a revival of The Mole!
sooo wish the UK would atleast give a revival a go as the mole is probable my favourite reality tv game show
EPISODE EIGHT DISCUSSION START
THIS IS THE EPISODE I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR.
Finally we have a good episode this season.
I’ve tried to work out if there’s any clue to who the Mole is in the placement of the torches in the first task, but I can’t see any pattern. Maybe someone who is better at puzzles can have a go and find something.
I am very sure of my mole now. So I hope it’s Merel so I forked up entirely.
Also do we all agree that the plinko joker always had the exemption in it? I think the producers really wanted their twist to be more important, so it would be a bad choice if they had actually given a real 50/50 chance to the contestants. And with a 50% chance in this part of the game you will certainly open the joker.
I was actually thinking that too- since there was no money at stake it wouldn’t matter if TM won it or not..
And I’m also pretty confident who TM is, but will be interested to see where the pot ends up- not outside the realm of possibility they won’t get to 10k..
It was quite interesting how they didn’t prove one didn’t contain a Joker, it does almost feel like one of those scenes that will come out at the reunion as ‘haha we made you sweat for no reason!’
It turns out my girlfriend is actually the mole though by deciding we should go on holiday to Paris 03-10 March – hopefully my data roaming works!
I was thinking a bit more on this- they might have gotten a little more drama if they had said “if you don’t open the joker to see if the exemption is in there, we’ll put €3000 in the pot and we’ll give you both jokers to use”; though I think Niels is TM so he would have opened it anyway…
I think that make’s Merel’s decision to lose the game for Niels make more sense than the brainfart she suggested was the case – if I can’t win, the next best result is the Mole winning as my odds are 2/3 then.
Obviously she then has to make it look like a mistake, otherwise everyone will know who she’s on.
I think it was 100% strategy on her part and not a brainfart moment but as you say had to make it look like that either because she’s onto Niels if he is the mole or she knows where his votes are going if he isn’t the mole
So I’ve found myself watching Season 9 of WIDM, the Northern Ireland/Jordan one, based on Michael’s suggestion that Belgium will be doing its own twist on selecting a Mole at the beginning of the series. The gameplay is surprisingly hardcore. It’s on Marieke’s channel so do give it a watch.
But what I want to talk about is something a bit more subtle – we know the previous Mole hosts are on the banknotes this year, and that the’ve shown Pieter Jan Hegens €250 note a lot, whether it’s a clue I don’t know. But what’s quite striking compared to the last two mole hosts is how integrated he is in the challenges, as if he’s administering them. Art and Rick top and tail each task (explain what it is, tell them if they’ve won or not, otherwise keep distance) but that’s about it with team contact. PJ’s happy to get up close and personal, turn up to interrupt meals, that sort of thing. And his eliminations are amusingly underplayed. I liked Art, he used his distance to give a constant feeling of mischief, he knows something they don’t. I quite like Rick, but I don’t think he’s found a style yet.
I can’t remember the order I watched old series. I definitely watched one in Dutch without subs (I forget which, the one where you had to drive a truck and avoid knocking down pictures of their teammates), I’ve seen an Angela one (is she the only female host of The Mole in the world?), not seen any Karel.
I think the closest we’ve had to PJ is probably Gilles – he gets involved in the challenges much more than Rik/Art have. I agree that Rik is still finding his feet a little – it’ll be interesting to see what they do with him next year given how good the ratings have been (6/8 episodes have had 40+% market share).
I’m really intrigued to see what the old Host money scheme is about – we’ve seen a lot of PJ, but Art is on 500, Karol 100 and Angela 50 I believe.
Yeah, Gilles, Grant, Glenn. All the Gs.
I seem to remember Glenn ‘But now I have a challenge for you’ Hugill was quite stuck in too, although his destiny seemed to end up being TV production anyway *cough* Possessed please bring back The Mole *cough*
Rik is finding his feet, relaxing his newsreader style a bit now towards the end – fun fact he hosted a series of 5 Gold Rings too!
Shaping up to be a great finale though as there is such a Mole split between the 3 finalists, possibly even more so than last year! I also love the montages they do before the reveal, last year was good with the mirror twist (which someone on here predicted!) but the 2013 South Africa one with the priest and THE MOL IS probably my personal favourite!
The Priest one was STUNNING. I can’t wait to see this year’s one (cause I’ll be at the actual reunion!) cause I’m still not 100% confident in my suspicions. When I last checked, the official suspicions were 31%/32%/37% (in alphabetical order of finalists).
Oh your going to the reunion ? that’s so awesome would love to attend one as love the mole soo much and as you mentioned earlier yesssssss bring back the mole over here in the UK.
Can someone explain the priest thing?
So the very first challenge had everyone being dropped off in Soweto and having to make their way to a church with envelopes containing hints. They could either open the envelopes or put them in the box at the church to earn money when they arrived.
As they arrived, a priest was giving a sermon and called each of them up to say something to them. The first words of his statements to each of them had the initials THE/MOLE/IS and the last person to arrive…was the mole.
Week 8 of The Suspect List can be found here:
https://goo.gl/forms/DZr4hriDDbLyRk1m2
Good luck, just this and one more to go. Approximately 18-20 regular players this year, so thank you very much if you’re taking part. I look forward to doing all the stats in the next couple of weeks…
I’m sorry I haven’t really taken part in it this year, I forgot on week 2 and just stopped 🙁
Circumstances got in the way of me playing regularly, which I’m now quite frustrated about, because my pick for Mole is still in. Grrr.
Not been a very great season so far for me personally. Probably the highlight for me so far has been the brick factory as it felt the most layered and exciting of the challenges.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x73e3em
New Belgian Mole trailer. It looks amazing.
Ok guys so the NPO has put a block on ripping videos from their site. So I have no way to download the video and subtitles… if any of you are handy enough to find a way to download the video, let me know so I can find a way to get the last 2 episodes up…..
Ok so I found the HD versions. I just gotta do the subs from scratch now. I’m super annoyed though. Blocking a video from being downloaded is one thing. I totally get that that is violating a bunch of copyright laws, but the subs… come on…. Well the last episode was going to be this anyway so it’s just this 9th episode that’s going to be more work than it was going to be… but anyway, at least I think I can finish the season… So bare with me, it’s coming! 😉
Thanks Marieke, appreciated.
OMG I’ve never been so high tech! I’ve found the subs in the coding of the website… 😛 So I’ve got the subs now…
L33t HaXXor!
EPISODE 9 STARTS NOW
Something just feels wrong about this Episode 9. For the first 8 episodes, I have brushed it off as “They have a new host, that’s why they lower the quality to give the host some time to adjust.” But this episode just seems lazy for me. The moment where they showed the scene of them drinking coconut, I am like “Woah. They have to filler already? What is this? American Big Brother?” Like, surely, surely, you can get a third challenge there. Just do something simple like “money or a peek of one of the final exam’s question” dilemma.
In addition to that, I genuinely think that Niels is TM. Back in the Pipe Challenge, TM tried to sabotage the challenge by hiding the pipe on the grass. Merel and Sarah were too busy solving the puzzle together. Niels is the only person who can throw the pipe to the grass. If that’s the case, isn’t this the first season where both candidates picked the wrong person?
Also, is this just me or this season’s budget is cut? I think last season we had a top prize of 45 k and this season is only 35 K?
I think it’s fair to suggest it’s not been the best series.
But there have been 19 of them, some are always going to work better than others. It’s been an OK season, but we’ve been spoilt coming off the back of two really really entertaining ones. They’ve got nothing to worry about anyway, it’s the second highest rating show in the country (2.6m for the previous ep, although down from 4m the premiere got. Moltalk gets well over a million, impressively).
It would be very funny if neither of them got The Mole right, and the winner decided on who lucked out on question happenstance. I don’t think it has happened before.
Non-Lingo total for the season could have been 41,000.
It’s time for the final Suspect List for 2019. I’ve got a strong favourite – do you?
https://goo.gl/forms/pfvgRU6krWj79DSi2
At least they got to 5 figures- I don’t know how much of the total being so low was due to TM interference, was due to a lot of the challenges being either all or nothing or a chance of a minus, or the contestants not really working together…
I do agree this hasn’t been the best season-I think the reasons include the group really not jelling, Rik settling in his host job, and some of the challenges not as creative as they usually are..still, it’s not a complete disaster of a season.
I think my biggest problem with this series is the lack of Columbia.
Normally I feel I kind of know something about the country after watching a series (although I definitely forget it quickly). This time I have no idea about it. I know the flag. But there haven’t been many landmarks, the nature looked average and I just don’t think it was very playful with the location. I really hope they will tell us it was a back-up for another series at the reunion.
I think the double elimination episode was the only one where I really had a feeling that Rik knew his role. In all the other episodes he seemed very exchangeable. I hope he’ll get a great series next year and gets to find his own style with that.
I’ll say I rate this series a bit better than the consensus so far: not an all-time classic but slightly better than average IMO.
For me, the real treat of this season has been the cast. Nikkie, Evelien, Rick Paul, and Sinan were all top value. Niels, Merel and Robert were also good fun, and it was great to see the skullduggery boil over in ep 4-5.
A lot of “quite cheap” challenges, yep, but also some iconic moments. The hotel balconies, the brick factory, ‘Russian Roulette’, that final beach party. But of course the main reference point in 5 years will be “the one where they didn’t get very much money”.
Agree that not much was really about Colombia, and also agree that we didn’t get much from Rik.
I still don’t know what’s going on with the titles.
I reckon that jigsaw puzzle shown in the opening titles will be part of the sequence that reveals the mole
Definitely feel like this might be one of the worst seasons I’ve seen of any Mole internationally. This last episode felt particularly lazy. Conceptually, the tree trunk/logs challenge is exactly the same as the banana grove challenge from earlier in the season. Seriously, it is. Bring the colored jumbled items to the correctly colored sections. At the same time, it was a downgrade from the banana grove as we didn’t have the pulley system, the scale, and the physical toll. The DJ game looked fun and played out funnily enough…but maybe works better in the early stages of the show, not as a final challenge. I don’t think it’s unfair to say that many whole challenges from this season feel like they could be just the first segment or a minigame of a challenge from De Mol Belgium (an unfair comparison given the absurdly high quality of De Mol, but it’s the standard bearer for a reason). Think about it, even the Final Exemption game this season, would likely have been followed by an Exemption defense game in Belgium.
In case you guys weren’t aware of the intro hint. I’ll try and explain.
From episode 1 on, in the intro, a shot of a game was replaced by people dragging stuff through the water. If you took the first letters of the games that were removed from the intro, you got MOL IS and the final two made up I V.
We can say that’s a Roman 4. Merel is 4th in the leader.
People suggested if you write it down, it might seem like a N.
But the last one was an E. So This would make MOLISIVE. Which could also be MOLVISIE. Sarah’s guilty pleasure is Vision of Love….
But these are the letters the leader forms.
Thanks, literally I’ve only noticed what’s been happening with the intros this week, despite the Reality TV Warriors podcast mentioning the puzzle thing several times and not really having a clue what they were going on about.
Us not having a clue what we’re going on about? That doesn’t sound like us…
I can’t work out if you’re deliberately misunderstanding, so for the avoidance of doubt I mean me, here.
Oh no, I’m 100% genuinely misunderstanding. I’m so desperately hopeless when it comes to guessing Moles on the podcast.
Yes, or (M)ariah carey visi(O)n of (L)ove is what I picked up in the DJ game
But I just have tunnel vision now as I want it to be Sarah 🙂
Roving reporter TV’s Michael Harmstone is there at the final in the flesh, follow him on http://www.twitter.com/mjharmstone.
For once I’m an international friend! I was very close to the front till the VIPs got there, but got lots of pretty pictures and a video of the reveal. Obviously no spoilers, but I’ll say that I was more information at the Molacties than I should have been. There was one where the entire crowd groaned.
That should say impressed. This is what happens when you try and type after standing up for ~8 hours, 5 of which were in the same spot!
One thing of note too – the hidden clues are all online this year (and a bit rubbish)! The sabotages are on YouTube already.
As we look forward to the Grand Final, just a quick note that if you want to tip Marieke for her hard work, you can do so here: https://www.paypal.me/widmenglishsubs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwgMrKkuZG8&feature=em-uploademail
NOW YOU CAN SEE WHAT I SAW (and maybe see me! Near the middle, right-hand side near the guy with the Niels sign)
Wow, Ron got more airtime doing this than De Mol 2018! I also didn’t realise quite how young quite a lot of the viewer base was across there! (Props to the kid that just turned their sign round if their initial Mole guess was wrong!)
He was next to me! He drew that while we were waiting.
I was shocked that Ron was the new Chris – lots of people took the piss out of his performance last year when he worked the crowd.
Actually, scratch that – the guy next to me was a different kid who had a sign saying Niels was the mole and also one saying he wasn’t.
For the record I’ve already pledged to myself I’ll be attending the live finale next year myself, not that I understand much Dutch but it looks so much fun!
It’s definitely worth it. I understood way more of the episode than I expected to.
Good final (Rik more in his element in the studio setting methinks), good Mole, good winner.
Something that I was surprised wasn’t resolved is who threw the pole out in the puzzle challenge and how did they get away with it?
Translation of the hidden clues explanation:
Read the hints and hidden clues to the Mole of this season Who is the Mole? here!
The biggest hint to the identity of the Mol was in the leader this season.
Each episode, one assignment was replaced by puzzle pieces on a lake. If you mix the first letters of the names of the assignments, you get MOL IS IV . IV is the Roman number for 4. A reference to the Mol. Merel is the fourth person in the leader. Moreover, the puzzle pieces together form a portrait photo of the Mole. The men in the water took the Mole “On Tow Line” , the title of episode 1.
As always, all other delivery titles also point to the Mol.
“Calculated” , the title of episode 2, refers to the Mol who is out during the assignments to get the best himself. With “Ver Tellen” , the Mol tries to make as little money as possible by giving wrong answers. And at “Uit Stralen” de Mol took money away from the laser course. The candidates could all earn the same amount of money, but nobody calculated that.
The title of episode 3 was “Not Saved” . De Mol lost the assignment “Stapelgek” by dropping the joker tower. Opponent Evelien won three jokers and the Mol had “three against”. An anagram of the delivery title. And at the last “On Stairs” assignment, the Mol did not manage to ensure that they would go for 30 minutes in the presence of the whole group, while they had agreed 45 minutes. The order titles of this episode also point to the Mol. At “Flag Holes” you can see the Mole in a shot with the flag of Colombia. And the Mole was “Stapelgek” by keeping a block with the word Mol on the forehead. To speak with the words of the Mole himself: “You would almost think it is an indication.”
The delivery title “Becoming a printer” refers to the Mole who sees it becoming busier in the hotel after the execution on the roofs. And further on in episode 4, during the assignment “Serenade” is also hinted at the identity of the Mole. On a balcony is the text: “The balcony of Merel ends at 13”. The thirteenth letter of the alphabet is M. De M van Mol and Merel. Moreover, the Mol is on the right balcony during the assignment and literally says: “I am well. I am in any case well because I am at 13. “A reference to her foreknowledge and thus to her identity. But of course a mole would never do that. And so she is on the wrong balcony at the end of the assignment.
The title of episode 5 was “Blinding” . De Mol dazzles Robèrt by carrying out the “Street Scene” and “Key Ring” assignments with him. He no longer sees her as the main suspect and falls away.
Episode 6 has the title “Undoing”. It is a reference to the extraction of a Mollenstreek during the “Links / Right” assignment. At the end of the assignment, the total amount of the envelopes amounted to 1200 euros, while 1900 euros could be earned. Anyone who had calculated this, a reference to the title of episode 2, could have realized that during the assignment “Radiating” money was eclipsed that came in handy. De Mol took out high amounts of money from her envelopes and lowered them. The title of episode 9 was “Motive” . In the assignment “Chieftain” came wooden disks that were thrown by the mole in the water, the hat of the mole drifted away and later on the mole was in the picture with a spring. In addition, with the assignment “Drain” not only the records of the candidates were heard but also the following songs: 24k Magic, I’m Coming Out, Vision or Love, Ride Wit Me. The first letters of the last words form MOL M. A direct reference to Mol Merel. And finally, during the same assignment, only the guilty pleasure of the Mol could not be heard. A mole prefers to keep his pleasure secret.
The clues were indeed a bit naff! (They should hire some of the online theorists to stick in a few next year!)
They also never explained the Plinko exemption game either 🙁
Most of the stuff that was never explained is stuff they just put in there to throw us off. I believe Merel was told to get the 2 exemptions, she might’ve picked Niels to win because he was a funner finalist than Sinan and more likable. The pole in the grass was a red herring. Of course they do that and most fans will accept it, but I don’t think they want to put a lot of emphasis on the fact that they manipulate the game like that.
As you guys probably know, I was on Sarah. Mostly because Merel was a bit obvious in the beginning. Quite a bit of focus on her so that made me think she wouldn’t be it. While hints started piling up on Merel (Going 2nd in the laser, giving up the exemption, being the person in key positions and guiding the production, 2 exemptions/opening a joker with exemption in it) I was already in my tunnel. I have to admit it could’ve been both of them in the end.
I did go on national radio that finale night claiming it was Sarah so I did have my failed attempt at fame…
I thought the clue in episode 6 totally referreed to Niels cause I think he took the most money out the pot in this episode.
Merel tricked me most by probably being the most responsible for getting money in episode 5.
49.9% market share and 3.5m viewers. That’s monstrous.
Wooh! Share. 3.5m out of 10m is impressive though.
Overall a good season. I wasnt on Merel until the last half of the season and that was mainly because my main went home. I think Rik has grown on me and can’t wait to see him improve next year.
Me, Jan 14th:
“Another possibility is that an early runner interfered with other player’s piles. I am pondering about the fact that whoever went second – was it Merel? – seemed to take a long time. Interfering? Could have been any of the first few, mind.”
I think that’s when I was first properly considering Merel, I think that might be the first time I’ve ever properly been on a Mole with evidence rather than guesswork!
I’m a little surprised that it seemed that the mole was playing fair in that they too were having to work around the lasers. That might have actually been the best performance on that game by quite some margin!