The Mole: The Netflix Reboot

If you're unfamiliar with The Mole, I implore you to check out my previously published article here on Vocal detailing the early 2000s family whodunit show. It was ahead of its time, cryptic, at times hilarious, and borderline reality show perfection.

The reboot has been long awaited for fans of the original show and was finally released on Netflix this year. The original premise of the game remained -- one player is a secret saboteur working for the producers. They must hide among the rest of the players and keep them from making money in a multitude of challenges. This all happens while traveling through foreign countries, battling language barriers, decoding maps and clues, and sleeping in less-than-stellar accommodations at times.

I think the reboot did all of that correctly. Australia was a location that they hadn't explored before, and I think they did a great job at showing some of the lesser-known areas of the country/continent.

The challenges were also fun and fresh while also taking inspiration from some of the challenges from past seasons. They all felt challenging yet attainable if not a little like glorified escape rooms at some points.

Now, let's get to the cast and, yes, Spoiler Warning, I will be discussing the identity of The Mole. The cast was diverse and intelligent, and I think the casting directors did a good job of wrangling people of different ages and walks of life. Having a clinical psychologist and a professional gamer compete against a nurse and a focus group moderator is always going to be entertaining. However, I have bones to pick with the Mole casting and also with the strategy of some of the players.

Last Warning: Mole's Identity Incoming

I begged, pleaded, and did everything but a blood sacrifice, hoping with my whole heart that Kesi was not The Mole. But once I started questioning her, something clicked and I just knew. While there were moments where other players made me believe it might be them, Kesi herself could never throw me off her trail once I was on it. For me, this was the equivalent of if Dorothy from the OG Season 2 had been The Mole. If this means nothing to you, let me explain. Basically, it's fine and it makes sense but...boring? Like why? Why was it so obvious that I had to question if it was too obvious and did that mean I was wrong? There were moments where she could have acted as a team player, thrown the other players off her scent a bit, and still not have sacrificed a good sabotage. Honestly, the players did a fairly good job themselves of keeping money out of the pot, as it seemed like every team member wanted to be or be seen as The Mole. For the life of me, I still cannot figure out Joi's strategy but more on her later. I feel like Kesi could have looked a billion times less guilty in the bank heist. I believe Will knew from that moment that she was The Mole, and that is what eventually led to his win. Of course, I didn't get to hear him speak on that because the finale and reunion were an absolute joke and buzzkill but, again, I"m getting ahead of myself. If Kesi had finally "figured out" the names right at the end, the team may have earned a little money, sure, but not enough to upset The Mole (especially considering the other team lost, as well, and there challenge was an almost guaranteed loss), and her cracking the code even with minimal time left would have lifted so much suspicion from her. Now, truthfully, this could have been the producers' choice and not so much Kesi's, but I'm sure she had some kind of say. I also just think Kesi was a terrible actress, in-game and in the post-production interviews. Her tone of voice would change when she was lying and I knew every time. Kesi also could have saved some face in the train game when retrieving her money bag. In my notes (because of course I took notes, I'm a nerd), I put that if Kesi was The Mole (or at least if she were a decent Mole), she would successfully pull in the money bag. Greg already suspected her, there were so many contingencies for whether the money would count anyway, so really there was no reason to drop it. The drop ultimately just annoyed Casey and Greg and made me realize that if Kesi was The Mole, she wasn't great at her job. Overall, I don't want to completely rip on Kesi; she was better than I believe others would have been and I'm sure it was extremely nerve-wracking. Also, as I said, I'm sure many of her actions were producer-dictated, so it doesn't all fall on her. Congratulations, Kesi, job well done. Moving on.

Joi. Sweet Joi. She did some good for Kesi because my exact thought was, "If Joi isn't The Mole, then I'm confused". I figured with her insistence on Will's suspicious nature, her cutthroat gameplay, and her constant...CONSTANT sabotage, she had to be in the final three when it was all over, I could just never tell what exactly her position would be. The way she played was confusing at best and convoluted at worst. But, she was not alone in her go-hard-or-go-home attitude. It seemed like many of the players were Charlie from OG Season 1 or Patrick from OG Season 2 types, This is to say they played hard and selfishly with no regard to how it messed with the team, so long as they progressed. Obviously, The Mole is not solely a teamwork game as one of your teammates is against you and you have no idea who it is. However, the game is also not made to be played alone. In fact, it depends upon you seeking information and reading people, making secret coalitions and sharing your suspicions. If you alienate yourself and think you can win on your own, it almost guarantees you won't. Few players from this season could find the balance, going too hard in on being an aloof and mysterious loner or going the complete opposite direction being too friendly and open. I personally think Jacob, Pranav, and Casey did a great job of finding that sweet spot and earning money while also being questionable. Will was one of my favorite players and I don't think he played poorly at all, but I somehow had an intuition from the beginning that he would either win or lose but not be The Mole.

The reveal of The Mole's identity; calling it lackluster would be kind. It was too rushed and hyper while being boring and anticlimactic. I know I keep mentioning the older version of the show and I know that comparison is the thief of joy BUT if you've never seen one of the previous seasons' reunion episodes, I highly recommend them. They are some of my favorites to rewatch, even in the Celebrity seasons. They do an excellent job at building the tension, getting explanations from both final and eliminated players on why they did what they did, and revealing sabotages and clues of The Mole's identity. They bring these people back together for an epic reveal and a fun session of comparing notes and sharing laughs. In this reboot season, we got nothing. Some establishing shots of the eliminated players, a few clips of a few of them saying who they think The Mole will be, then a cheesy spotlight reveal. No slipping keys into doors and doing a slow reveal of each player, no real follow-up with Kesi on what it was like to be The Mole or what was going through her head. It was just too fast and it seemed like they didn't know what to do or say now that it was over. I hope they take note for the next season (assuming there will be one), because this is one main complaint I saw online was new and old viewers alike.

Additionally, there didn't seem to be as many sneaky or shocking moments. They started out great with the footage of well-loved Will seemingly stealing money, but there were virtually no moments like that again that didn't involve an exemption of some sort. I would have loved to get an equivalent to the devastation of "burning of the personal belongings" in the OG Season 2, or a cryptic clue like the telegram, also from OG Season 2, which if taken seriously and studied enough would reveal the name of The Mole. Little details like those raise the stakes. The idea that they could bring Dom back in was an interesting idea in theory and a smart way to put the team at odds but they were never going to be able to bring him back without him having an extremely unfair advantage (knowing his quiz answers were likely mostly wrong) and also disadvantage (not being able to draw suspicion onto himself).

Now this is just a personal nitpick from me, and I know the music from the older seasons was outdated but it really set the mood and tone in a way this season's score did not. It felt like the music wasn't cohesive and didn't do anything to add to the overall viewing experience. Just a tiny thing I personally felt would heighten the mystique.

Overall, for a reboot, it was great but not astounding. I know that viewers who have never seen the originals loved this version and I'm so happy about that! I feel that it can only go up from here and that the producers will take note and improve upon the ending at the very least. Congratulations to the entire cast for getting to be involved in this incredible experience, and congrats to Will for the win. He truly was a delight to watch, I loved his spirit.

Until a Season 2 from Netflix arrives, this season will satisfy that itch only The Mole can scratch. And if you happen to see me on that season, you can say you knew me when...

Remember, this is all my opinion and I would love to hear your own thoughts, and if you've seen the older seasons.