I'm enjoying it quite a bit! I was a little nervous at first ofc. It starts off too...modern. And the confessionals are way too scripted, but I chalk that up to the producters/editors just wanting some buzz phrases to start the show, it hasn't been quite as bad since
I don't like the cliffhanger format but all it does it make me watch the first five minutes of the next ep and then stop so...no harm done. Unfortunately they're playing to the Netflix model, it is what it is
My blind pick at the start of ep 1: Kesi. I'm sticking with her for sure. She faded into the background in eps like 2 and 3 but has since reaffirmed herself as my top suspect. The bank sabotage seemed pretty blatant and then she fucked up hooking the bag on the train. And in general I just don't buy anything she says, it feels like she's acting. I would love it if she got surprise executed so I get thrown for a loop but right now she's far above anyone else as my #1
The cast is fine. Osei getting out first SUCKED, he was cracking me up. And then my next favorite was Dom....rip. Dom was just way too genuine, no way anyone thought he was the mole. I don't like the twist that someone can come back at all, but I did really like the awkward way it played out with mostly everyone stonewalling him. Thought it was interesting
Joi SUCKS. That 25k bet lol. I hate that shit. I would've been so annoyed if I was the others
The challenges are also solid. Some interesting stuff here and there. I do wish exemptions were a little spicier
The phone eliminations...not a fan of. Why change it! The TV screen and thumbprints were so classic. And my god do I wish they used the old music, it's some of the best TV music of all time. They probably couldn't get the rights or they just didn't care, such a bummer. I do like when the phone glow reflects on their faces, that's a little fun
I think it's really solid, I'm just glad it's back at the end of the day. Each episode is a fun watch
I watched these last week so I forget a lot of what I wanted to say
Greg’s elimination was tragic, I wanted him to win. He grew on me fast. I thought he was a lock for end game given his Mole suspect but I think Joi really threw him and he went in on Jacob
My Mole pick remains Kesi. Brutally obvious……though I hope I’m wrong still. I would be shocked. SHOCKED!
She really amped it up in these three episodes. Distracting from the doves, trying to get Joi to pick the wrong bird, trying to get Will and Greg to pick Avori as the liar, taking the exception straight away, having the money in her backpack during the hike. The list goes on lol, it’s kinda unfortunate
Final predictions:
Mole: Kesi
4th: Jacob
3rd: Will
2nd: Joi
1st: Avori
Keep going back and forth on Joi and Avori as winner. Feeling confident on Jacob leaving over Joi in that cliffhanger. Will feels like third place
That was......yikes. They fumbled the reunion and reveal so hard. The Mole s2 reunion is one of my favorite reality tv eps ever, the way they did it was perfectly with the montages throughout the season and secrets revealed and all that. Showing who went in on who and who would've left if x players didn't have exemptions etc, it was great. But this was glossed over so fast, why was the finale the shortest ep of the season lol
And my god, that Mole reveal. "The Mole is...............Kesi.........! It was so awkward. The spotlight was supposed to reveal it but then Alex just...said it? And the spotlight turned on like one or two beats too late. Almost as bad as that Aus Mole reveal where the Mole just takes a step forward lol. I also didn't like that the Mole and winner were revealed together. In the other seasons they reveal the Mole and then the winner less than a minute after but it's pretty tense and fun. I think the problem they ran into was that they decided to make it super clear who each person suspected as the Mole in the finale, so as soon as Kesi was revealed it was gonna be obvious that Will win. I think they could've just hid people's top suspects better in the final stretch and that would've helped things a lot
Kesi as the Mole, ezzzzzzzzz. I can't believe I got her in the first 30 seconds of the season lol. She's definitely down towards the bottom as far as Moles in seasons I've seen, she was kinda just boring and the way she talked was so fake, she did not seem genuine about anything once all season. I do think she wasn't helped by the edit I guess? But they can only do so much for her. To her credit she did take a lot of money out of the pot and she did seem to fool most people somehow. I cannot believe Joi made it to the finale without being right about the Mole lol, that is wild. I don't recall that ever happening, usually in the finale the two players know full well who it is and know that they're against each other and it's a quiz race (edited to not make it clear that they're both dead on with their Mole suspect tho)
Will winning was a surprise at least. I thought for sure he'd be the final surprise elimination before the finale
Overall fun season, anti-climactic finale. But always happy to have more Mole content and I still can't believe Netflix actually revived it. I think it's doing pretty good numbers? I hope so, I would love a s2 with a better finale and a cast with some older players and more every day people
