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greenscreener wrote:

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Well, that was enlightening. Here are my thoughts...

It's clear to me now that not only did ABC market this show with existing fans in mind, but the producers did as well. From the sophistication of the clues, to the editing, it seems as though everything that was shown (coalitions, confessionals, etc.) was tailored more for the veteran fans than the new ones. And, lucky me, one of the defining characteristics for The Mole is no more: that The Mole can't be overweight because it would result in failed missions and thus draw unwanted suspicion upon him/her. I guess the asterisk after this would read "unless The Mole can compensate for this with humor".

PROS (of this season):

• A Mole that went nearly undetected for the majority of the game
• 3 players in the finals that were all suspicious and could all be The Mole
  
• Some well thought out missions
• The players' strategies that we got to see in play (Paul)
  

CONS:

• The producers' overall lack of planning compared to previous seasons (yes, I realize they only had 10-12 weeks but some of their decisions presented an unnecessary amount of risk, like Craig almost leaving the show, or a tendency to overlook things, like Mark's brilliance)
  
• The Mole actually kept the second-most amount of money from the pot, behind Mark: 5k (E1), 14k (E3), 30k (E5), 10k (E6), 40k (E8) = 99K vs. Mark's 165k
• Sloppy editing at times, primarily not informing the viewers that there would be a clue presented every episode and then suddenly mentioning it during the finale; again, the producers focusing more on the veteran fans
• Ambiguous clues; some pointed to the the final 3 players, others pointed to The Mole
• The amount of things that were left unexplained: what was in the dossier (abcmedianet pictures notwithstanding), The Mole's detailed thought process for each mission, who the contestants thought was the winner and Mole, who each player's main suspect was during the majority of the time they were in the game, what options were available at the halfway point during the Travelers mission, etc.)
  

SPOILER BELOW for those who have it on tivo:

I thought the missions were fantastic. I thought they did a great job of picking contestants (as usual). I thought the marketing was crappy and the time slot horrible. But I disagree with you on some of your points.

-I think they did a great job planning on what must have been a drastically reduced budget.
-I don't think the goal of the Mole should be to keep the most money out of the pot. If it was, it would be way too easy to figure out who the mole is.
-I don't think they should have told everyone that there would be a hidden clue in each episode. If you find them, you find them. If you don't, you don't. Only true mole fans are going to be chasing those clues anyway. And it's refreshing that they have a game within a game for those of us who are hard core Mole People. They weren't just shooting for the masses who watch reality shows so they can turn their brains off. They're showing the true fans that they appreciate them.
-I agree on the ambiguous clues. But it makes for interesting board theory reading, no? And the clues were 10,000 times better than the ones in Season 2 (Big Macs? Give me a break.)
-I talked to Scott last week and he said he wished he had two hours to fully explain things for the finale. I think he did pretty well with the time they were allotted.

Craig was a great mole. Mark was a fantastic player. It always amazes me how much luck is involved in the winning player's experience. I felt bad for Nicole. She played a great game as well.

Now, let's hope the ratings were high enough that they do an all-star Mole!

ThurgreedMarshall