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I am watching season 2 ❤

I watching season 2.right now ❤

Despite there still being problems (like the pot mostly being low because of weird stunt challenges that actually don't require the mole to do anything) I must say I'm pleased that this second season is at least a step up from the first Netflix one!!! Even the more unlikable characters here are way more tolerable than some of the people from Season 1, and I love that they're utilizing the setting of the season more. I obviously could be wrong, but I feel like the mole has to be Sean! He always seemed to be in a good position for a mole (I wonder if when he rappelled into the room, he had time to set all of the clocks to 3:48 before the others arrived...) But the main reason I reason I suspect him has to do with Michael. Sean's sabotage in the fancy party challenge was REALLY unlucky if he is a player...what are the odds he pulls down one of three correct pictures out of the many there?! Then, he claims he does so to throw Michael off the scent...but in the Truck challenge he claims he thinks Michael is the mole? So why would it benefit him to make Michael suspicious of him if he believes Michael is the Mole? And is so sure of it that he's not willing to share that info with the team? It just doesn't scan for me. Also, if he wants people to be suspicious of him why wouldn't he share that he's an undercover cop? If he ends up not being the mole I have a lot of questions about his game!

I think it’s Sean

The contestant bios this year are really short, so there isn't much to go off of regarding hidden clues. The only thing I can think of is that one of the guests they were looking for was a pilot and Hannah is a student pilot... For me, Quaylyn and Deanna have been fully written off as mole candidates, but everyone else seems equally sketchy. I'm not in a tunnel yet.

I think Muna is the one who spent the pot. If she truly isn’t the mole this could be a strategy play by her to draw even more suspicion to herself while simultaneously securing her safety to the next round.

I think you can tell a lot about the quality of a season of The Mole based on how easy it is to take money out of the pot. To me, it's lazy to give them so many chances to take huge chunks of money away. In fact, it's so easy this season that Q could be the mole just because he wouldn't have to do anything! Just act exasperated while all of the real players waste $35K (and now $59K) on an exemption. Like, how can you possibly justify one being worth that much? I'd much rather see more difficult tasks with a higher failure rate that money constantly going in and out. As far as who the mole is, I think it's Michael. I saw clues like NYC-DUB-MAL on the shipping crates that push me towards him although he does seem a bit obvious to be the mole.

I started watching it today 😂

Thank you for the update Julie! I almost forgot that Hila’s season was starting this month! I am planning to watch it. Two episodes per week is going to be a lot of work for me (it usually takes me at least 3 hours to get through a single episode, due to my limited Dutch reading skills) but hopefully I will be able to do it. I won’t be watching the Netflix season.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop!!

Well, first, I said that I had more to say about the last Belgian Mole - at least my personal reaction to it - and that I'd put it in a final "what were the clues?" video if you did one. Can understand why you didn't (it's not easy to get hold of!) so I'm going to reply to this comment with some more personal thoughts on that series, with spoiler asterisks, the lot. Suffice to say that if you CAN watch Belgium Season 12 and you haven't done so yet, do it. It's fantastic. Now onto these two upcoming series. I had my issues with the first Netflix series. I thought it was built upon a very good foundation - a likeable cast of characters and some good challenges. It all fell apart in the editing, which was so hyperactive. And so many confessionals! Once again we have an American Mole series trying to be "survivor". You don't need confessionals in "The Mole" guys! I don't need people telling me what to think! It's really condescending and feels like it's "dumbing things down" so much! If they can fix the editing and the pacing and keep the core of what worked in the first season, I think it could be great. But unfortunately I doubt they will. American "reality TV" (which isn't even what "The Mole" is, but that's how they market it) has a very simple formula. Tell don't show, loads of confessionals, plenty of that stock-sounding scoring to tell you how to feel at any time. I'm hoping I'm proven wrong here, because if you take away the stuff about the Netflix Mole that didn't work, there's a lot of stuff that did. Talking of series with way too many confessionals... WIDM has basically now devolved into a bunch of celebrities trying to get as much screentime as possible. I can find no other explanation for how awful it's gotten than that. The money doesn't matter (the contestants earn over E6,000 in the first episode, then have less than E3000 five episodes later), there's no tension, and basically every challenges is about either envelopes or logic puzzles. And so many "advantages" that nobody is even trying to go for the money anyway, because advantages maximise screentime and money does not. All that said... you'd think I'd be excited about a new non-celeb version of WIDM with different producers and a different host! I'm not 100% sold on Hila as the host based on what we saw of her when she was a candidate, but maybe she can have a bit of Grant Bowler's edge, Anderson Cooper's sense of humour, or Angela Groothuizen's what I can only describe as "sympathetic intensity". I at least hope she's better than Rik, who's been a non-presence in my opinion. As for the season itself... I hope the new producers have new ideas. Or bring back some old ones. Belgium has been doing both of these things and they've got a brilliant hit-rate. If they can do something to make it feel like an adventure again, add some stakes with a money pot that slowly rises, and make the challenges be about a team of people cooperating to get a task done and not competing for a myriad of "advantages"... if all of that can take place, then it could be great. But like the Netflix season, that's a massive "if". For these two seasons I'll be hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. (Maybe not for the Netflix one 'cause I still expect that to be at least watchable.) Let's hope that these seasons are great, 'cause once again, where I'm predicting things might go badly, I'd really love to be proven wrong. Peace! Now a few thoughts on the past Belgian season and my specific reaction to it in a separate post, with spoiler asterisks, etc. It won't be long.

Hi Julies! The new Netflix season of the Mole takes place in Malaysia. There is a new host this season, American journalist Ari Shapiro. I have a full preview on my channel and will be doing hints and theories videos each week. Summer Mole fun, hooray! 🙂

Thanks, Julie! Tonight's the big night... I'm going with Michaël as the mole, but I would not be surprised if it is Senne.

Thanks as always for the fun times Julie! I've got my final prediction as Michaël mole, Bernard winner, and Senne runner-up, and I'm pretty deep into the Michaël tunnel. I'm planning on a season rewatch today and will add replies based on if anything stands out as I rewatch each episode! I'd say the absolute strongest hint of the season for me was in that puppet task last week though. Michaël played the mole, the only task he got right was slashing the pot, and the puppets themselves seemed to match with the contestants (the mole puppet had a beard, the other non-mole puppets were a girl, a mustachioed guy, and a clean-shaven guy). This hint just reminds me of the Germany season with the image of the jester the week before the finale. I really hope Senne can pull off a win. If he's not the mole he's had the WORST luck. Stuck as the prisoner with everyone ignoring him, had his laps miscounted at Mario Kart, stuck with Stephanie in the coffin who did nothing really helpful, mole book burned, and had to take a bath with Kathy while the other two contestants mountain biked on Mount Etna and played football with Lukaku. If he is the mole, kudos! Cause I've just felt bad for him the last few episodes. (If they wanted to bring the 4 stories/truths and lies assignment from this last episode into every future season and make it a yearly tradition I wouldn't be upset. It was absolutely brilliant.)

Great video..tnx again...🙏👍😚

Great video Julie! Thank you!! I love how the majority of suspicious actions mentioned in this video point to Bernard, but I am still 100% convinced that Bernard is the winner, lol. Especially in the more recent episodes, I have been getting the “winner’s edit” vibes for him. That last assignment was SO funny. Here I was thinking that having the moms answer questions about what type of items their children have stolen would be the most delightfully awkward task of the season. And then the producers were like “Let’s send someone to Bernard’s house to take a bath with his mom”. Genius. This is the third time that I have seen a Mol series do the “separate the candidates for a period of time and then have them describe what they did” thing, and it was by far the best. I am so glad Bernard didn’t get in the gray car. I assume the producers were as well 😂 As far as suspicions go, I am still not 100% sure. Certain things make me lean more towards Michaël, and some more towards Senne. One thing that I paid particular attention to in episode 7 was how the candidates divided themselves up for the first assignment. It’s the final 4, and they need to work in duos. So, obviously everyone should want to be in a duo with their top suspect. Charlotte volunteered for the “drama” duo right away, seemingly not caring who she got paired with (not the best strategy, and I was not surprised to see her go home after that). All 3 men then expressed interest in the “walking” task. So clearly no one suspected Charlotte. The way that Michaël tried to get Bernard to change his mind and join the “drama” duo made me think that Senne is the mole and Bernard and Michaël are each other’s competition. BUT mole Michaël could have done that to try to confuse the others, I guess. As far as the AI voices are concerned, the only 2 voices that sounded “real” to me were Charlotte and Senne. (Seriously though-AI Charlotte sounded more like Charlotte than real Charlotte). I heard the “Bernard” voice, but it sounded fake. And I honestly had trouble picking out anything that sounded like Stephanie or Michaël. So, again, that would seem to point to Senne. And Senne choosing the dinner in Amsterdam instead of the pasvraag is still really hard to explain as anything other than a mole action. But…I keep coming back to the racetrack assignment. Michaël’s actions during both parts of that assignment were textbook “how to sabotage.” Bernard was textbook “super enthusiastic candidate who completes the assignment successfully despite sabotage attempt.” And then…there was Senne. Senne was SO far in the lead for the entire race. It just doesn’t make sense for a mole to do the assignment perfectly and then hope that the other group will mess up at the last second and give him an excuse to lose. So…it has to be Michaël? But then how to explain Senne putting himself in the perfect position for the prison assignment? And how to explain Michaël calling out Stephanie for lying in episode 1? It also doesn’t help that Senne and Michaël did some suspicious things together. Pandora’s box? Michaël and Senne. Hercules task? Michaël and Senne. Drank their wine the slowest and put themselves in the perfect position to sabotage the spaghetti assignment if necessary? Michaël and Senne. Michaël was one of my initial 3 suspects after the first 4 episodes (Senne wasn’t, notably). One of the things that I said about him in the comment section of the last video is that I’m not really sure how good of an actor he is. And I still can’t really tell. For example, when he accidentally spoke during the assignment with Lynn: genuine mistake? Or really well acted? He was also acting SO strange during the elimination vote before Coco went home. But I couldn’t tell if it was on purpose. And the fact that Michaël and his mother couldn’t get matching answers during the tower-building was weird to me. Especially when he made a point of teasing her (“Mom, you’re not the one who is supposed to sabotage!”). It made me wonder if she was actually giving correct answers, but he was picking the wrong answer on purpose. I am so confused. Last year, I had a really strong gut feeling, went against it, and ended up being wrong. This year, I don’t even know if I have a gut feeling. I will be watching the first assignment of episode 8 very closely, particularly how the tasks get divided. If I had done that last year, I probably would have guessed the mole correctly. Until then, I don’t know if I can make a guess!

I still don't know how to watch this show! 😭

EDIT: I'm so impolite. Can't wait to get my own thoughts down so I don't acknowledge yours. Very thorough video Jules! Do you have a pick of your own? As for my own, I'm actually tempted to switch here. My suspect all along, since episode 2, has been Senne. But Michael has been a close second. The thing is, there are things early on that point absolutely to Senne rather than Michael. For example: it was obvious that Bernard would use a doubler in that second assignment in episode 2. The Mole could only be in one place to guarantee that E10,000 wouldn't be earned, and that was exactly where Senne was. All he then had to do was delay long enough in opening his cell to make sure that time had run out. I think that Michael has a strong anti-Mole action here. Yes, he initially dismisses Senne, but when he goes back downstairs, he urges the others to listen to Senne - and Karolien stops him! I'm also really worried about the pizza and earthquake assignments. Michael earned money in pizza, and would have earned money in earthquake if Senne hadn't messed up. (Did he know that Senne would do that? Was he briefed that he didn't need to sabotage?) Another thing pointing to Senne - in basically every group decision he's called for the wrong choice. It's noticeable, though, that when everyone votes for Coco as the eliminee in episode 4, Michael is the only one not to raise his hand. Another possible clue pointing at him. One thing I'm backtracking on is that olive task. Yes, it makes sense that the Mole would be in the olive garden; but Michael, who'd delayed things a lot on the boat in the previous assignment (another mark against him) could've wanted to stay under the radar. He absolutely could've encouraged Coco to slam down the wrong coloured bin; except that Coco did this anyway, by accident, making his sabotage unnecessary. The Mole would "take a freebie" there. The thing is, in the last two episodes, Michael has looked the most suspicious. What's really making me worried is his grilling of Bernard to make him look like a liar (when in fact Bernard was telling the truth). Even if you assume he's trying to convince people he's the Mole - which could explain his puppet actions - he'd have no way to know for certain that bernard wasn't lying unless he'd been briefed. So as a way to create an atmosphere of suspicion, it doesn't make sense. This seems to point specifically to Michael, and only Michael, as the Mole. And then he's the only liar in the final four task (too obvious?) Senne calls him out, but Bernard and Charlotte immediately disagree. Assuming Bernard is not the Mole, if that means anything it means that he and Charlotte suspect Senne, and Senne is trying to throw them off, the same way that Marc from Season 3 and Commy from Season 11 did in similar situations. But that might be completely wrong. The long and short of it is: I don't have a guess! Based on the last two episodes - which is where you'd expect the Mole to kick things into high gear after all - I gotta say that Michael looks the more suspect. I think the clues have pointed to Michael, who was also my pre-season pick as the Mole (I switched from my pre-season pick in Season 6 and ended up regretting it.) And in terms of his character edit, I think he's got more of the "Mole Edit", whereas Senne seems more like the Sven or Axel of the group. All seeming to point towards Michael. Yeah. Whether it's Senne, Michael (as I'm now thinking it probably is) or Bernard, I will consider this season a failure for my Mole-hunting. One thing I am certain of though: the three finalists, including Charlotte, all knew who the Mole was.They're obviously seeing more than I have! If it does turn out to be Senne, it'll be strange to say I "failed" when I had him pegged from episode two; but honestly, I have had so little certainty in the second half of the game (the same problem I had last year) that I can't call it a victory.

So here's some final thoughts before the finale. I haven't watched the full Episode 7 yet, but I have seen who's eliminated. So spoilers for that. * * * So, as I thought, it's come down to the three guys. I didn't think, and still don't think, that it's Bernard. I can't make a case against him. He seems to be playing hard as a candidate. Which puts it down to Senne and Michael. Let's take each episode one by one. * In episode 1, I think the Mole is Senne. In the first ship task, I think the Mole could've gone either way - either trying to stop his group from making it onto the yacht (which Michael did) or getting onto the Yacht and making sure the button is pushed early to make sure there's a maximum amount of money earned (which Senne did). (I am, of course, assuming that the Mole is at least partially responsible for the activity that went wrong. It wouldn't be much of a mystery if they showed exactly what the Mole did, unedited, for the entire challenge.) It's difficult to nail down which the Mole would do. Personally I think he may want to look good - and there's indirect confirmation of this. In his quiz interview, Gilliam said that he thought the Mole would do well early on to take suspicion off of him/herself. However Gilliam didn't name a suspect. I think that this mirrors, in a subtle way, Bruno from Season 8 naming Alina in the first episode and then getting cut from the second episode after claiming that the Mole was standing by the cake. However there were two people by the cake, and Bruno didn't suspect Alina - he suspected Laure. I think Gilliam's confession might have been put in to throw viewers off-track early into thinking the Mole didn't get onto the boat, when in actual fact he did. Looking at the second and third tasks, though, it's Senne all the way. Firstly, he suggests one correct answer at the olive challenge - which looks like an anti-Mole action - but may absolutely have done this to gain trust later on so that he could surreptitiously move a few olives into the wrong bucket. At the very least, I cannot see the Mole choosing to dance; and if they did, I cannot see Michael's actions as being Mole-like in that challenge. Finally, we know there was a doubler hidden in the olive grove that wasn't found. That might also be Senne's work. In the third task, Senne does two things of note during the doublers auction. Firstly, he points the finger at Charlotte, and secondly he gives incorrect information about Gilliam's shirt, even though he must have seen what Gilliam was wearing. It does seem as though he's trying to get people to vote anybody other than the actual two candidates here. * Episode 2 is where I caught onto Senne for the first time. But in the first task, he gets Bugatti wrong but suggests the right answer to Bernard (who corrects him - maybe a sign that Bernard was suspecting Senne all along?) He then gets a second question wrong with Philippe. As for Michael, he's more where I'd expect the Mole to be - catching ice-creams - and while he may sabotage my dreams (that image of him licking a popsicle in slow motion is I'm sure burned into all of our brains), his main act of sabotage is dropping a lot of ice-cream. Honestly this could be either of them. In the second challenge, though, everything comes up Senne. Michael is the first to cut Senne off, but then the one who figures out that Senne can turn out the fan. Senne makes a show of being frustrated at his fellow candidates, but why shouldn't he? He can make absolutely certain that he doesn't get out before time is up. Afterwards, he and Michael both go for the pasvragen. Finally, the one person who has said they absolutely won't go for a pasvragen is the one person who isn't offered a spot at the box, giving the Mole the best chance of someone else opening the box if he doesn't get the chance to. Only Senne had any say in that decision. Michael is very easy to persuade to go for the pasvragen, so he can't be ruled out either, but Senne looks like the Mole in this episode. * In episode 3, Michael is one of those who doesn't recognise the eagle (which, to be fair, looks more pigeon-like than eagle-like). But still, that's a really silly guess. Meanwhile, Senne identifies a Dean Martin song as "Italian", and acts completely lost when Charlotte gets an Italian song in the third round. Finally, in the last round, it's Senne who answers the phone, and could have given any information to Charlotte - right or wrong - we don't hear what's said. Honestly, both of them look kinda bad! What's pointing to Senne for me here is that I don't think the Mole would want to be an "investigator". In the "silenced group", Michael is the only one who has an opportunity to do anything, and this is the first challenge where Michael definitely looks more suspect. His squeak of joy when his challenge is completed is such a Mole move. That said, he does a pretty good job getting Lynn to do her task. If the Mole is Senne, this is Mole's time to look less suspect. And in the final task, both Senne and Michael could fail it, but once again, I think the Mole would want to be in the team choosing the liars, not in the bomb cars. Senne encourages the wrong answer from the back, for the second time this season. So he's my pick for episode 3. * Episode 4! In which both of our candidates look super-suspicious. Senne wastes all but one bananas and stops a lap short. Michael gives him the wrong information and does a horrible job laying pipe. (Oo-er missus.) Honestly, if I were the Mole, I'd probably want to be karting here, but I could see a case being made for Michael looking like the most suspect. This one's a toss-up. At pizza though, Michael earns E500 unnecessarily, Senne gets hit by pineapple in a way that looks REALLY staged. Point to Senne. Finally, Michael looks seriously shady, which could've been deliberate, but only Senne points him out. All the women suspect Coco instead. This one could go either way. It's interesting that the Mole tells Senne "I would be stressed in your position" but asks the others questions or discusses their test. However it's also interesting that Michael is the only one NOT to vote Coco. A deliberate attempt to look suspicion, or a clue pointing at the actual Mole? Hmmmm... * Episode five, and the columns of doom! Twelve minutes seems... short. On the other hand, I would prefer as the Mole to be in the position Michael was in, so I could drop the columns in the nick of time. Michael looks very, very suspicious here. Bernard gets his dish wrong, meaning that Senne has no choice but to pick the wrong one. So I can't hold this against him. And in the earthquake challenge, Senne is the only one to fail, losing them money. Michael makes it to the final and selects the same answer as his mother. Again, Senne. Finally, Senne has the option to give someone the doublers... and he chooses Lynn, an episode after seeing her quiz answers and knowing which way she's voting (if he's the Mole). Lynn ends up getting cut, and the last doubler is out of the game. Yeah, once again I'd go with Senne. * Episode 6! I've already talked about how much like Senne the Mole message at the start of this episode sounds. In the first challenge, Michael does absolutely nothing wrong, and Senne brings in a bit of money despite Charlotte providing basically no help whatsoever. Honestly, if there's any challenge where I'd be more tempted to go Bernard, it'd be this one. Then Michael gets the decision on whether to spend an extra E400 to hear the voices again, and picks it. Obviously. I think anybody would in that position. Can't really make a judgement on who the Mole is as it really depends on who gets that second-place bid. Finally, it's hard to tell who's shooting well in the last challenge. It seems like Senne is getting less shots than the others, but that could just be editing. I don't know about this one. Yeah, this episode is very little help in deciding which of the two of them it is. Dead heat? I think so. So that's five episodes where Senne looks more suspicious, and one where I can't separate them. What's making me hesitate with Senne more than anything else is the edit. His personality hasn't come out that much, which is typically a trait of male winners (think Axel or Sven) or finalists (Toos) rather than Moles. Michael has a very much more "Mole-like" edit. But I can't make a case for him based on his actions. In episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, Senne has actions that I think definitely point to him as the Mole over Michael; and in episodes 5, 3, and arguably 4 with the go-kart, Michael has actions that make him look more suspicious. Yeah, this could go either way. But I'm going to stick with my suspect of Senne until I've watched episode seven fully.

So I have more thoughts! Spoilers for episode 6 though. * * * * 1) I have a minor criticism of this show: the challenges seem a little bit too skewed towards "loss". Case in point, the earthquake tower. If the Mole got into the finale, it was all over, because he could easily choose the wrong answer (as he did) with zero counterplay from the other contestants. Shoulda been 2/3 is a win in that one IMO. 2) That aside, it's been a fantastic season. I seem to have underrated Bernard. His last confessional pointed at Michael but he also seems suspicious of Senne. Well, those are the two I'm interested in. I have a feeling that it might be another all-male finale. Charlotte was the one who stood out this week with a low offer that I just don't think the Mole would make. On the other hand, her breakdown in the car points to her being under a lot of stress, and previous Moles have had moments like this. It's still really difficult to point at her as the Mole based on her actions though. 3) I feel like I'm hedging my bets for the sake of caution. Honestly, I think it's Senne. I don't want to rule out Michael, and at this point Charlotte and Bernard have had suspicious moments aplenty. But Senne is the one whose actions I feel are consistently in line with what I'd expect the Mole to do. 4) That last elimination hurts. ☹ Stephanie is definitely someone I wouldn't have minded seeing win, and had pegged as a potential finalist until this episode. There were hints to her going this episode though. Especially during the Mole Book task. It did feel as though she had her own axe hanging above her head at that point. 5) I feel as though everyone might be on the right track at this point, and it could just come down to who knows the least. That may be why Stephanie left. 6) And finally, that last attacker (in the red rope task) had an epic fail. You had one chance to dash for the rope, and ya blew it? This is what happens when you hire cosplayers instead of ninja assassins. There's a moral here. Don't skimp on your hired thugs guys!

Spoiler for ep 5 here: * * * * So I say "Lynn is my favorite player, I hope she makes it far." Then next episode, exactly what I thought would happen did happen. I swear I've got a curse on me...

I am thoroughly enjoying this season of De Mol so far (like every year). My prime suspects at the moment are Michaël, Stéphanie and Senne, in that order.

Great to see and hear from you! This season has been absolutely wonderful. The participants and assignments are brilliant. This program is at a really high level! At this point I am convinced that Lynn and Stephanie are not moles. I don't see them in that role. The most suspicious are Senne and Michael. After the first episodes I thought Senne, but he was the only one who pointed out the right answer to what Michael is afraid of, a bit strange game for a mole. On the other hand, every time he finds himself in the perfect position to sabotage, he is a little behind. Michael is very suspicious after Coco's elimination. Strange behavior on his part, he looked like he wanted the group to point him out. Bernard and Charlotte have their moments and fit into the pattern that is not very obvious in the Belgian mole. I wonder one thing, in the fourth episode the mole said hello to the three contestants or is this a clue for the final 3?

I'm so upset. I had such a looooong comment and I got out of the page by accident and it's all deleted. T.T Brief overview instead: 1. I'm SO glad you came back! I've missed you and the rest of our 'regulars.' It's like a bar where everybody knows your name! 2. The doublers this year have been hilarious, because so far it's been utterly pointless. (I haven't watched the new episode yet, so no spoilers for episode 5.) I was initially worried they'd be out at the end of episode 2. Now I'm worried they'll be out episode 7 but have earned no money. (I think it would be quite a clever thing if every episode had a hidden doubler, whether in the prison, Pandora's box secret compartment--how did no one look there???, in the barber shop, in one of the Apes, in the Mario course, etc). 3. Michaël and Senne are my only top suspects at this point. Stephanie and Lynn are in the middle, but I don't really think it's them. If it's either Bernard or Charlotte I'll be incredibly surprised. 4. I have not disliked a contestant in België history like I have Charlotte. Breaking ye olde Covid lockdown protocol for a hook-up and having no remorse for it (as a PHARMACIST) is rather appalling to me. She's had such a strong edit that I'm afraid we're stuck with her for another few weeks unfortunately. I don't know how I'll go on if she's the mole. 5. Love the season so far. Most of the challenges have been top notch and hysterical! 6. Major reasons why I suspect Michaël: The only one to not make a minute speech in task 1.1, didn't have to do anything when Coco knocked the correct barrel over in 1.2, yes caught out Stephanie in a lie in 1.3 BUT he stopped at his own video which felt really odd (plus there's practically no conversation between he and Gilles when the third task is explained, which is also strange), held the group up in the ice cream challenge (2.1) and could've easily had thrown successful ice creams away when alone in the backroom/freezer area, rather under-edited in 2.2 but gets a law wrong and eagerly gets his candle blown out, didn't take a whole lot of convincing to open Pandora's box (2.3), seemed to steer Philippe away from the barber (3.1), in no surprise at all broke the code of silence (3.2) and acted really frantic in the Ape (3.3), and too many moments in episode 4. Didn't lay pipes right. Took forever to put on overalls running his course. Seemed to boost Coco around the corners rather than on straightaways. Bad at counting laps in the tower. HAD CONTROL OF THE WALKIE TALKIE IN THE TOWER. (We see Senne's point of view when Michaël tells him to put his hand in the air if it's been 14 laps, not Michaël's. Could've not held the button down conveniently.) Really pushed Coco to identify either the gorgonzola or sardines to ensure his place in the pizza finale (at the point where they could only have one person in the finale). Led the group down the narrow alleyways in the pizza finale, which seemed to get Stephanie and Senne in bad positions to protect their pizzas. And was so freaking guilty in the Coco elimination challenge that I can't even. 7. Major reasons why I suspect Senne (only slightly less than Michaël at the moment): One of the ones to push Bernard to drop the dead weight of the other contestants in 1.1 (but did get a doubler which the mole does not want), didn't seem to do a whole lot at the olive grove but could be behind-the-scenes of not picking a lot of olives or dropping them or putting them in a bad barrel or something (1.2), was suspicious in 1.3 by not knowing what Gillian was wearing even though he saw that part of the video (and his video of finding out he's on the show...I found pointing at the person talking to him first kinda weird), bad at identifying Italian car brands which was a huge time waste in 2.1, in the prime position in expensive challenge 2.2 as the prisoner (didn't turn the button for the fans enough, didn't relay the info for the prisoners in the second room really, seemed to me he could've reached the keys/iPad with the time but just made it appear like he couldn't, wielded the hammer as a bargaining chip to waste more time), really pushed to open Pandora's box (2.3), kinda less suspicious in 3.1 but still got 1 song wrong, didn't do much in 3.2 either other than swim, was a part of the group in 3.3 to identify the wrong car with the pasta bomb, and then episode 4 it gets...kinda weird. For the counting laps bit, what was he going to do if at lap 14 he was like 'Okay I'm at lap 14' but the people in the tower were like 'No you definitely have 2 laps to go still?' Like he relied on the group in the tower to sabotage him, which is an odd mole tactic. Yes you can rely on the mistakes of others, but he didn't know they were going to mess up the counting and he had such a huge lead on the other driver that he would've easily earned 1k, which the mole certainly doesn't want. Was he going to insist he was done, rather than take an extra lap? That would be a really weird argument to make. 'No I'm definitely done!' 'We've been counting since the start Senne, you have one more lap.' 'NO!' Then just parks all huffy? I'm weird about this one. For the pizza challenge, threw pizzas really well to guarantee he was in the finale, but he didn't really do all that much to sabotage the others? Helped make sure Lynn got in and just got his own pizza out, which is fine, but he wasn't really tactically in a position to mess up anyone else, which doesn't feel really mole-like either. Then did absolutely nothing really of note in the last challenge. Like if you're the mole and know Coco's going out, but Michaël is there acting as guilty as my dog after eating something he shouldn't have, he barley says anything at all? Like he just points to him in one moment but gives it up so quickly. I dunno. Not a great set of two episodes for him if he is the mole.

Hi Julie!! I have been watching De Mol, and so far I am LOVING this season! I actually watched the first half of episode 5 already, but I will not give any spoilers, of course. My main suspects at this point are Charlotte, Michaël, and Lynn. I see Bernard as a potential winner. The verdubbelaars were an interesting idea, but it is starting to seem like they aren’t really going to play a large role. Like you, I was also expecting to see them hidden during the assignments each week, but we haven’t seen that since episode 1. And the candidates haven’t really used them wisely. The assignments have been really enjoyable. It kind of makes me realize how uncreative some of the WIDM assignments are, in comparison. And they are really using their location to their advantage and showing how beautiful Sicily is. The only assignment so far that I haven’t enjoyed was the ice cream one…I couldn’t get past the fact that 4 people were all licking the same popsicles…eww. But episode 4 was just fantastic. The hilarious reveal that the “hidden danger” lurking in the town was pineapple pieces being flung at them from the rooftops. Everything about the Mario assignment (the outfits! The bananas! The epic failure!). It was perfection. Charlotte has been suspicious to me from the very beginning. She was part of the group on the boat that decided to end the assignment early (and she really pushed for them to end it as soon as possible). Then, during the little psychological game that they had before the first elimination, to see who would be responsible for the verdubbelaars, I THINK Charlotte was the one (correct me if I’m wrong, I can’t remember episode 1 too clearly anymore) who acted super suspicious and got herself incorrectly voted out even though she wasn’t one of the three fastest to push the button. She also spoke during the assignment when she was supposed to stay silent, lied really well during the bomb assignment, had a poor performance during the racing assignment, and forgot to bring the verdubbelaars with her when she was responsible for them. Also, she told everyone that her last name was “de Mol.” How funny would it be if the mole introduced themself to the rest of the group as “de Mol” in episode 1? Michaël has been somewhat suspicious as well. He knocked over the wrong colored block in episode 1 (I think?), opened Pandora’s box, and spoke during the assignment when he wasn’t supposed to. His actions during the racing assignment were also really sus. I don’t think it was Senne’s fault that he stopped racing 1 lap too early. Michaël was really making it seem like he was finished. I’m not sure if Michaël has the type of personality to make a good mole, though. I don’t know if he would have the self-control required. The singing mini-assignment with Lynn is kind of a perfect example-he got so excited when she completed the song correctly that he accidentally shouted and broke his silence. Either he is a brilliant actor, and really good at messing up and making it look like an accident, or…he doesn’t have enough self-control to be the mole. Lol. Lynn has me conflicted. On the one hand, I kind of believed her when she said she always wanted to play the game honestly, and go for the money at all times. She does seem like an honest person, and she has resisted opportunities to go for advantages (she was the only person not to press the button at all for a chance to get the verdubbelaars). But at the same time, she has been in important positions and contributed to money being lost. She used a verdubbelaar during the bomb assignment and then pushed for the group to choose the wrong car. She dropped her pizza right after someone told her to be careful not to drop it. She was part of the group with Michaël who incorrectly told Senne to stop racing too early. She has also had some moments that stood out to me as “not quite right.” After the first elimination, when the candidates were shown the video clip about Pandora’s box, when Gilles said “that box behind you” 8 of the candidates whipped their heads around to see if there was a box there. But Lynn didn’t move. She just kept watching the screen. Because she already knew there was no box? After Pandora’s box was opened, Lynn was the one that took the longest to get to the screen to stop the pot from decreasing. She even made one of the other candidates carry her from her room down to the box…because she wasn’t wearing her glasses? Or something? And during the assignment with Michaël when he wasn’t allowed to talk, Lynn figured out VERY quickly what she was supposed to sing. Almost TOO quickly. I’m just saying, if I walked into that room, having no idea what was going on, and had to figure out what to do based on the instructions that Michaël was giving via hand gestures…I never would have been able to complete that task successfully. But she just understood what to do, immediately. Lynn is also a videographer (I think?), so the “scream” hint you mentioned could apply to her. And she was the only person in episode 1 who started the first assignment in the smaller boat, because she was the only one in the group who said that she didn’t want to be the mole. So it would be kind of funny if it was her. Senne and Stephanie have had suspicious actions here and there, but I just don’t really get the impression that either of them is the mole. Bernard was a suspect for me after episode 1, but since then, he has looked more and more like a candidate who really wants to win. Now I am really looking forward to watching the rest of episode 5 tomorrow! I hope that other international viewers have found a way to watch this season as well. Thank you for the video Julie! 🙂

Man, I've been looking forward to this. Thanks to friends in Belgium, I've been able to watch this, and am absolutely loving this season so far. You remember that laundry list of things I didn't like about the last season of WIDM? It's like the producers of De Mol took that list and were like "Ok, this is how to do it right." 1) They make INCREDIBLE use of the locations. The theming of each episode has been immaculate. What a great episode that mafia one was. The sea journey of "Pandora's Box" - that was fantastic. So much great here. 2) There's been exactly one case of money being taken out of the pot, and it was done in such a way that it actually worked for the show. That "punishment"... man. Talking of which, if I'd been at that box, I would've demanded to see the producers, swore at everyone, loudly proclaimed my intention to quit, told the cameraman to get that camera out of my face, and generally been the most obnoxious person imaginable. I would've refused to move until a producer came out. ...Then, as soon as the others had gone to their rooms, shamed, I would've been all over that box like anything. I would not have stopped until I'd found exactly what the name of the Mole is. 3) The challenges have seemed particularly good this year. One can see where the contestants have fallen down and where the Mole's influence has been. (I have a LOT more thoughts on this, primarily because I think I know who it is.) The editing has been top-notch. (Pineapple used as a horror movie monster, together with appropriate scoring... who could've seen that one coming?) I mean... this is exactly what I want from this show. Great cast of characters, great challenges, fantastic editing, loads of suspense, and somehow it still always feels new and fresh. I think the doubler twist is used just the right amount. My favorite player is Lynn. I love what she's doing. I hope that it works out for her, but unfortunately I think she's destined for an episode five or six boot. I think that there are other people who are already on the track of the Mole, and I don't think that Lynn is. I have one suspect at the moment, and that is Senne. I think he, Michael and Stephanie are the most likely final 3 at the moment, and it will be kind of obvious (if it's not already) that it's Senne. I mean, only one of them is not missing a foot / testicle, right? From their actions I'm inclined to rule out all of the women completely, and Bernard as well. That really just leaves Michael and Senne, and of those two: Senne pushed for Charlotte as one of the possible doubler exemption-pushers (she wasn't), he pushed for Michael when Coco was eliminated (Michael wasn't), and he encouraged the group to choose Bernard and Michael's car as the one containing the two liars (it wasn't). Senne put himself in the tower in episode two, where the Mole would be, since the person locked up had ultimate control over when the challenge would end. He then acted annoyed by the group's lack of cooperation to throw suspicion off himself and put himself in a position where, along with Michael, he had a "reason" to take the pasvragen in the chest. He wasted a literal bunch of bananas and then stopped his go-kart a lap early. He held his pizza in such a way that it almost looked planned for it to be hit with pineapple in that exact spot. And in the very first episode, he retrieved a doubler to look good, but also made sure that the maximum to be earned was E4,000, not E10,000. As for the olives - he was in the group that eventually controlled the money. He only pointed out one correct bin - again, a Mole may do this to throw people off initially - but he could've been taking olives out of the right bins and putting them in the wrong ones all day and nobody would've noticed. At this point I'm inclined to say that Senne is as obvious a Mole as Lloyd was in Season 6, or Annelotte in Season 9. And if that doesn't give you confidence, what will? As per the clues: 1) Are they quoting only the candidates (not the Mole)? Has the host said anything to the viewers to indicate this? I'm not sure... 2) Yes, I've absolutely spotted the Wilhelm screams. And no, I have no idea why they're there.

Really glad that I was able to find subtitles for this season and that you are back to cover it! I have loved all the belgian seasons so far and this one is no exception.

Hi Julia, you're back. We missed you with your Mole theories and hints. Please come back more often. Thank you.

Hi Julie, this is the first one of your videos I watch (I mostly follow the Dutch WIDM videos and podcasts), but I like it. If you do decide to cover De Mol (a programme I will definitely be watching), I might drop by from time to time. PS. I am glad I guessed Anna correctly 😊.

Leuke video Julie😘volgend keer beter

Thanks Julie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's 120 exclamation points for 120 videos so far that you've posted, and I'm grateful for all of them! I used to have to put my novel-sized comments on Marieke's videos and felt like I was being obnoxious to the casual viewer. I'm so happy I've found a place to spout my nonsense to fellow mollotes! This season is probably one of the better of the Rik era (which is unfortunately not saying all that much). I personally liked 2022's challenges for the most part a lot more, but this cast was one of the best we've had in quite some time. It just goes to show how powerful a likable cast goes in a WIDM season, because we were literally watching them solve puzzles half the time and I didn't just give up and change the proverbial channel. I had properly tunneled on Anna, but I'll tell you what I won't deny the fact that when all the previously eliminated contestants were pointing the finger at Fons pre-reveal, I got extremely nervous. Another solid effort by production on making that reveal as exciting as possible (although IMO they should have shown all the people in the receiving line, because I still had that red/white/black-clad person with the hat and fan as public enemy number one in my book...even better would have been if the camera had panned first to a crystal ball to look in it to see all the costumed people. But I digress). I loved how bold Anna was in so many sabotages. So much littering! She probably should have been a lot more cautious about how she went about some sabotaging, but I will admit it's a lot more fun to watch a bold mole at the reunion. She definitely could've saved herself though from Fons finding out about her if she just offered to pick up the brunch goers and take the long route to the brunch. And then she just makes Charlie change his name to Carlos, so what was even the point of taking the necklaces/driving by them anyway? People aren't perfect and moles are no exception, but this was a risk that didn't even make a ton of sense. And speaking of people/moles not being perfect: HOLY SH!T DENNIS. Like WHAT. That was the FUNNIEST and most UNNECESSARY THING I've ever seen on WIDM. Like Babs had every opportunity under the sun this season and blew it. I don't even know how it's possible! The hidden hints this year were wild. Like on a scale of 1 (way too easy to figure out) to 10 (impossible), we had like three 1 hints (birthday balloon, music note, Anna-log) and one 15 (the painting codes adding up to Anna's age in days...that one's insane). I would say in general you do you when it comes to the Belgium season. If you need some time off go for it! I know there's a lot less people who have access to it than WIDM. Although I would say if you ever just wanted to have a more casual like 3-5 minute video about your personal opinions on suspicions or things you liked and disliked in an episode I'd still watch! (I have no idea how much work goes into making a video like this though, so if even that is not feasible don't worry about it!) It doesn't have to be a crazy in-depth hyper analysis of hidden hints and suspicious activity. We can do that work for you in the comments! I'm definitely going to watch this year, but it usually takes me a bit longer get the translations. So if you needed more time to upload a video it would be fine with me! And if you even wanted to just post a video with a picture of Italy and nothing else I could still work with that XD. Cafe de Mol is next Sunday, and I'm already stoked to see if it's gonna be a season of duos competing or something else entirely! Curious to see how the civilian/Hila season will work. I feel like the last time we had the jubilee/Renaissance season it was like right after the 2020 season. Wouldn't mind having a few months break just in time for a fall season. Guess we'll see! Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, firstly, and most importantly: Thank you so much Julie! Thank you for all of your hints and theories videos, and for giving us a place to discuss this awesome show with other international mole fans. WIDM season is always my favorite time of year, and the last 2 years, since I found your channel, have been particularly enjoyable. However, that being said, PLEASE do whatever makes you the most comfortable with regard to the upcoming season of De Mol! We all have different schedules, and other things going on in life, etc. It is tricky sometimes for me to find time to write my novel-length comments, so I can’t even imagine putting an entire video together every week (and 4 videos this week!). If you want to just relax and enjoy the season, then go for it! You deserve it 🙂 IF you decide that you want to post a picture to facilitate community discussions/theorizing…perhaps a rubber duck? Or an egg? Cactus? Lol. Now, about the finale… Wow. I was EXTREMELY wrong. Again. Last year really was a rare exception to the rule for me, it seems. What a GREAT reveal though! My heart was pounding as I watched the footage of the candidates running around the Dia del Topo party. Then, the painted faces started flashing past one by one, and my hands were practically shaking. And then…Anna. I was shocked, and a bit disappointed. I REALLY thought it was Rosario, and I was excited at the prospect of a mole that neither finalist had managed to guess. How would that work? Who wins in that scenario? I guess we’ll never know. But, do you know what? I actually wasn’t AS shocked as you might expect. On a scale of How Shocked Was I? if 0 is Daniel winning WIDM 2023, and 10 is Thomas getting eliminated from De Mol 2023 (my jaw is still on the floor from that one), then I was probably around 7.5-8. So I guess deep down, I wasn’t 100% convinced that Rosario was the mole. I just thought he made much more sense than the other two. I am thinking back to something that I said in one of my comments a few weeks ago. I believe that my exact words were “Is this something that I’m going to look back on in a few weeks and do a face palm?” Yes, past self. Yes it is 🙃. But do you know who else needs to be doing a much bigger face palm right now? DENNIS (also Babs). BUT DENNIS. BRO. WHY?!?! You KNOW that people other than Anna could pick up the phone!!! And you’re going to just jump right into “Hello Anna! It is I, your fellow mole, Dennis! How goes the sabotage on this fine morning?” He was SO lucky Babs didn’t understand. This could’ve been a “Nikki turning around and seeing Jeroen” moment. Except worse. But yeah…Anna. The person that I chose as mole/winner before the season even started. For once, this show gives me exactly what I ask for, but I refuse to let myself see it! I was disappointed at first (Rosario would have been so much more fun! 🙁), but watching all of Anna’s mole actions did make me appreciate her more. Her costume was fantastic. She really didn’t shy away from the others during the party at all. And she seemed like she really had fun with everything, playing it up for the cameras, etc. I was surprised by how many “fish sticks” sort of shenanigans she got away with (is that the correct term? For the montage of her throwing away items? lol). But I also find it frustrating that she earned more money than the other finalists. And it’s not even necessarily the producers telling her to put more money in the pot. It could just be her making a bare minimum effort in order to look less suspicious than the others. The problem is that when it gets down to the final few candidates, everyone is so focused on trying to make themselves look suspicious that no one really makes an effort to do well in the assignments. The mole out-performed the rest of the group in at least 2 assignments late in the season (kayak and zip line). This shouldn’t be happening. I don’t really see a way to fix it, though. In terms of hidden hints, I do find it annoying that the most blatantly obvious hint was shown at the very beginning of the season. I understand what everyone in the Anna tunnel was talking about now. I rolled my eyes when the “Ana-loog” theory turned out to be correct. And that Frieda Kahlo numbers hint was absolutely ridiculous. It wasn’t even the number of days that she had been alive when the Frieda episode aired…you were supposed to account for the number of days remaining in the season, that hadn’t even happened yet? Get out of here. Mol-Ik was a much better hint. Other thoughts about the finale: All of the candidates looked AMAZING! (I’m pretty sure I say that every year, lol). Rian’s flower necklace thing looked so nice on her. Jeroen looks like a totally different person without his beard! As usual, I saw lots of familiar faces in the audience; it’s always fun to see how many former candidates I can recognize. Fake Mole Kees got a well-deserved promotion to Helper Mole Kees. And Fons split the pot with Rosario, which would be heartwarming if they hadn’t both lost so much money over the course of the season. Overall, I think that I’m not as dissatisfied with this season as some other people are. There were some not-so-great moments, but there were also some moments that were really fun. We had a returning candidate and a returning mole. The opening assignment was really good, and it made for a really good reveal. And the final 4 candidates were all suspicious, so the editing throughout the season was well done in that sense. Well, it’s been a pleasure, everyone. Congrats to the people who knew that Anna was the mole! I hope to talk to you all again next time, whenever that may be 🩷

I'm back, briefly. But I have stuff to say. * I watched the finale. Didn't watch any of the challenges after episode 6 or so, but did expect Anna to be de Mol, if only because I could see more reasons why it wouldn't be Fons / Rosario based on the early episodes. But given that I had it narrowed down to the three of them, and Fons was my pre-season winner if it wasn't Anna, I don't think there was any surprising result here. If I cared about any of the players, I'd probably be congratulating Rosario for making a mockery of my prediction that he'd be the first "out"... but honestly, I didn't. And that isn't their fault. * I do want to go through some challenges in the original UK series of the Mole - the first one I ever watched, and still a personal favorite of mine. It took place on the island of Jersey. So we have... Ep 1) Candidates have to skydive onto Jersey beach (taking advantage of the airport / beach locations). Then find a fellow imprisoned candidate in a tower (taking advantage of the entire island, which was the playing field of this part of the game.) Ep 2) Candidates have to race three laps and do a pitstop at a race circuit. Then two of them have to complete a golf challenge while the others answer questions, on topics they choose, to earn "shots" for the golfers. If the golfers can sink a hole, the challenge is won. Ep 3) Candidates have to learn about cheeses, wine, and luxury cooking, then answer questions regarding those things - specifically what's not a local cheese, wine, or step in a recipe. If two out of three groups are correct, the money is won. Then they have to do a giant bridge swing. If all of them complete the swing, the money is won. Ep 4) A coastal episode! While some candidates have to fish for a total of 10lbs of catch, others have to survive on a remote and unpopulated island and arrange transport to get them back to a boat nearby without getting wet. * I could go on, but I want to point out some things about these challenges: 1) Every single one of them is "win or lose". There's no challenge where you can win £50, or £30, or whatever. If you complete the challenge, you get the lot, and it's generally a minimum of £5,000. If not, you fail. This means there's real stakes for every challenge. 2) The money won is constantly rising. At no point is there ever a challenge where money can be taken out of the pot. This creates tension, because as the money increases, the number of players eligible to win it decreases. 3) The amount the players are playing for is significant. In our first season it was £100k (out of a possible £200k). In the second season it was £87k. For a lot of British people, that'd be three or four years' salary. 4) Every challenge takes advantage of its setting. So when a challenge takes place on a golf course, the candidates get to golf. When they go up in an aeroplane, they get to jump out of it. When they visit a casino, they gamble; and when they are on fishing boats, the challenge is to fish. It's not "do a logic puzzle, do another logic puzzle, open some envelopes, and then do a further logic puzzle." I mean, in one episode of WIDM 24, they actually teach the contestants to dance, setting up for a great dancing task; and then the challenge is... a game of chinese whispers? With a logic puzzle at the end of it? SERIOUSLY?! 5) The total number of advantages earnable, in the entire first UK season, is four - a free pass through episodes 4, 5, 6 and 7. (And even the last one was controversial, since a player with a free pass who didn't know who the Mole was, beat out a player who DID know but didn't have the free pass. That's the only thing I didn't like about that season. Don't like f4 free passes on principle actually, but I realise that they add an element of drama to the penultimate episode.) There's no jokers, black exemptions, etc. The advantages there were were really, really difficult to "earn". It wasn't just a case of a "moral dilemma" where there's obviously only one correct answer and by choosing it you take money from the group, in a way that has zero counterplay, over and over and over again. * I really, really hope that the new producer looks back at these early seasons and takes some notes, because this season... it wasn't good, guys. Zero tension, zero stakes, equals zero interest for me. The fact that the early challenges might have been the worst in De Mol history, at least other than season 16, was just a cap on a really bad season. (I realise I might have missed some epic challenge from one of the later episodes that I didn't bother to watch, but after watching the finale... no, I don't see anything that says to me that this happened.) * I'm so conflicted here because on the one hand I count myself hugely lucky for people like Marieke who subtitle these seasons so that I can watch them from outside the Netherlands. And honestly I'd quite happily pay to watch 'em if the option was there to do so. I'm so fortunate to even be able to watch these shows. It hardly feels right to be a critic. On the other hand, this doesn't feel like the show I knew and loved any more. The tension and sense of adventure is completely gone. I didn't get to know / care about the players, because none of them did anything substantial. They weren't given the opportunity to. * That's it. I hope there's a way to watch the next Belgian season, because the worst these seasons have ever been is "very good", and at best they've been some of my favorite seasons of the Mole to ever be filmed. That's all I got. Peace out everyone.

Thanks for hosting videos. I'm kicking myself. I thought it was anna in episode 2 but persuading myself it could not be. I hope we find a way to watch Belgian mole

Glad to hear you like reading novel-length comments, because here comes another one 😛 First, obviously I was very shocked that it wasn’t Rosario. It just seemed like everything he did in the second half of the season was suspicious and he lost the most money of the group by far. As Rik was addressing all of Rosario’s actions on stage, wondering if Rosario was the first Mole ever to go undetected in the finale, I thought for sure I had it! But, alas, it was Anna the whole time. That puts me in a weird position, because I had Anna as my #1 suspect after the first episode, but I thought it was too obvious. I even said at the time that I hope I’m wrong. While I was 100% in the Rosario tunnel by the finale, I wonder if deep down part of me just wanted it to be someone other than Anna. Like you, I find it strange that she did so many anti-Mole actions that added money to the pot seemingly unnecessarily. In addition to fixing the sentence in the canoe that you mentioned, she also “beat herself” in the math game on the zip line to add 750 to the pot, and I think it was unnecessarily risky to collect the money in the laser game and hope Rosario shoots her. That worked out for her, and I guess it was a calculated risk on her part knowing that Rosario suspected her at that point, but I think the Mole should go for the sure thing of grabbing the joker instead of the money. That being said, I did like seeing Anna’s sneaky behavior in the finale. I’m glad that she got all the answers wrong in the mountain climb (clever editing on that one). I’m glad that she was hiding envelopes and chucking words overboard. I’m glad that she broke four wrong pinatas. And I really liked that she used her Spanish speaking to convince Charlie to lie and say his name was Carlos. Some pretty good Mole actions. I just wish they didn’t make it so easy for the group to lose money in the other games. For example, her Molling in the wrestling game would’ve seemed much more impressive if winning didn’t rely so much on the others also completing their tasks successfully (which they generally didn’t). For the clues, there are always going to be some that are too obscure and some that are ultimately going to be obvious, I get that. But I don’t like that they put the obvious ones at the beginning of the season. The birthday balloon was in Episode #1 and the music note hint was even in the trailer! I didn’t want to believe that the producers would reveal so much so soon. To me, this would’ve been like if Kim-Lian was the Mole a couple of years ago when her eyes were under the mask. For the finale, I enjoyed that they revealed some huge surprises, including Dennis accidentally thinking Babs was Anna on the phone, and Jeroen standing right next to Anna when she was talking to Dennis about how much time was left. The segment with Kees on the canoe openly talking about what Anna was probably doing behind his back was also funny. It was also interesting to hear how people voted all season, and how Fons accidentally stumbled onto Anna thanks to his broken tuk-tuk. I do wish they shared more about the Rosario/Fons bond. In hindsight, their bond worked to perfection. They probably both decided to try to look suspicious to deflect attention away from Anna - and it worked like a champ as they were the last two standing. That bond may explain why Rosario screwed up some things, but I still think it is odd that he just happened to pick the -3000 envelope, that he couldn’t solve the math problems on the zip line within 20 minutes, that he couldn’t get the puzzles correct on the boat, and that he couldn’t play children’s songs well enough on the piano for the others to guess correctly. Overall, I enjoyed the season. The players were all interesting, the theme of knowing the future was cool, the use of Mexican culture was fun, and several of the challenges were top notch. My main complaint was that the pot was too low and it was too easy to Mole and remove money. And I really question the whole point of the game when the money is ultimately going to charity - it just feels wrong for the Mole to try to take money away and for the players to not care when they lose a lot of money. Perhaps that is why they are switching to non-celebrity candidates, which I think is a good idea. Regarding the Belgian Mole, for me personally, I have no way to watch it. I am totally reliant on Marieke’s channel to watch WIDM, and I guess Belgian TV is more strict with putting their videos on CZcams. It’s a shame, because I hear that De Mol is like WIDM but even better. Anyway, it’s totally fine by me if you are unable to produce videos for De Mol this year. I know how much effort it takes! Thank YOU, Julies, for bringing together this small but passionate group of WIDM fans from around the world! I look forward to continuing the search for the Mole in future WIDM seasons. Cheers!

thank you so much for another great season!! looking forward for the next content, whenever they may be :)

Thank you once again for another season's worth of videos, Julie. I really appreciate it. I'm so glad that you do this video to explain the hints. They're my favorite part and I hate that they just put them up on the website as opposed to including them in the episode. That's the funny thing about clues. Since sometimes they're as prominent as the musical notes clue and other times they're so esoteric like the numbers equally Anna's age in days, you never really know what is or isn't a clue. I hope you do cover the Belgium version even if it's not weekly. My question is, do you know if any previous seasons of the Belgium version are available with English subtitles? I'd love to go back and watch some of them. Whatever you decide to do, I'll be here! You really are a savior for those of us who don't speech Dutch. :)

Leuke video ik verdenk Fons

Let me preface this by saying I am stuck in my Anna tunnel. My dream mole Kees was sadly eliminated. I went back and watched Rosario in episode 1 task 1. I actually watched in slow motion to catch everything. When he went to search for the "bread" necklace he was not searching but started dancing with people. Then he is shown going through a human tunnel (line of people with their arms up making a tunnel). Immediately upon exiting this tunnel he places his hands on the shoulder of a man in a top hat who has his topito. How coincidental that his topito was right there when he came out of his Mole tunnel and he placed his Mole hands on the person's shoulders. He is never seen searching for the necklace like the other candidates. Also the countdown clock for this task is ten lightbulbs. Rosario has won 2 Edison awards named after Thomas Edison the inventor of the lightbulb. Silly I know but just something that I thought when watching the episode again. I am hoping Fons is the Mole and we have all been fooled this year. Thanks Julie!

Omg I made it into the video!!!! That just made my day! ❤ As I’m sure everyone knows, Rosario is my mole. I have to work tonight, so I don’t have time to write one of my usual thesis-length posts. But MoleTracker has already done a great job of making the case for Mole Rosario. So I will just add a couple of comments. Firstly, I just have to mention the scarecrow clue again. Dennis’s “Is Ego de Mol?” quote was such an iconic hidden hint. I didn’t even properly watch the 2008 season of WIDM (I watched it years after it first aired, and I didn’t have subtitles, so I didn’t even understand what was happening most of the time), but I still know about that hint, and how awesome it was when it was revealed. The fact that Dennis returns to Mexico for an assignment, and Rosario spends half of that assignment running around aimlessly, trying to get the other candidates to help him come up with the word “MOL-IK” feels way too important to ignore. I mean, come on. How could that be a coincidence?! The next thing I want to mention is a possible clue from the first episode. This is something that I noticed when I was rewatching the scenes from the Dia del Topo party to try to find the Anna hints that everyone was talking about, lol! Remember the guy in the red and black suit and top hat, and how it seemed like he was possibly helping the mole look at necklaces? Well…I think this is actually the person that Rosario gets his topito from? Maybe? We only see a kind of overhead, zoomed out view of this interaction, but it looks like it could be the same person. That alone is suspicious. But it gets better: we actually see a close up shot of that man earlier in the episode, and his necklace has a sombrero on it. NOT a loaf of bread. So maybe the whole thing was just staged? The next thing that is still SUPER suspicious to me is Rosario’s piano playing during the music task with Kees. At one point, they show a close up of the tablet, with the song that he is supposed to be playing. And I swear that the song on the tablet is The Wheels on the Bus. That’s what it looks like to me, anyway. But the song that we hear Rosario playing is NOT The Wheels on the Bus. So, I’m not sure if the editors were manipulating the audio to make him seem suspicious, or if he was just playing a totally different song (maybe even inventing a tune on the fly). Anyway, Rosario starts laughing as Kees struggles to sing along to a children’s song that may or may not exist. Next up: the -3000 euros on the purple table. This is probably the single thing that has bothered me the most about Rosario as a potential mole. As others have pointed out, if the producers really did just place the negative money on the purple table for him, that seems really unfair. I would hope that they wouldn’t make it so easy for him to take money out of the pot. One thing that I think is worth mentioning is that there were actually 2 purple tables in this assignment. So maybe the producers put the 2 jokers that he had opted to go for on one of the purple tables, and the minus money on the other? And left it up to a 50/50 chance? (This would be slightly less unfair. I guess.) Or maybe the whole thing was a coincidence? I hope? Because if not…yeah, not cool. Lastly, and on a somewhat related note, the color purple appeared all over the place this season, often in important places. The tarot cards from episode 1 were either green, yellow, or purple. Those colors were chosen intentionally, and I don’t think it was to celebrate Mardi Gras. The green and the yellow kind of make sense (green= green screen, yellow= gold/money to be earned). But purple? Then, the returning player was locked inside a purple box. Then, the -3000 euros was on the purple table. Then, the money in episode 9 was on the purple table. That’s an awful lot of Rosario’s color! (Side note: is that why they chose to use all of the pastel-colored tables and chairs? So that the purple wouldn’t stand out too much?) Also, speaking of colors, thank you Julie for pointing out the “pink river” hint! I actually noticed that scene. I thought,”Hmm, that water looks rather red. That’s kind of weird.” And then never thought about it again. Because, you know, red rivers are totally normal. Lol! So, in conclusion, Rosario is my pick. Which means it’s probably Fons. 🙂

My mole is Anna, but I think Rosario is still probable. Rosario’s most obvious sabotage being the -3000 euros from picking the wrong envelope, but it is interesting to me that as a musician and self-proclaimed puzzle solver he was not super helpful in any of the music-related/puzzle ones. The biggest thing against him being the mole in my opinion is the fact that he was chosen as the most trusted by the remaining contestants. Either this means he was very good at being undetected by anyone (which I think is unlikely) or that he isn’t the mole. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it’s Fons though since I have not suspected him at all. However, both Rosario and Fons looked at the final questions, which as a mole you 100% want to do to force the auction to occur, which means even more money lost.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I've written a novel about Rosario's (alleged) actions as Mole. 🙂 Here goes nothing... - Episode 1 - Braids his hair, puts on a hat and makeup, shakes everyone’s hand, but otherwise lays low to seem like a regular candidate while building trust. He’s ok with adding money to the pot at this point because he knows there will be opportunities to take money away later. Forms a bond with Fons and convinces Fons that a good strategy would be for him to mess up stuff to look like the Mole to others. In part 1 of that plan, Rosario calls out Fons in the van for lying about his exemption vote. Meanwhile, Anna is in key positions all episode, so the editors plant some red herrings pointing to her as the Mole. Players start suspecting Fons, fans start suspecting Anna, but nobody is suspecting Rosario (including me, who picked him as least likely Mole suspect after Episode 1). - Episode 2 - Rosario’s first opportunity to strike comes at the Molympics. Notice how he delivers the first envelope to Anna even though he wasn’t the last leg of the relay race. Hmm. My theory is that he switched the contents of that first envelope while others weren’t paying attention. And from that point on, the team has no chance at success. All the blame goes to Fons and Anna reading out the codes, which I believe were out of order the whole time. Rosario just needed to sit back and watch the chaos unfold around him. In the mountain climb, he continues to build trust by going first in the rope swing, and he deflects suspicion to Jip by letting her take the key helmet. Then he only gets one right, passes a hard question to Jip (which she gets wrong), and then lies to the group saying he got 3 correct. - Episode 3 - Our first of several music-related challenges. A good fit for a Mole musician, perhaps? And yet Rosario contributes very little. Hmm. Then, the street challenge, the first of several puzzle-themed challenges. Should be great for a self-proclaimed puzzle expert like Rosario. And yet he doesn’t even try to solve the puzzle at the end. Hmm. And for good measure, he sends Anna and Tooske away from the cocktail bar as time is running out so they can’t help solve the puzzle (and smirks at the camera while doing so). Then at the wrestling event, his first overt sabotage when he clearly breaks the rules by having multiple wrestlers in each photo and then tries to convince Kees that he is being smart by pointing to the right one. I think Kees will be kicking himself at the reveal for having dismissed this as an innocent action. - Episode 4 - Rosario is in a key position when he is the first one to answer the phone in the bike relay. He sets a precedent here by waiting a long time for jokers, which the others follow at the next stations. He wastes a ton of time, which was the main goal here, so that each correct answer is worth the smallest amount. The team gets 7 out of 9 correct answers, but Rosario only chimed in on 2 correct answers - and both of the incorrect answers. Then we have another puzzle game on the boats and we find out how much Rosario loves games and claims to be good at them. The others trust him when he completes the maze quickly and then fixes their mistakes on the puzzles - but unfortunately some of his answers aren’t right either (counting triangles, for example). The group can’t believe how they ended up with negative money. Maybe they put too much trust in the Mole! - Episode 5 - For the counting flags challenge, I’m going to blame this failure on the fact that the rules were unclear. The fun begins with the pinata challenge. We learn later that the Mole is communicating with Dennis throughout. And we don’t see Rosario at all between the moment the challenge starts until Jeroen famously yells “ROSARIO!” Was he secretly talking to Dennis during this time? Rewatch it - it's pretty striking how much screen time elapses without him being shown. After that, it’s all about wasting time. Rosario can’t seem to figure out his clue for some reason, and basically wonders around aimlessly the whole time trying to find the pinata that says Mol-ik, which is the first real Rosario clue from the season. Then, in the envelope game, Rosario conveniently finds minus 3000 in the box that is his favorite color, purple, and doesn’t seem too upset about it (although I still am - grrr). - Episode 6 - Rosario makes a pretty lame excuse for wanting to be the pennymeister by saying that he’ll get that one question right on the quiz. In the Mayan numbers challenge titled “Nothing is Something”, I think the symbol for the 0 resembles the bread on Rosario’s tarot card from Episode 1, which could be another clue (although I admit this one might be a stretch). Then we have an odd scene that is shown in mirror image when Rosario is discussing a bond with Babs. At first, I thought Babs was onto Rosario, but I think he somehow persuaded her that he is not the Mole (and I think the editors used this scene to also convince some viewers that he is not the Mole). Next, in the dancing challenge, Rosario’s hearing aid is a natural excuse if he was somehow unable to hear the messages properly. And finally, in the analog quiz, Rosario apparently picks himself as the answer to one of the questions shown. - Episode 7 - Another musical challenge for our musician, so Rosario is immediately trusted by the group. I think his strategy was to succeed on his first task and then sabotage the second task. I believe he intentionally played the piano incorrectly. Then at the picnic, he convinced the others to remember extraneous information to confuse them. Interestingly, he corrects the others to get the first couple people in the right place, but he doesn’t correct Rian when she thinks Charlie is Carlos. For the bidding challenge, integrity is rewarded, but a Mole has no integrity, so he looks at the quiz questions and removes 500 from the pot. This action also increases the chances that the player with the high bid will choose correctly. As an added bonus, the blame is placed on Kees and Fons, and he never has to reveal whether or not he looked at the envelope. - Episode 8 - So we reach episode #8, the pot is incredibly low, and nobody seems to be onto Rosario. In fact, they pick him as most trusted. Fools! I start yelling at my TV. LOL. Even Rik is surprised. Rosario point-blank tells Rik he can’t be trusted. And I think it is no coincidence that Rosario is called last, so he has more control over the final rankings. For example, if he was tied with someone else as most trusted, he could vote that person least trusted, so he would rise to the top of the list. Also, if he’s truly a player in a bond with Fons, why isn’t Fons his most trusted? You can see him celebrate when he is selected as most trusted, knowing that his job just got really easy. But if he shoots everyone, his cover may be blown, especially when Rian calls him out on it. So he lets Rian through, adds 2000 to the pot (which overall is still very low), shoots everyone else, takes a joker, and STILL nobody suspects him. In the canoes, Rosario turns into a cocky Mole who just starts doing ridiculous stuff in plain view. “Look at me, people, I’m the Mole!” He can’t row properly, he can’t pick up the words properly, and he nearly tips the boat over. I also think he is probably responsible for the missing Mol card, either dropped back into the water or hidden somewhere. Behind the scenes, the producers scramble to figure out the rules if nobody picks the correct Mole in the finale (this was meant to be a joke ... or is it?). - Episode 9 - My theory is that the high money amount is in the pouch on the purple pole. Rosario wants to get that pouch and then fail the game. He has two ways to possibly get it. First, he lines up across from the purple pouch and can naturally take the one in front of him (which Fons conveniently suggests, anyway). I also think Rosario was prepared to request the purple one because it is his favorite color, if needed. Low and behold, it’s another puzzle game (remind me again which of our players loves puzzles?), this time head-to-head with the Mole. Rosario’s explanation about why Anna should do the second one doesn’t make any sense (unless you are in the Anna tunnel). I think he wanted to do the last one himself so that he could use up all 20 minutes and perhaps the others would forget the gnome body part names by the time he finished. Then, in the key game, it’s well documented that this game was easy to Mole from any position. But I also think Rosario had a convenient excuse to be in the easiest position at the key table since he couldn’t listen to the underwater speakers. During the quizzes, Rosario doesn’t really name names, but rather says that he is sure of his choice and has been on a single person for a while … himself. 😊 If this is all wrong and Rosario was just a player this whole time, I may cry. LOL.

One clue you may have missed: Anna's card in the Dia Del Topo challenge is a crown. In episode 5, the crown reappears... as a very visible tattoo on the former Mole.

I will admit, there are as many hidden hints throughout the episodes pointing to Anna as there are hints pointing to Rosario. Before the season started, I felt like Anna would be a good mole pick. And she was on my radar for the first 2 episodes, due to her performance in several of the early assignments: -Frida Kahlo assignment: I still feel like the group that was unlocking the paintings (Anna, Tooske, Kees) was missing something here. I really think the paintings were color-coded to make it easier to find the correct combinations on the picture. But Anna was more than happy to just yell numbers back and forth with Kees. -Molympics: Anna understood how this assignment was supposed to work-read out two sets of coordinates, then stop and see what number is forming in the stands. But what she did was more like…read out two sets of coordinates, shove a bunch of papers into Kees’s pocket, and tell him to start reading the next set of coordinates. -Rock Climbing: All of the climbers, including Anna, claimed to have done really well with their quiz questions (spoiler alert: they didn’t). But after this…Anna kind of fell off of my suspect list. I guess she just seemed less suspicious compared to some of the other candidates. BUT, when I really think about it, it’s not like she has earned a huge amount of money. I don’t really do the whole “follow the money” thing, but it would be interesting to see how much money Anna has earned for the pot compared to Fons, for example. Because you would THINK that Fons’ total would be much lower. But, Fons did actually earn 1000 euros in the first episode. So maybe not?

My time to shine baby!!! My general Mol!Anna thesis centers around the idea that there was a point in the season where she carefully had to maneuver around Rosario and Fons' blunders/fake moling. She pulled a little bit out of the pot here and there and hid behind their follies when convenient. Sometimes it's not about who takes the most out of the pot, but who does it relatively consistently and suspiciously. Episode 1: The very first challenge, there's a part that always stuck out to me. It's when Anna is about to go into the fortune teller tent and she sounds...sad? Like her voice hitches and everything. There's a lot of fun and excitement going around and sure, having to step away from it momentarily is less fun, but you're about to start the season! I don't know why she gets weirdly emotional here...unless she's upset to have already lost 6 topitos? Then suddenly it makes a bit more sense. She's sad she didn't do well in her first mole outing. But beyond that, she loses her topito and is very suspicious in the art challenge too. Just messing about not collecting many paintings. Anna's Communist Plan is definitely there as a potential anti-mole action...until you realize not that many contestants followed it. I also find it suspicious that you don't see who Anna voted for (although if she followed her own plan then she voted for Justin, so didn't earn any money). Episode 2: Any of the final 3 could have sabotaged the Olympics task, so I'm whatever about it. No strong evidence for anyone. The questions on the mountain are a little more interesting, until you realize you haven't really heard the podcast so can't really know for sure the answers. And there's the problem of them saying an answer but not showing them type it in, so you don't even know if they really answered it right. It's editing shenanigans that I'm not going to make assumptions about one way or the other. Episode 3: The pub quiz game is whatever. Like not a lot of money being earned in each question, so the mole has some incentive to make the game go longer. Helps take money out of the pot. Anna getting the cockroach question right at the perfect time seems a bit suspicious. Anna not being at the puzzle in the second challenge seems rather suspect too. And she and Tooske miss out on the last 150 euro table, while not being able to provide that answer in the puzzle. Which didn't matter in the end obviously, but yeah. The wrestling challenge could've been moled by anyone, so a moot challenge (a common theme this season). Episode 4: There's not a big reason the mole needs to be on the bicycles in the first challenge. The first whiff of a joker in the season the contestants were gonna go for it, so the mole doesn't need to do anything. What is important is to let the previously eliminated contestant back in the game, and it's a lot easier to have that go off without a hitch if the mole is in the market. Anna spends a ton of time working on the Rubik's cube on the boat, and wasting time is a mole's bread and butter in the realm of sabotaging. Episode 5: Anna really takes the reins in the first challenge with the bad math. Not that it necessarily matters, but it all but solidifies the failure. The second challenge will be the best behind the scenes moment, but another moot challenge. Any of them could've sabotaged here. Losing only 500 euro in the third task is a perfectly respectable mole amount, especially when there's nothing the other candidates can do to stop you from taking the money out. Taking out a solid 3k feels too unfair. Episode 6: The Mayan math challenge could be one of those subtle sabotages that we don't get to see. Like maybe Fons sabotaged it...or maybe it was sabotaged before he touched it. Or maybe the mole didn't sabotage here because they were being watched or it's just one of those challenges they don't mole. Anna had an easy out being right next to Kees in the dancing challenge. Like it's the only part that got messed up and it's an easy way to sabotage while blaming someone else. Episode 7: It's mentioned at the start of the first challenge that Rosario and Babs are the strongest in the music challenges...yet Anna hogs Babs for 3/4 of the time on one mini task. Which is successful, sure, but it takes up so much time for a measly amount of money. For challenge 2, you have her dropping off contestants with the right names (getting them wrong would get called out later and be obvious moling). She also tells them their jobs, which just adds more info to complicate things and make it more challenging to remember. They also do a bad job of bringing people to the brunch to begin with (they miss out on like half the people), which she could have had some part in. (It will be fun to see the mole just ride by confused brunch goers rather than picking them up, or just circling around the neighborhood after picking people up to waste time.) She also played 'Integrity will be rewarded' the way I would expect a mole to play it. Bet a good amount on a contestant who looked at the questions. She also appeared to go later in the line up, which is important because if no one has looked at the questions yet she can do it to make sure 3k isn't earned if required. Episode 8: Anna is the second-least trusted, which feels important. Clearly she's on some people's radar as mole. She also doesn't seem all that surprised to find she's playing a laser game when it's announced (everyone else has an obvious reaction, aside from Rosario who isn't present). She also gets the smallest amount of money and is not great at defending herself against Rosario. The water task is one of those that just could've been moled by anybody, but I know the anti-mole action people will point out. To me, the pot is low enough that we don't need another huge pot drain (it would have been really demoralizing at this point in the season to lose even more money). Earning a really sad 80 euros is fine. Episode 9: She's obviously tested in the first challenge, so knowing she doesn't have a lot of money in her pouch plus knowing how easy the next task is to sabotage, she can make do with not looking obvious to both Fons and Rosario. We're also under the assumption that her pouch only had 750 euro, but what if it had more and she had a way to open it? It would be a sight to see the mole drop that extra money on the zip line. Although again the pot is so low a little extra in the pot doesn't hurt at this point. Anyone could have sabotaged the last assignment, so it's another moot point.

Anna was at the top of my list after episode #1. She seemed to be in prime Mole position throughout that episode and the birthday balloon hint was pretty convincing. But...the group still earned 6,500 in that first episode. So if Anna was the Mole, she wasn't very effective. Given all the money that was removed from the pot later, I think the Mole's strategy was to lay low in Episode 1 to avoid suspicion. As the season went on, most of the Anna hints are clues (or alleged clues) inserted by the producers and not actual Mole actions. For example, the music note clue. This makes me think that Anna is the player who the producers WANT the viewers to think is the Mole, and not the actual Mole. In fact, I think they may even added in the birthday balloon as a red herring once they knew she was a finalist. Not to mention, she has brought in the most money out of all the finalists if you follow the money. But we shall see!

"Rosario" is also a Mexican film from 1935! Another explanation for the random amount of money!

I wrote Fons off long ago, but one thing is clear - he definitely screwed up enough stuff that he could be the Mole 🙂 Definitely a Mole's helper at the very least! My theory is that he formed a bond early on with Rosario and his strategy was to attract attention to himself all season, starting with Rosario "calling him out" in the van in Episode 1. I think a lot of his suspicious behavior was more overt, where everyone could see him screwing up, and not as much sneaky under-the-radar stuff. This leads me to think of him more as a player trying to look like the Mole and not the actual Mole. But we shall see!

Still deep in the Rosario tunnel. I'll save my Rosario comments for the "hints summary" video and share my thoughts on the episode here: The group continues to be terrible at adding money to the pot, although they did manage to avoid having the lowest pot ever (yippee!). For the first task, it's a little annoying that the money in the bags was so unevenly split. How could one bag only have 250 in it? It almost makes me wonder if some money was removed from the bags along the way somehow. Hmm. For the second task, I agree with everyone else that this challenge was just too easy to Mole. From any position. I guess that continues the theme from the season. I read somewhere else that production had to modify or create new challenges on the fly a couple times this season because some of the deals they had with the property owners fell through once they arrived at the site. If that's true, that could explain why some of the challenges seemed lackluster this year. One of the underrated parts of the show in my opinion is the dramatic, drawn out discussions between Rik and the three finalists that usually occur in Episode 9 (you know, where Rik has them walk up slowly one by one and he says "you played the game like a fanatical candidate, but are you really the Mole no one suspected?" and then they cut to dramatic music and a pretty scene of a lake or something). I really missed that here. It seemed like the episode ended too abruptly - you are the finalists, the end. And, as others pointed out, we don't really know who each of the finalists picked as their Mole. Isn't that weird? Are they all still spreading? What if they are all wrong? Even after they literally showed them a picture of the Mole just before the quiz. LOL. Anyway, for all my complaints, I still love the show and it is so fun to discuss all the different layers and possibilities every week. Thanks, Julies!

Ah, yes, the beloved episode 9; everyone's favorite episode of the season. Said no one ever XD I'm kind of surprised about Kees' reaction (or lack thereof) at the beginning of the episode. Like Rian was his mole, she went home last episode, and this week is the final test. I would have expected some sort of 'How did I make it this far?' or 'I am SO lost!' He just seems to be glad to be in the final four though, and I found it just a tad peculiar. Like he doesn't seem phased at all that he has to find a new mole and has really poor notes. I'm kind of torn about the first challenge. Like the pot is one of the lowest pots we've ever seen already, and the second challenge is so easy to sabotage, so does the mole really have to do anything in this first task? The sabotaging really comes from the mole completing their puzzles quickly I think. It'll be brought up in the finale I'm sure, but it'll just be showing the mole solving the math puzzles in the comfort of their own home or something I would imagine. What I'm getting at is that I could see the mole being any of the final three here. Fons earns the smallest amount while not having to face a puzzle, Anna could tell she was being tested by the two boys so could have just did her best to deflect suspicion knowing it didn't cost a lot of money for an already meager pot, and Rosario could have easily thrown that very difficult third round without appearing suspicious. The earning a small amount of money would normally not be necessary at this point in the game, but it's been noted a few times that there was a lot of spreading in previous tests. The mole could still be under the assumption that people are only tunneling now, and trying to throw them off their scent. Kees obviously has to find a new mole this episode too, although whether the other contestants know that or not remains to be seen. I feel like I'm the only one not in the Rosario tunnel at this point, so I'll only say that as a reminder he and Fons are in a bond. It makes sense that he's talking to Fons about strategy. And speaking of Fons, the main thing I found a bit odd is Fons being like, 'I'll memorize the Mayan stuff, ya'll do the puzzles.' If they followed this advice, only Fons would have won money. I can't tell if Fons is moling half the time or just has poor challenge comprehension. Prediction: During next week's episode, the mole will be on the zipline shouting 'Ik ben de mol!' or something equivalent when no one is around to hear them. Second challenge is just so unfair to the contestants, and it's really a rather lackluster final challenge. Like last year's wasn't really grand per se, but at least it was hilarious. This year there's only one key to remove from the challenge and the mole keeps all the money out of the pot. Anyone could have moled here. Either remove a key when no one's looking above ground, or pretend to hear the wrong name under the water so the other contestants will remove the key for you. You can't really get anything out of it. I enjoyed the fortune teller coming back to bring us full circle, but I sort of wish she was utilized a little differently? I think it would've been a lot more interesting if she was the one to give the green/red screens for the candidates after the final quiz or something. Like technically she asks the contestants if they want to know the future, they say yes, then they look into a crystal ball of...all the partygoers from the past that they already met. Like one of them is the mole in disguise, sure, but it's not really the future they're looking into. I dunno, maybe if they reacted more excited or something it would've read differently. Major thing that stood out to me: Anna says she definitely sees her mole, Fons says he doesn't, and we don't get any info from Rosario on if he does or not. Let's go through the three finalists during the final test, on the assumption that they're all contestants: 1) Rosario says something interesting during his test, having to do with his advanced knowledge on the test questions. He knows Fons has the same test questions he does. He says he has an advantage on one person. This only makes sense if he thinks Anna (or Kees I suppose) is the mole. Because if he thought Fons was the mole, he would have an advantage over two people (both Kees and Anna). Kees thought Rosario was on Fons, but I'm not so sure. We only see him answer one question, about whether the mole should have remained during the folk dance challenge. Maybe my google translate isn't working, but the answer to that regardless of who the mole is is always no, right? Because the only remaining contestants should have been Rian and Tooske? 2) The only question you see Fons answer is on Anna (she did not earn an exemption in the first task). 3) You don't see Anna answer any questions. Which I find suuuuuspicious. I find it very curious we don't really get a final suspect for each finalist. Like it seems like Anna is on Fons and vice versa. Kees thinks Rosario's on Fons too, and appears to be trying to split between Anna and Rosario? Everyone here being in the Rosario tunnel will tell me I'm wrong which is fair, since we don't see him answer any questions. But still, curious stuff.