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The Final
Revelation
August 11
It began
with 12 players and a trip to South America. All were
looking for a huge payday. One was looking to sabotage
any and all attempts at it. That person was the Mole,
and if the other 11 could find out who it was, they
could take home the big prize... But now we are left
with but three... Mark, Craig, and Nicole. Tonight, we
bring the 12 players back together to answer the one
question that's been on their minds all summer long...
WHO IS THE MOLE?
At stake, $420,000.
Fastforward 12 weeks from the last episode. Waiting
behind three doors are the final three, one winner, one
loser, one Mole.
Before we find out who's who, let's take a look back at
all the suspicious plays everyone made, starting with
Nicole, who's been simply terrible at math. Craig has
been breaking rules left and right AND making things
hard for the other players. Mark thinks only of himself
and the exemptions that he can get.
Meanwhile, we look at Bobby O'Donnell's gameplay. He's
the biggest fan of the show ever, having bragged about
his physical prowess on his audition video. But from the
beginning, Bobby couldn't keep up with the breakneck
pace of the game. His medical diagnosis... sprinting
right off the bat. He felt bad about being so fragile,
but everyone forgives him.
Sure, now that the game's over.
Okay, let's get to the final results of the Quiz. One
key will open the winner's door...
And the winner of the Mole is.... MARK! Needless to say,
he's in shock. The whole reason he did this was for his
wife and family. He's feeling on top of the world right.
So we know who the winner is. Now it's time to find
out... WHO IS THE MOLE?
The Mole was... CRAIG! To Mark: "I think you just built
for this game. I'm proud of you; you did it for all the
right reasons."
And Nicole... just pretty... and the Mole's final
victim. She rubbed everyone the wrong way in the
beginning. Her strategy, get under the skin of everyone,
Paul especially. This was to put suspicion on herself
while she looked for the Mole. Meanwhile, Paul was
playing a very similar strategy, pushing buttons. Paul
thought that Craig could have been the Mole because he's
just the guy whom you loved to love. And when Nicole
threatened his life, Paul used it as a tool to rattle
the other players. Meanwhile, Nicole thought Bobby was
the Mole, and Paul's strategy came to the forefront.
Nicole was never onto the Mole until Craig was left out
of his subject. She was still never 100% sure of herself
and felt like throwing the Quiz. Her pride wouldn't let
her do it, though. Both Nicole and Paul knew Craig was
the Mole, but Nicole beat him by four seconds on the
last execution, coming through on her promise to beat
Paul.
But ultimately, she couldn't beat Mark's tenacity.
Nicole knew that Paul was going to be one of her greater
adversaries. "It almost worked until I sat in front of
that computer." Paul was the only player onto the Mole
from the beginning... yet he still didn't. "Reading his
face, I could tell from his first execution it was
Craig. Now that I know it was four seconds, it's like a
dagger through the heart." Ali thought that Nicole was
crazy.
Now here's how Mark caught onto Craig. His strategy was
to form a coalition and gain information. Together they
targeted Victoria. That execution, there was a three-way
tie between Victoria, Alex, and Mark, but Victoria hit a
wrong answer. If it wasn't for that, Mark would've been
executed. Meanwhile, he was taking notes in his journal,
and was visibly steamed when his journal was burned. He
started to doubt everything, but eventually he refocused
and got back on track. The difference in time between
Mark and his target Kristen... one second. Alex also
targeted Nicole... and he was executed. Clay and Mark
tied the next round... and Clay was executed. But still,
Nicole was a frequent target. Fortunately, time with his
wife rejuvenated him. He knew he had to earn the final
execution to buy him some time. Should he trust Clay one
last time? Was he truthful about targeting Nicole? Mark
went with that info and went all for Craig... and the
rest is history.
"I did feel really bad the night Clay went home. That
was a sacrifice that ultimately led me to win the game.
He saved me emotionally. He talked me off the ledge." On
the quiz: "I thought that I needed a perfect score to
beat him."
Interesting thing about the dossier... It contained only
one of the answers on the final Quiz, and both of them
got that right, so Mark, in essence, threw away $75,000.
"It was worth the risk." Mark beat Nicole, 17-13.
So how did Craig manage to sabotage all the missions? It
all goes back to one thing... being his friend. "My
strategy was to be the fun, lovable guy." He sabotaged
from the beginning.
- In Over the Falls, Craig was told to drop the bag.
- In Crusoe, Craig hid things in the sand AND lied about
the copper kettle that was in the rocks he searched.
- In Race to the Summit, Craig was told to be an
"uphill" player, but plan B involved scoring a goal on
his own team.
- In When Pigs Fly, Craig told Bobby to get in the
wheelbarrow, not finding a single pig or having a place
to put the pigs.
- In Fruit of the Luge, Craig talked to Victoria after
crossing the finish.
- In Travelers, Craig assigned modes of transport that
were nay impossible to finish with.
- In How's the View, Craig botched the children's game.
- In Cell Out, Craig was given the answer... and he got
shot.
- In Tick Tock Boom, Craig took mercy on the player.
In total, Craig cost the team over $100,000. "Letting
everyone believe that I wasn't as smart as they were
made them underestimate me more. I had them right where
I wanted them." To his players, Craig thanks them for
being good sports. As for his ambulance ride... that was
all real.
But did YOU come up with Craig as the Mole? Here were
some clues to help you along during the course of the
series...
- Episode 1: CRUSOE. The Mole himself delivered the
first clue, with Craig holding up a sign from the Mole.
- Episode 2: MAP. In playing with the tradition of the
hot chick being the Mole, there was one clue on the map.
In a frame, there were letters that spelled "NOT ALI".
- Episode 3: TITLES. There was a sequence of numbers
that pointed to the final three: 619262312. These are
actually area codes... 619 for San Diego (Craig's
hometown), 262 for Mukwonago, WI (Mark's hometown), 312
for Chicago (Nicole's hometown).
- Episode 4: AUDIO CLUES. In the ambulance, there was a
school bell (Mark's a teacher). At dinner, there was a
baby's cry (Nicole's an OBGYN). After dinner, Craig's
laugh was heard, but he wasn't at dinner.
- Episode 5: ALL FOR ONE. There is graffiti on the wall
spelling CRG.
- RECAP EPISODE: MAP. There was a one-frame clue:
32.72N-117.15W, the latitude and longitude of San Diego,
Craig's hometown.
- Episode 6: CLAY'S CONFESSIONALS. They all had the same
background, but in one interview, the background was
digitally altered to give the statue the look of four "i's".
"Four eyes" is a nickname of someone who wears glasses.
- Episode 7: BUMPER. The words "roja corbata" are hidden
in the thumbprint logo. Translated, it means "red tie".
- Episode 8: EXECUTION. If you paid close attention,
you'd know that Craig's name was NEVER called during an
execution.
- Episode 9: BUMPER. There was a garbled noise that,
when played backwards, says "Craig buried Paul."
So there you have it. Mark wins $420,000, and Craig is
the Mole, but there's one more surprise... It's Mark's
wife Brenda. Mark tells her everything about not working
and staying home with the baby. Final thoughts. "I had
to win at the expense of 10 other people, and I thank,
everyone."
Case closed. Hopefully this won't be the last that we've
seen of the the Mole, but if it is, it was one hell of a
ride. Thanks for watching.
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