stellavision

Shall we talk about Aflevering 1? Not enough information to really get anywhere, although I'm watching Johan. He seemed to be very obviously bumbling around the first challenge, which made me think he's not De Mol. But then in the truck challenge, he was quick to park in the spot that would reduce the pot by quite a bit, yet wasn't the absolute worst spot he could have parked in. That to me could be trying to sabotage while maintaining plausible deniability. Not that it mattered, since two teams weren't able to get out at all and the total amount couldn't have been higher than 20 euros given that. I wonder what would have happened if the euro symbol truck hadn't been escaped from? Would that have negated any number trucks that got parked? (Perhaps it's not a coincidence that the euro symbol truck seems to have been the easiest to solve.)

Not sure who I suspect right now, but a few things I noticed: In the opening credits, there is a token of some kind (looks a bit like a joker) that says "BOO" on it. Then Niels is shown wearing a shirt that says "Boo" and another word I couldn't make out. Could the title of the episode ("uitgerekend," or "calculated") refer to someone's profession rather than the first challenge? If so, it might fit Jamie best as he's the host of a science show. In the numbers challenge, Robert pushed to ditch the height question, which seemed like a good idea (because more arithmetic was involved in that question than any of the others), but then they got to the hats question and half the team couldn't remember their own hat sizes, which I think was genuine. If he's the Mol, maybe he pushed to go in that direction knowing it would be a time-waster. Did Merel pick up more euros in the laser challenge than she brought back? I saw that Evi did the same thing, but then she told the group about it, which is NOT a Mol-ish thing to do, so after that challenge I suspected Merel a little more than Evi (and of course Evi is now proven not to be de Mol), simply because it would be Mol-ish to take some but not all of the money and keep quiet about it. (But I'm not actually sure that she did this) Also in the laser challenge, Sarah pulled the placard -- not the money. Could be a Mol-ish attempt to make it to the end of the challenge yet not win any money, then foiled by the fact that she lost her balance. I don't think it's Nikkie at all. A lot of them seem to, or at least are saying they do, but she's being a little too obvious IMO. I think she was faking pretty hard at not noticing the numbers painted on the ground, for example.

I'm going to start by suspecting Niels. He was the first to put his hand up to vote for the money. It's a Mol-ish thing to do, since it's unlikely that the group wouldn't vote for the exemptions. (And he was also quick to say "I agree with the decision" once the vote was for the exemptions.) Then again, we haven't had a female Mol since Margriet in 2015, so maybe it's time? Not a whole lot of other information to go on, really. They got all the euros in the dance challenge, and the bike challenge had so many variables that I'm shocked they made any money at all. The Mol didn't need to actively sabotage in that challenge, just allow the natural chaos to take over. Looks like a LOT of the messages on the tablets simply went unnoticed, whether deliberately or not. My crush this season is definitely Jamie, although that makes me feel like a dirty old lady. Also, Nikkie dancing with the short Colombian guy was definitely a pretty great sight gag.

CANNOT WAIT! Art's not hosting this year, right? *pout*

Good point -- Jan was pretty ballsy. Now I want to rewatch the park episode to see whether I can catch him walking by!

I didn't really get why anyone would have to be sorry for Ron, though! It's a game -- there's no benefit to any of the players to bring back an eliminated player, with the exception of the Mole IF the challenge is going well otherwise, in which case you could use "I want to give Ron another chance" as cover for "blowing the pot." But since the players were already doing just fine not succeeding in the challenge, there wasn't a reason for Jan to direct suspicion to himself by going to Ron. So, I guess they could say "sorry" in the sense of "sorry you barely got to play this game," but I don't think anybody owes Ron an apology, just commiseration.

Dawwwwwwww. Still really want to know what was in Olcay's head when she gave up that black exemption. Went on wieisdemol.nl to see the hints and they're not really satisfying.

I'm now really really hoping it's Olcay, because that means her brass-ovaried reverse-psychological action of giving away the Zwarte Vrijstelling WORKED ON ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE. (including me!)

Who else thinks it might be Olcay if for no other reason than that the producers have chosen to reveal who it is to the finalists live, rather than on location like they usually do (and the live reveal is for everybody else)? I wonder whether the producers couldn’t resist the extreme drama potential for a live “guess what, you’ve all been wrong all along!” moment.

Oh man. The only thing I feel certain of is that it isn't Ruben, especially because Jan made sure to tell Olcay all about anything Ruben did that he thought was shady. That goes in my Jan-as-Mol column. Then again...I have been very sure it wasn't Olcay for a long time, but the fact that she didn't take the money in the last chance to get money says a lot. (Although Jan could have taken his and thrown it off the side of the building.) Also, the way it was edited I'm not entirely certain she didn't take the path labeled "Mol," and maybe she looked herself in the mirror in footage that will be shown next week? Loved the first challenge and how all three of them had such childlike glee in getting to see the moon. The second challenge was another one of those that really doesn't provide any information, since it looks like one in which every detail would have had to be nailed in order to win. Loved the test -- has that been done in previous seasons, in which there was a last chance to grab money before the test? I don't remember that happening.

I like this theory. Especially if he put the cherry on the cake by encouraging Olcay to mole "to throw people off Ruben."

WOW. I still don't get why the producers would push the idea for so many episodes if it really is! But now that everyone else I thought it could possibly be is gone... Maybe Jan was trying to persuade Olcay to do a little moling in the last challenge to add on to whatever moling he's been doing already? Or maybe I should just quit fighting the idea of Ruben. Guess we'll all know in a couple of weeks.

Yeah, I'm with you. The producers wouldn't be so strong on Ruben in two different Afleveringen if it were actually Ruben. I might make Olcay my second choice, despite all my prior misgivings, based on Watermelon's comment above. So: Simone, Olcay, Jan, Ruben, in that order. But Simone WAY above anybody else.

whaaaaaaaaaat. Okay, so I obviously got that wrong. I'm going to stick with Simone as my next choice, especially since in the train challenge she seems to have organized her packages with many of the labels not facing out, so it would be hard to check her work. (Then again, Jan's packages were COMPLETELY impossible to check since they were all piled in a messy heap.) I'm pretty sure someone chucked two red boxes off the side of the train when no one was looking, and probably switched a yellow and a green box too.

I really don't think it's Olcay, unless the act of giving up the Zwarte Vrijstelling was the most insane act of reverse psychology ever (doing something that screams "check me out! I don't need the black exemption because I'm the Mole!" to make others think that she can't possibly be the Mole). I agree with Simone's reasoning -- Stine has held onto that thing for a long time, longer than one would expect a real contestant to do. On the other hand, why is Simone sharing that reasoning with someone else? (I forget who it was she was talking to when she said that -- Jan?) If she's really sold on Stine as the Mole, she should be keeping that theory quiet. Perhaps she herself is the Mole, and is using a very rational argument for casting suspicion elsewhere. In the hotel challenge, Stine was banging on the door for a long time with no response. But do we know that she was banging on the door that would have allowed the contestants to hear her? Olcay and Simone both seem to have been locked in smaller rooms with only one door to bang, whereas Stine looked like she was in a larger suite. I wonder whether she was making a big show of banging on the door for the camera, knowing that she was banging on a door that wasn't facing the hallway Ruben and Jan were in. So I'm still on Stine, with Simone as my second choice.