Talk about a close call!
Each mission on The Mole Season 6 Episode 2 successfully delivered anticipation and nerves. Everything came down to the wire; we didn’t have a moment to breathe.
The second episode ramped up the excitement and gave us plenty to love about The Mole, especially if you were on the fence before now.
“Taking No Prisoners” felt true right to its name. The round didn’t hold back on serving a big plate of action, drama, and paranoia.
If you wanted to get a good sense of what The Mole can deliver, this was the round for you.
Starting with an elimination was a good call. It kicked off the round with a bang, and The Mole Season 6 Episode 1 was already jam-packed with stuff to cover. Carrying over the elimination helped to give some breathing room.
Plus, Osei got to appear in another episode for his short time on the show.
Alex Wagner was right: there’s barely any information during the premiere to confidently point toward The Mole. Osei only could rely on his instinct, which didn’t work out for him. He did well enough and made his mark while he could.
The first mission of “Taking No Prisoners” is a classic in The Mole franchise.
Escaping confined rooms and working together to achieve a goal has been going on since The Mole Season 1. These challenges require a lot of communication, being vigilant about everything, and being resourceful about the items in your room.
Players can win some easy money if they work well together. Also, The Mole gets plenty of chances to sabotage, directly or indirectly.
And let’s not forget the twist when the outside players can affect those still stuck in their cages. In this case, the masterminds played a massive part in the group’s success (and potential failure).
Dom and Casey played exciting yet confusing games as the masterminds. Both wanted the groups inside to win, but they were making risky moves.
Dom sacrificing 10 minutes for potentially winning an additional $10,000 nearly came back to bite them in the butt.
He was surprisingly quick to make the deal. If he’s The Mole, it’s the kind of move he can justify making to benefit the group and spend the money.
This group proved they needed every minute and second to pass this test. The team would’ve lost this task if Casey hadn’t paid for the additional 5 minutes.
Though, that’s not to say Casey wasn’t extremely suspicious too.
Why did she take both the 5-minute deal and the $1,000 clue? Sure, the time deal helped them win the challenge, but she didn’t know how well Cell Block D was doing. They could’ve lost this mission completely for all she knew.
[In confessional] Is Casey trying to sabotage us?! I have no idea.
Greg
“Taking No Prisoners” exposed Casey as a strong possibility for The Mole.
She was spending money at an alarming rate, and let’s not forget her strange behavior during the sector mission. Casey hasn’t shied away from wasting money to keep the group moving forward.
Her trusting nature might be a red herring to get in with the group and avoid suspicion.
Regarding the groups, Cell Block F was by far the best. They had the strongest communication and use of the items in their room.
Jacob utilizing his firefighter and resourcefulness skills was a huge advantage. When he retrieved the key outside his room by himself, it saved him so much time. We need to give him kudos for using the bottom of the door; no one else retrieved it that way.
The same goes for Sandy being able to jump on the blankets to reach her key.
Every other group relied on rebuilding the stool, but her jumping up saved their group time. Jacob, Sandy, and Pranav could be The Mole for how strongly they progressed through the mission without any roadblocks.
On the other hand, Cell Blocks D and E were full of Mole-ish behavior.
How did Samara not realize it was a keyring outside William’s door? There’s no way that it looked like a hair tie.
Sure, she potentially didn’t see the key on the ring, but the circle size was too big to be a tie. It was an honest mistake, or she tried to sabotage William to waste time.
Samara’s reaction also didn’t help. We might have to place her higher on the suspicion list for this blatant move.
In Cell Block D’s case, Joi didn’t help at all.
Did she truly not see anything, or was she sabotaging? As strange as it sounds, it could be former here.
Hear me out: Joi was the only player who had to look through a tiny circle. The amount of space might not have been enough to see the keyring at the bottom of Kesi’s door.
William: Is there a key attached to it?
Samara: No.
William: There’s nothing on this circle knob right here?
Samara: No.
Plus, since she didn’t have the square door panel, the others had to rely on throwing the supplies over her door for her to get them. Either she didn’t use her door panel, or she didn’t have one. It’s a big disadvantage for her not to have the same door opening as everyone else.
No wonder she was having a hard time compared to everyone else.
I’m happy the group won the prison escape. Big sums of money are the toughest challenges to win on The Mole, and the group got down to the wire.
Since Dom and Casey quickly spent the money, the group needed to add something back into the prize pot.
Plus, it’s still early. The group has plenty of opportunities to win, lose, or sacrifice money, as well as pursue exemptions and Mole sabotage.
Case in point: the sector escape game.
Who else loves this kind of trust exercise?
Reality shows sometimes try these games in the past. We get a good helping of paranoia and tension as the group figures out if they can trust each other.
[In confessional] I fully trust and believe at this point that Pranav is my friend and not The Mole.
Avori
“Taking No Prisoners” took the bait and lived up to the fire. I laughed when Sector 45 and Greg jumped at the chance to win the exemption.
In all honesty, good for them! If there’s a chance to win safety and avoid the quiz, take it. Don’t look back.
Only one person will win The Mole Season 6. Take any opportunity to snatch an exemption and protect yourself.
Sector 31 should’ve realized sooner that the other group was playing them. Greg wasn’t the most convincing on the phone; he barely put in the energy to hold the conversation.
Though, what was Casey doing? Why did she abandon him and Pranav alone in the room?
They could’ve kept the lie going had they had people in the room to talk. Good on them for fooling as long as they could.
Greg: My strategy is to not lie.
Kesi: So, you haven’t lied once?
[Awkward silence before they all laugh]
Greg: Okay, maybe I’ve lied.
Sandy: You had to think about that one.
We’ll have to see next round if their scheme paid off. It’s another cliffhanger right down to the wire between both teams; both hit the buttons, but only one can win.
The Mole loves to keep us on our toes!
Last Thoughts From The Mole:
-
Avori and Pranav might be the first official coalition. There’s already a lot of trust and grouping between them.
-
We need more scenes of the group talking and sharing information. They’re mentioning their theories, but we’re missing that deduction aspect of the show.
-
Alex Wagner was enjoying every minute of the sector game! She loved being on the microphone.
Now, over to you, Mole fans.
What did you think of “Taking No Prisoners”?
Which team pressed their button first? Did Casey purposely sabotage her team by leaving? How did Joi not see the key outside the door?
The Mole is available to stream now on Netflix.
Justin Carreiro is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.