Alex sang that mole hunting isn't easy to do, and he was right.

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The 31-year-old musician from Haverford, PA became the seventh player executed from The Mole's fifth season during last night's broadcast of the ABC reality series.

"It was a heck of a run.  I played the game really dangerously," said Alex after his ouster.  "If you just don't get the quiz right, you're out of there."

The Mole's sixth fifth-season episode began following the previous execution of Kristen Willeumier, with a total of $177,000 currently in the pot. Kristen's ouster meant Nicole, a 32-year-old OBGYN doctor from Chicago, IL, was the only remaining female player.

"Although I'm proud to be the last woman standing, I'd much rather be the last player standing," said Nicole.  "Being the only woman, it's more a matter of pride.  I don't want to let a bunch of men beat me at this game."

Still in Mendoza, Argentina, the six remaining players then met host Jon Kelley at a vineyard for their next mission. 

The players split into two groups -- three "runners," consisting of Alex, Mark, a 42-year-old high school history teacher and soccer coach from Mukwonago, WI, and Clay, a 32-year-old criminal litigation attorney from Philadelphia, PA; and three "thinkers," consisting of Nicole, Paul, a 29-year-old machinist from Yonkers, NY, and Craig, a 301-year-old graphic designer San Diego, CA.

In addition, the "runners" selected Mark as their best athlete while Paul nominated himself as the "thinkers" best communicator.

Titled "Grapes of Cache," there were seven bottles of malbec wine hidden throughout the vineyard.  The "thinkers" would have to answer seven multiple choice questions and relay the answers to Paul, who would then relay a corresponding coordinate to the "runners" via a cellphone.  The coordinates would guide the "runners" to a wine bottle, each of which was worth $10,000 for the pot.  If the answers to the multiple choice questions were wrong, the coordinates would also be incorrect.

The mission would be timed by Mark, who would be running on a treadmill.  With each bottle that was found, Mark's treadmill would increase in speed.  All of the bottles had to be back at the start by the time Mark got off the treadmill or they wouldn't count.  While Mark could help the "thinkers" answer the questions, Paul could not.

"This is going to take forever," opined Alex after the first set of coordinates came in from Paul.

Despite running on the treadmill, Mark was proving to be a star for the "thinkers" as he correctly answered several of the multiple choice questions.  Paul and Mark were also both critical of Nicole and Craig, who Paul accused of being a "little suspicious" as they struggled with the questions.

Twenty minutes had passed and Alex and Clay had already recovered three of the bottles, however they hit a bump when Nicole and Craig incorrectly answered the seventh and final question and relayed the wrong coordinates.  Paul and Nicole then bickered when he erased the incorrect answer from the chalkboard after she failed to do so.

"I've wanted to see Nicole go home since Day 1," said Paul.  "She's a thorn in my side."

Mark eventually answered the seventh question correctly -- meaning he was the one who provided the right answer on five of the seven questions.  Alex and Clay quickly recovered the fourth and fifth hidden bottles, despite Paul relaying the wrong coordinates for one of them.  The sixth bottle was found roughly 47 minutes into the challenge, and Mark was starting to get winded as Alex and Clay searched for the final bottle.

"They might want to hurry," pleaded a breathless Mark.

The seventh bottle was found just over 50 minutes into the challenge, and Alex and Clay sprinted back to the start and successfully completed the mission.  Seven bottles were collected for a total of $70,000 -- bringing the pot to $247,000 thanks to the fifth-season's most lucrative mission to date.  The players then enjoyed the fruits of their labor with some cheese and wine.

Back at the hotel Paul badmouthed Nicole to Alex, specifically singling her out for her lack of helpfulness as a "thinker" during the previous mission.

"I definitely think Nicole's the mole," said Alex.  "Right now, for me, she's my A-No. 1."

However Mark wasn't so sure that Nicole was the mole and said as much as he conversed with Clay -- who was still suspicious Mark might be the game's saboteur.  Meanwhile Clay and Mark concocted a plan to get Alex inebriated with wine prior to the next quiz to hinder his ability.

"Alex has not had an exemption to date and he's still here, which puzzles me a little bit," said Clay.  "It begins to make me think, 'I she the mole?'  Or does a bottle-a-day make Alex perform better?  I don't know."

The six remaining players then arrived at a gorge for their next mission.  Titled "Swing Out," each player would have to bungee off of a plank suspended from a bridge 90-feet above the Mendoza River.  As they plummeted the players would have to drop a bag of tea on a target.  The center of the target was worth $10,000 and its monetary value decreased by $2,000 the farther out from the center it went.  The mission was worth a possible $60,000.

Mark was the first to step on the plank, and as soon as he did Jon propositioned him with an exemption.  Jon asked Mark what he thought the group would earn during the mission, and added the player who guessed the closest without going over would win exemption.  Mark guess $10,000 and jumped, although he failed to hit the target with his toss.

Paul, Clay and Craig also missed the target completely with their subsequent tosses.  Alex hit the edge of the target to earn $4,000, however Nicole wasn't as lucky and also missed everything completely.

Jon added the $4,000 to the pot, bringing its total to $251,000.  It was then revealed Mark guessed $10,000; Paul guessed $12,000; Clay guessed $14,000; Craig guessed $20,000; Alex guessed $15,000; and Nicole guessed $28,000.  Since all of the players went over, no exemption would be awarded.

Prior to dinner the players took some time to write in their journals, with Clay feeding Nicole information after she had wrote very little down before the previous quizzes.

"The last quiz was a little more specific than the previous quizzes had been," said Nicole.  "I know Clay's writing all this down, so I thought it would behoove me to see if I could get a little bit of that information."

As the players sat down to dinner, Clay and Mark put their plan into action and fed Alex wine.

The Mole's sixth fifth-season quiz then took place -- with each of the six remaining players answering 10 questions about the mole. The player who scored the lowest on the quiz would be executed and would be required to leave the game immediately.

The 10 questions on the sixth quiz were is the mole male or female; in "Grapes of Cache," did the mole help solve brainteasers; was the mole wearing a colored shirt during "Grapes of Cache;"  which group did the mole join in "Grapes of Cache;" at wine and cheese after "Grapes of Cache," where was the mole sitting clockwise from Jon; how many players jumped off the bridge before the mole in "Swing Out;" where did the mole's exemption guess rank from highest to lowest in "Swing Out;"  how much money did the mole earn for the pot in "Swing Out;" how much did the mole guess to win an exemption in "Swing Out;" and who is the mole.

Jon then immediately revealed that Alex had scored the lowest on the quiz and he was given the boot.

"I knew it," said Alex.

The Mole's next fifth-season episode will air Monday, July 21 at 10PM ET/PT on ABC.


About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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