'The Mole's fifth season eliminates Bobby after Ali quits for cash

Ali, a 24-year-old model from St. Louis, MO, quit the competition for a $30,000 bribe while Bobby, a 25-year-old restaurant manager from Philadelphia, PA, was still executed despite the fact Ali stepped aside -- as two players were sent packing during The Mole's fifth-season broadcast last night on ABC. 


"I had some doubts.  I should have spread out my answers a little bit more," opined Bobby after his execution.  "But what can you do.  They got me.  They got me good."

The Mole's third fifth-season episode began following the previous execution of Liz Cain, with a total of $63,000 currently in the pot. Paul, a 29-year-old machinist from Yonkers, NY, also commented on comments made by Nicole, a 32-year-old OBGYN doctor from Chicago, IL, following the previous execution when she said she'd "kill" him.

"She's threatening my life?  Are you kidding me?" said Paul.  "She might say I need anger management, but she needs mouth management because all she does is run her friggin' mouth."

"He's going down because men like that who are overly egotistical and judgmental really get under my skin," added Nicole.  "That's too bad, because I am here to stay."


Bobby; Clay, a 32-year-old criminal litigation attorney from Philadelphia, PA; and Mark, a 42-year-old high school history teacher and soccer coach from Mukwonago, WI, were busy sharing information with each other since the three were in a coalition together.  Meanwhile Nicole was talking to Ali and found herself defending her threatening comment to Paul.

The 10 remaining players then met host Jon Kelley, who explained for their next mission -- "Fruit of the Luge" -- they'd split into two groups of five: those who trust blindly and those who can't trust.

Craig, a 301-year-old graphic designer San Diego, CA, Nicole, Mark, Bobby and Ali made up the trust blindly team; while Paul, Clay, Kristen, a 35-year-old neuroscientist from Santa Monica, CA, Victoria, a 26-year-old retail manager from Bishop, TX, and Alex, a 31-year-old musician from Haverford, PA made up the can't trust team.

Jon explained that members from each team would pair-up, with the can't trust team member sitting in the front of a steel luge and having to control its speed via handbrakes while blindfolded.  The trust blindly team member would be in the back of the luge and would be responsible for giving directions; remembering the order of the fruit signs on the side of the course; and then recounting them to his or her partner so they could put them in the correct order at the end.

For each piece of fruit put in its correct spot, $2,000 would be added to the pot.  Before the mission began Jon added one rule -- there was no talking between teammates once they crossed the finish line.


The mission then commenced.  Clay and Bobby and Paul and Ali both got five out of seven for $20,000; Craig and Victoria and Mark and Kristen got seven out of seven for $28,000; and Nicole and Alex got only one out of seven for $2,000 -- bringing the total to $50,000.

However not all was well, as Nicole was suspected of sabotaging the mission after she called out the first piece of fruit on the course twice, thus throwing off the order that Alex remembered everything and costing them money for the pot. 

In addition, Jon revealed Craig and Victoria and Clay and Bobby discussed the fruit's order after crossing the finish line -- disqualifying them and removing the $24,000 they contributed to the pot.  Instead, the players earned $26,000 via the mission, bringing the pot's total to $89,000.

"The wind came out of my sails a little bit," opined Mark.  "Victoria kept talking, which is suspicious to me."

"I was very perplexed because of the many mistakes that Bobby made," added Clay.  "It called into question my ability to trust him.  I could be in a coalition with the mole right now."


Clay expressed his concerns to Mark that with Bobby there were some "mole-like things going on."  Mark agreed that he was also suspicious of Bobby and the two agreed that it would be best if they stopped sharing information with him.

The next morning the players dressed in their Sunday best and arrived at a spa.  Despite the relaxing atmosphere the game was still a hot topic of conversation, and Bobby could tell Mark and Clay were losing confidence in him. 

After some swimming and frolicking in the pool, Paul and Ali received a hot rocks massage; Victoria got rubbed down in chocolate; Bobby got a grape massage; and the remaining players received a Swedish massage.  While they were being pampered, Jon went into the locker room and took all their clothes, which he had sent to the cleaners.

The players returned to find their clothes were missing and Jon explained it was time for their next mission. 
After splitting into two groups of two and two groups of three, the players would have to embark on the Chilean streets and ask locals for the clothes off their back.  The male players would be looking for pants, a button-down shirt and tie; while the females would need a two-piece top and either pants or skirt.

The players would have just over two hours to find the clothes from locals so they could meet Jon at a restaurant for dinner.  For each player that was able to meet the restaurant's dress code in time, $5,000 would be added to the pot. 


Right before they were ready to hit the streets, Clay decided he didn't want to do the mission because "dignity and self respect is way more important than money" to him.  Mark immediately followed Clay's lead and pulled himself from the mission.

The mission commenced with Bobby, Craig and Nicole on one team; Kristen, Victoria and Ali on another; and Paul and Alex working as a duo.

While the three females drew lots of attention on the streets of Santiago -- including cat calls and horns honking -- they had a difficult time covering up.  However Nicole was able to put an ensemble together quickly and was ready for dinner, so she instead helped Bobby and Craig find clothes.

Alex used his knowledge of Spanish to get some cab drivers to give him and Paul their shirts, and they then quickly found ties and pants to complete their outfits.  The three girls were having such a hard time that Ali even pondered quitting.

"My feet are really killing me and I could care less right now," she said.  "I honestly want to quit."


However things started to turn around as they found three American guys who were willing to donate their shirts; found sweaters and cardigans that a merchant was willing to provide; and eventually landed pants from a restaurant employee on a cigarette break. 

Bobby also had some good luck with the help of the locals and was able to complete his outfit, leaving only Craig who needed clothes.  But Craig was having a hard time due to his size so he decided to check a laundromat to see if they could help.  Serendipitously, he stumbled into the laundromat where Jon had sent the players' clothes earlier in the day. 

Eight of the players completed the mission and Bobby and Craig thought they redeemed themselves by returning everyone else's clothes as well.  The players added $40,000 to the pot, bringing its total to $129,000.  Before dinner concluded Jon revealed that the address to the laundromat had been on the bottom of a business card for the restaurant the entire time.

The next night the 10 remaining players met for dinner that would precede their impending quiz, and things quickly became ugly when Mark was singled out for being too focused on the game.

"I'm here to do well for my family, that's why it seems like I'm obsessing over this journal," he explained.  "I obsess over the book because if I go home I want to go home knowing I did absolutely everything I could possibly have done.  If you want to call that obsessing, feel free.  I call it taking pride in what I do."

Paul wasn't happy with Mark's mood shift and began to yell at him, and Mark countered by accusing Paul of not being a "decent person." Bobby, Craig and Nicole agreed with Mark that Paul wasn't the most tactful player, and he only became more irate.  He reiterated that he wasn't there to make friends and instead wanted to win.


"There's a lot of people directing their anger towards me," said Paul.  "I'm going to use any advantage I can to throw other people off their games.  Knowing that a quiz was coming right after this dinner, I figured if I keep this up and fire them up, it could potentially ruin their quizzes."

The Mole's third fifth-season quiz then took place -- with each player answering 10 questions about the mole.  The player who scored the lowest on the quiz would be executed and would be required to leave the game immediately.

The 10 questions on the second quiz were is the mole male or female; which group did the mole join during the "Fruit of the Luge" mission; who was the mole paired with during "Fruit of the Luge;" did the mole put two apples in their fruit lineup answer during "Fruit of the Luge;" how much money did the mole's team add during "Fruit of the Luge;" what kind of specialty massage did the mole receive; did the mole participate in the "Dress Code" mission; what was the composition of the mole's team during "Dress Code;" in what order did the mole's group enter the restaurant; who is the mole.

Before revealing the results of the quiz, Jon offered $20,000 as a bribe to the first player who would quit the competition.  Some tense moments went by and nobody decided to quit. 

Jon then revealed Kristen, Mark and Victoria were safe before upping the bribe to $30,000.  Ali decided to take it and thus quit the competition.

"I just had this feeling that I'm nervous about," said Ali after she quit.  "I think I didn't do very good on the quiz.  I have all these emotions going right now."


The other players were stunned at Ali's decision.

"I wouldn't have taken it," said Bobby.  "I'm here to play, I'm here to compete, I'm here to win."

Jon then returned and surprised the nine remaining players by informing them that since Ali would have been safe if she didn't quit, there was still a player that would be executed.  He revealed Alex was safe before giving Bobby the boot.

"I'm just happy to see two people gone," said Paul.  "It makes me that much closer to that money."

The Mole's next fifth-season episode will air Monday, June 23 at 10PM ET/PT on ABC.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio