The journey is the destination.
Whilst the larger chunk of TV-watching Americans have devoted thier Tuesday nights this summer to Fox's Star Search on crack, American Idol, a small but tight-knit group of viewers, myself included, has been unraveling the clues and second-guessing everyone in the quest to solve what is arguably the summer's biggest mystery (and ABC's best shot at reality programming. Pack it up now, all you 'real-life' medical shows. Go see if TLC can wedge you in among the Trading Spaces reruns.): Who is The Mole?
Over the past eleven weeks, ABC has been airing episodes of the reality series in which fourteen globe-trotting players compete for up to $1,000,000 in challenging contests and gripping games, the likes of which you will not find on shows like Survivor 18: Tony Shaloub's Backyard, Dog Eat Kato Kaelin, Bimbos in the Yukon, or whatever other crizzaptacular 'reality' program the networks try to placate their dwindling summer viewers with.
The catch: one of the fourteen is a double-agent, working for the show to sabatoge the games and cause discord among the players. At the end of each episode, the players gather to take a quiz about the identity of the mole, and the player who scores the lowest on the quiz is executed and sent packing, the remaining contestants left to ponder the identity of their nemisis.
When the series premiered in January 2001, no one seemed to notice, save for me and a handful of other Anderson Cooper fans who had followed the reporter from ABC's World News Now. That changed in the weeks to come when we learned that it was ABC's highest-rated series that season for adults 18-34.
That was more than enough for a second season, which premiered last September in a Godawful Friday night timeslot. It was pulled after three weeks, but made its triumphant return last May.
All summer, we've been following Al, Ali, Bob, Bill, Bribs, Darwin, Dorothy, Elavia, Heather, Katie, Lisa, Myra, Patrick, Rob and host Anderson through Europe and paring down the list of suspects.
For the last time, Al is not The Mole!
While last year's contestants may have been more pretty, this year's group has proved more entertaining. While some (shut up, AL!) grate your nerves, others (you'll earn an exemption someday, HEATHER) make you feel for them. And those are the real suspects.
Anyway, as I was pondering this year's mystery and pretending like I was going to actually write a column this week, I got to thinking about how much the show has improved on last year's rough beginning. The graphics alone are sharp as a tack, but the show definitely improved this year through a few simple editorial decisions.
The number of challenges per show was decreased and the rules were simplified, but not necessarily dumbed-down. If you don't believe me, watch episode eight from last year, in which the final three players were locked in separate hotel rooms, with each one holding a key to escape from someone else's room. Sound confusing? Now add a blacklight, a stationary bicycle, binoculars, a locked refrigerator, and The Mole wishing it would just all end, and you've got a good idea poorly executed.
Anyhoo, the finale airs tonight (in just a few hours, to be precise), and soon the series will confirm what I already know but am obligated not to disseminate. As the rest of the addicted viewers, my family included, drop their jaws to the floor when The Mole's identity is revealed, hopefully those who haven't ever seen or even heard of the show will give it a shot for season three, which we expect will air next summer on ABC.
In the meantime, dig out the tapes from your archives and solve the mystery all over again, doing the forehead slap thing when you see the second time around the clues you missed in the beginning. Although, hindsight is always 20/20.
If nothing else, find someone's clip of the show intro on the magical internet, during which Anderson Cooper delivers, in his most devilish voice the timeless line that is the backbone of the mystery: "Who is The Mole?"
