Al: "The fact that I'm here is a victory in itself. The fact that I have such limited knowledge of the Mole, and such little direction as to the identity of the Mole, is horrible."
Darwin: "I don't know, Al, Bill seem kinda chummy-chummy, so I think they got something going on. I wonder if he's sharing information I give him with Bill. Can't trust anybody, man. No honor amongst theives."
Bribs: "I liked the game the way it was. And what we're going into is going to pit each of us against each other."
Still in Lucca, the six players go to breakfast and find their next clue from the Mole.
Four more losers. Which will you be? I'm counting down. Dwindling numbers are key.
Darwin: "I think it's actually detrimental to try and figure out what a clue means before you start a game, 'cuz you get something in mind and you may be totally off track. You get in the game, and it doesn't occur to you right away."
Al thinks it means a numerical combination for some game ahead.
Bill: "I did everything in the world I could with that clue and came up with nothing but the words 'Dwindling numbers'."
Anderson is shown taking a stroll to one of the players rooms. As he enters, we see it's Bill's room.
Since Bill was the last player up from the breakfast table, he has his own special game to play.
Anderson has a tiny green thumbprint logo sticker. He tells Bill if he can place it within another player's journal, anywhere in it, he will neutralize them, making them unable to get any exemptions. If he cannot do it, he will be the one neutralized.
He cannot tell anyone about this, and even when it is revealed someone is neutralized, they won't know it was Bill who did it.
Bill: "Makes you uncomfortable. You've got to go after one of your fellow players. But on the other hand, that's still part of the game. Ultimately, for me to win, I gotta neutralize every one of them. Well I'm here to tell you that if somebody's going to get an exemption I'd rather it be me than them."
We see Anderson come driving up to a greenhouse outside which the players are standing.
He says this'll be tough, but he needs only two players who like to drink wine.
Al immediately volunteers, and Heather does too. There is no argument, and they head off.
Anderson stays to explain to the other four that there is no wine in their game, sadly. Their game is merely to get his car, the beautiful old green Citroen, inside the greenhouse in 2 and a half hours. The car also has to be able to start when it gets in there.
There are two doors to the greenhouse, but one of them is locked. They're not allowed to damage the walls of the greenhouse in any way to get the car inside. They are supplied with tools to take apart the car and reassemble it.
He starts them and heads off to the other players.
The four of them go about strategizing how to disassemble it and how to do it again inside.
Anderson joins Al and Heather. They all enjoy some wine before the game.
Al says it's great!
After untold minutes and glasses, Anderson explains that this game is worth $10,000. They have to fill five bottles with the juice that they make with their own two feet, squashing grapes.
Al has an unnatural advantage - size 14 feet.
Only one of them can stomp grapes at a time, in 15 minute shifts. They have 90 minutes to fill five bottles.
Al goes first. While he and his size 14s get intimately acquainted with the grapes, Heather has some more wine.
Bill seems sure that everything will have to come off the car. Dorothy and Darwin seem to want to do minimal stripping and try to tilt the car on its side to wedge it in the door.
After a mere few minutes, the poor old Citroen is looking like it has seen much better days.
Dorothy: "Although I'm not mechanically inclined, I thought it would be fun to take something apart and put it back together again."
Not physically inclined, not mechanically inclined...
Darwin: "In the back of my mind I felt like the car wasn't the game. I felt like the greenhouse was the game, because that's just the way the Mole is."
Bill convinces the others to take the tires off to get it inside.
Bill: "We turned it on its side, looked at the bottom, realized the car could not be split in two, there was no effective way to do that."
The players are stuck with how to get the remnants of the car into the greenhouse along with everything they've stripped.
They have to look at the engine again. Darwin is convinced they don't have enough time to deal with the engine, but Bill tries to goad them along.
Back at the grape crushers, Al is still plugging away. Anderson tells him they're going ahead with the wine without him. And he and Heather do.
As the alcohol begins to effect Al, he comes up with more creative ways to stomp the grapes.
Al fills the first bottle. Anderson smells it and grimaces.
Anderson: "It smells like your feet, Al!"
Al: "My feet are clean enough to serve the wine that we stomped. I don't have any problem - I shower all the time."
Heather hops in to do some stomping.
Heather: "I really didn't stomp that much. Al took care of the stomping, and I did more of the squeezing, or pouring of the juice into the wine bottles."
Heather fills a second bottle.
Heather: "Al was slamming those glasses of wine. I was trying to be conservative, because I just knew something was going to happen."
He and Anderson both take no prisoners in the vast array of wine before them.
Back at the greenhouse, the players have 75 minutes left. Bill says if they can take out the engine, they will actually be able to lift what's left of the car.
The players search the greenhouse again, and Darwin finds the key.
The lock that is used to lock the door is a combination lock. If they can figure out the combination, they can open the door and just roll the car in.
Bribs: "I can't believe that we were so asinine as to not as to take into consideration the clue earlier on in the day."
They go about guessing the combination. Nothing is immediately right.
They look at the license plate of the car, and guess numbers from that. Incorrect. They remember "Dwindling numbers" from the clue, and guess 9876. Also wrong.
Bribs and Darwin agree that the lock is the key(I honestly didn't intend that), and once they figure it out the game is won. To save time, they'll reassemble the car now.
Very smartly, it is Dorothy who continues guessing combinations while the other three reassemble the car.
Darwin theorizes from the clue, getting loser's numbers. Maybe journal numbers of executed players?
They try more combos, and it still won't open.
Heather squeezes more juice into the wine bottles. By this time, the three of them are all hopelessly plastered.
The players consume even more wine.
With only one bottle left to fill, Al takes the third shift.
He quickly fills it, winning $10,000.
Dorothy: "I already tried 6543. My initial thought was trying 000, before realizing there's never zero players in the game. I knew it had to be something to do with how many players were currently in the game, and how many would be left at the end. That's really what prompted me to reverse the numbers and try 3456."
She does, and bingo! the lock opens.
The players recognize that this combo really doesn't make any sense, since that's an ascending number, not a dwindling one.
Bill: "I was looking across at the speedometer and odometer, and I started laughing, and I told everyone to look at the odometer."
They laugh with him once they see the 65430 on the odometer.
Bill's time limit to finish his neutralizer game is the same as that for the car game.
Over the course of the past hour, Al has drunk seven glasses of wine. And Heather, four.
Anderson has a wager for Al. He has to fill four glasses with the wine, place one glass on top of all the others, and carry the tray down to a table a ways away. He must do it all without spilling a drop.
If he succeeds, $5,000 is won. If he doesn't, $5,000 is lost and taken from what they've already won.
This offer goes to Heather as well.
Al: "Heather and I, we both came to the conclusion, that 10 grand isn't going to make or break the pot."
They both decide to go for it.
Al spills while he's pouring. He's already done, losing $5,000.
Heather tries, with the same result. $10,000 down the hole.
Anderson tries to show them how to pour without spilling, saying he used to be a waiter, though he is at least as drunk as the players at this point.
He spills a drop, and Al goes ballistic.
Al: "I was so glad he couldn't pour it in there, 'cuz we couldn't. And he was trying like heck."
Anderson does recognize that he and his buddies have been drinking together for an hour and a half.
Heather: "We didn't realize that the pouring was going to count. After the fact I realized it was one of those nearly impossible things to do."
The money is wiped out, but they have one more chance to earn money.
If they can convince the other four players to drink a bottle of their "gnarly toe jam wine", they win $10,000 back. They can't tell them it will earn $10,000 for the pot.
Back at the greenhouse, they're ready to move the car inside. They roll it in, and give it some finishing touches.
Well, Darwin, Bribs, and Dorothy do. Bill is outside, siezing the moment to plant his sticker.
Bill: "I saw no choice but to neutralize somebody and keep my mouth shut. And so I did that. I mean, I couldn't see any way out of it. That was part of the game."
The host returns. He is impressed the car made it inside the greenhouse. But now they must check if it starts.
Anderson gives the driver the keys. He slips behind the wheel and starts the ignition.
The car starts.
TEST PASSED - +$20,000 TOTAL - $366,000
Anderson notes to the players that the letters on the license plate spell MOLE, and the odometer which they noticed.
Al and Heather think of ways to convince the others to drink their wine. They decide to tell about the game, and truthfully tell what happened up until the third offer.
Al: "I was feeling marvelous. I had a lot of wine. So I was happy. And so was Heather. I knew what my game plan was, so I was like 'All right, we can do this. No problem.'"
They explain the game to the other players.
Darwin: "So maybe their judgment was clouded, for taking the bet. They were arguing that it simply was impossible, but then again, they were basically drunks."
He thinks Al is still inebriated at the dinner table. Al starts to convince the others to drink the wine.
Al: "I figured if I elongated the we, like the group we, and they got it, and they would know that it wasn't about us."
A few of them are suspicious that this is for an exemption or two. Dorothy refuses to drink any.
Al: "Dorothy's a bright girl. She's extremely bright. She's got to know there's no alcohol in it. She's got to know."
Darwin: "You know, being a little loopy, he wanted to stress how important it was that everybody taste it and we all finish the bottle."
The four sober players discuss how drinking this might effect them. They're all a little worried it might be an exemption for Al and Heather.
Bill: "Now Bribs says there's five or six different possibilities. I say there's really two. Either we're going to drink that bottle of wine, which gives them an exemption. Or, we're going to drink that bottle of wine which gives all of us money."
Bribs takes a sip and feigns death.
Darwin asks if they squashed it with their feet. Al avoids the question.
Dorothy: "I really do not like the taste of wine. It just makes me feel nauseated. You know, my whole face gets flushed."
Bribs and Bill have tried some. Darwin says he's willing, and tells Dorothy if he has to do it she does too, in the hopes of denying someone who didn't drink it an exemption. He wants all-or-nothing.
He convinces Dorothy to drink some of it. Al now asks them to honor he and Heather by finishing the bottle. All the players, except Dorothy, are willing to do it.
Darwin: "The level of trust has decreased significantly, and I know Dorothy certainly doesn't trust anybody because she didn't even want to taste wine."
Bill: "I don't necessarily find it suspicious that Dorothy doesn't drink, I find it pretty smart on her part. I've found that one beer will cut down my capacity to play the game significantly."
Once the bottle is finished, Al explains that they won back $10,000. He also explains how they made it.
TEST PASSED - +$10,000 TOTAL - $376,000
Bribs: "Yummy! Al and his disgusting feet stomping that wine just flashed through my mind. It tasted fine. I got a hair in my tooth, though."
Darwin: "Al and Heather's wine. It didn't really taste like wine. It kinda tasted like fruit juice. But it wasn't bad. It didn't taste like feet."
Anderson asks for all the players' journals. They grudgingly give them up.
Dorothy: "Heather and Bribs are really close to Anderson, and as he's starting to flip through it, my first thought it 'Oh, great. I don't want anyone else to see what I've written in there.'"
Anderson finds the sticker on the inside back cover of Dorothy's journal. He informs her she has been neutralized by one of her fellow players.
Al: "I was like 'Whoa, how can the heck did that happen?'" Man, 'cuz the journals are sacred."
Dorothy: "Such an idiot. I will never leave my journal unattended again. Serves me right."
The players head to their rooms, looking forward to a good night's sleep.
Unfortunately for them, they don't get it.
At 12:15 AM, Anderson enters Heather's room, telling her to get up and get ready for another challenge.
It's a "Come-as-you-are" sort of challenge, as he tells the other five players when he wakes them up.
Darwin: "I was a little surprised when Anderson came in. He usually doesn't wear a suit when he sneaks into my room. He comes in in his pajamas. Just the bottoms usually."
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Al: "I open my eyes, I look up and there's Anderson. No it isn't (time for a game)! It's time for sleep! Do you see me in bed?"
The players gather in a room at the bottom of the hotel, oddly lit in blue. Anderson explains that this one last game for tonight. He tells the players this may not be the most intellectually challenging game they've had, but it is time consuming. It may just consume all of their sleeping time. He tells them that the ball hanging on a tether in the middle of the room needs to keep moving until 6:00 AM for $30,000 to be added to the pot. They must decide on an order and hit the ball in order for the next six hourse without going out of turn once.
They decide to go in alphabetical order.
Heather: "I feel that an exemption will be offered in this game because Dorothy was neutralized for a reason. And because we had two games earlier. This logically would be the game for the exemption." "I feel very frustrated because it's one of those impossible game, and the whole time I'm thinking 'There's gotta be a catch here. There's something very simple about it.'"
Al: "Heather kept hitting the ball, and it was like back and forth. Everyone was trying to get a circle, so I had to keep getting up and I was like 'Jeez Heather, can you hit the ball near me? I'm tired of getting up!'"For many minutes(hours in actuality), the players are shown just hitting the ball.
At 1:30 AM, Anderson returns to ask who the most tired player is. It's Al. Anderson excuses Al to go back to bed.
Al: "I've worked very hard to earn as much money as I could. But you don't give me ten glasses of wine, then send me to bed, and then wake me up in two hours and ask me to be happy about participation. I don't care how much money it's worth - I was tired."
They hope he isn't getting offered an exemption.
2:00 AM. The players are all yawning. Anderson returns, and asks for the most tired player. It's Heather this time. He excuses her to go back to bed.
Darwin says it's easier with less people.
Bill: "We all knew there was an exemption looming someplace. We were just waiting for the opportunity for it to come up."
Dorothy: "I think this game is an easy one to sabotage and pass it off as an honest mistake."
Darwin: "I figured that the game would be whoever could outlast everyone else may get an exemption or something else. So there's no way they're getting me out of there."
Anderson returns to ask the most tired player again. It's Bill now.
But this time, Anderson offers Bill an exemption to sabotage the game by hitting the ball out of turn.
Bill asks the others what he should do. They say nothing. Seconds later he hits the ball for the second straight time.
TEST FAILED TOTAL - $376,000
In the hallway, Bribs reveals to Darwin and Dorothy that before Bill could decide about the exemption, he purposely kicked the ball out of turn.
He hopes it deprived him of the exemption. If he can't have it, no one can.
The next evening, Anderson tells them that the all night ball game was taped by many cameras. He reviewed the tapes. Bribs clearly kicks the ball twice in a row, ending the game and forfeiting the money.
Bribs explains that anyone would have taken the exemption, so the money was gone. As someone on the outside looking in, he didn't want another player to get the exemption.
Anderson shows a second tape of Darwin instructing Dorothy to hit the ball out of turn about an hour before the exemption was offered. So the game was really over then.
Darwin says he had no idea he did that, and if he was going to try to sabotage the game, why do it so secretly?
The players have Darwin on the hot seat for his action.
Anderson makes it clear that Bill's exemption is off.
It is now time for the quiz.
1. What size shoe does the Mole wear?
Heather: "Al's feet are size 14. Extremely large feet. He's made several comments about them, all through the trip."
2. As the players faced Anderson, was the Mole sitting to the left or right of their loved one at the last execution?
3. What happened to the Mole during the All Night Ball game?
Darwin: "I'm not really surprised that Bill hesitated for the brief moment that he did, because he's always talking about how it's important to be honorable. But you know, his honor seemed to fly right out the window three seconds later when he stopped the ball."
4. Did the Mole drive to the interviews today?
5. What kind of alcohol does the Mole prefer to drink?
6. How many glasses of wine did the Mole drink prior to going to dinner during the grape game?
Bribs: "I was surprised Al wanted to partake in the wine-tasting as opposed to doing the assembly line game. He had said to me on several occasions before that he's good with mechanics."
7. At the start of All Night Ball, in which position was the Mole in the rotation?
8. Was the Mole neutralized yesterday?
Dorothy: "I'm not certain who neutralized me, but I suspect Bill. I inspected the sticker. I picked up the edge and there was a little white hair."
Al: "I'm real curious how that got in there. Dorothy didn't seem to know, but I think she put it in there herself."
9. Did the Mole enter the correct combination into the lock during the assembly line game?
Bribs: "Dorothy was the one handling the lock with the combination. I mean, that's twice now, that she's saved us at the last minute, in playing a game and winning the money."
Heather: "I really never suspected Darwin as the Mole, in playing a game, until tonight. We reviewed the tape of the all night ball game. I don't know if that was on purpose or not, but he definitely raised some suspicion in my head."
10. Who is the Mole?
The players gather in the catacombs of Lucca for the execution. Anderson is standing under an eerie green light when we first see him.
One thing to note: instead of typing the names in slowly and dramatically, he typed them in really quickly tonight.
Click on the pictures below. If a green thumbprint appears, that player is still in the game. If a red thumbprint appears, that player has been executed.
Who is definitely NOT the Mole: Al
Who may very well be the Mole: Bill
Click here for the recap of episode ten.
