#new netflix mole for s1.. not the old one

[bulletbilltime]

With The Mole 2022 finally done, and having watched through the original first season in anticipation for the final episodes, my final verdict is that the new iteration does kinda lack some of the charm that the original series had? Less focus on the people, the soundtrack doesn't hit the same and the episode structure is frustratingly very Netflix (according to some ppl who have actually watched others of their reality shows). The final reunion felt a bit rushed vs how the previous series made an event out of it.

But I can't lie... though I definitely prefer S1, this iteration was absolutely worth going through, even if only so I get the chance to actually watch ONE SERIES of this show without prior knowledge. The challenges were all pretty engaging, and I like that there's a much bigger focus on cerebral challenges and mind games vs physical/daredevil kinda challenges in the earlier season. The spirit of the show is definitely still there, and comparing S1 to this version shows how much the "metagame" of The Mole has evolved since the series' inception, with a much stronger focus on overt sabotage as a means to trick other players than I felt was present in the old series.

In the end, this was a nice way to bring back the series for a new generation of people! Now I'm really crossing my fingers it does well enough to warrant another season and that they'll add more of that Mole flair next time around!

[jondalars]

movies, tv shows, and books of 2022

((* is a rewatch/reread; currently watching; can’t get through))

It Follows (2014) *

Word of Honor (s1*)

tick, tick... BOOM! (2021)

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Mo Dao Zu Shi (s3)

Passage by Connie Willis

Don't Look Up (2021)

Zach Stone is Gonna be Famous (s1*)

The Lost Boys (1987)

Scumbag System (s1)

Dark Shadows (2012)

Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut

Tears in Heaven (s1)

Cheer (s2)

Hometown Cha-cha-cha (s1)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

The Land of Steady Habits (2018)

Brain on Fire (2016)

Paddington (2014)

Monster (2003)

JT LeRoy (2018)

The Door into Summer (2021)

The Lost Daughter (2021)

Interview with the Vampire (1994) *

Identity (2003) *

Our Beloved Summer (s1)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian (2022)

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Phantom Thread (2017)

In the Woods by Tana French

The Tinder Swindler (2022)

I Want You Back (2022)

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (vol. 1) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Heaven Official's Blessing (vol. 1) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Heaven Official’s Blessing (vol. 2) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

All of Us are Dead (s1)

Guess Who (2005)

The Disaster Artist (2017) *

The Walking Dead (s1*, s2*, s3*, s4*, s5*, s6*, s7, s8, s9, s10)

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

The Long Ballad (s1)

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Upload (s1*, s2)

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Death on the Nile (2022)

The Weekend Away (2022)

Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives (s1)

Moby Dick by Herman Melville *

Eternal Love (s1)

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Bridgerton (s2)

Survivor (41, 42, 16*, 15*, s7*, s8*, 37*, s18*, s29*, s17*, s43)

The Scum Villain's Self-saving System (vol. 2) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Glass, Irony and God by Anne Carson *

Russian Doll (s1*, s2)

The Joke by Milan Kundera

The Wilds (s2)

Crush by Richard Siken *

The Circle (s4)

Are You the One? (s4, s6)

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley *

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn *

Jackass 4.5 (2022)

Beloved by Toni Morrison *

Business Proposal (s1)

Heartstopper (s1)

Senior Year (2022)

First Kill (s1)

Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

Spiderhead (2022)

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (vol. 2) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Nirvana in Fire (s1)

Tenth of December by George Saunders *

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

Shipped by Angie Hockman

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood & *

Just Haven't Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens

The Boys (s3)

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

The Mole (s3)

Dream Garden (s1)

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

KinnPorsche: The Series (s1)

The Invisible Man (2020)

The Hunt (2020)

Sliding Doors (1998)

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Miguel Ruiz

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Persuasion (2022)

The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

The Challenge (s25)

Umbrella Academy (s3)

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

The Challenge: USA (s1)

Claim to Fame (s1)

Great Men Academy (s1)

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Boo, Bitch (s1)

Umma (2022)

Resident Evil (s1)

A Perfect Pairing (2022)

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson *

Love Like the Galaxy (s1)

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Wedding Season (2022)

Fall in Love (s1)

Candyman (2021)

Black Bear (2022)

Lie to Love (s1)

Heaven Official’s Blessing (vol. 3) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

You Are My Glory (s1)

Love Between Fairy and Devil (s1 & *)

Democracy by Joan Didion *

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo *

Who Rules The World (s1)

Lovely Writer (s1)

Alchemy of Souls (s1)

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell *

The Scum Villain’s Self-saving System (vol. 3) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Do Revenge (2022)

Girl from Nowhere (s1)

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (vol. 3) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

The Mole (s1)

TharnType (s1)

The Ends of the World: Supervolcanoes, Lethal Oceans, and the Search for Past Apocalypses by Peter Brannen

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

The Rational Life (s1)

The Genius (s1, s2, s3, s4)

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

RRR (2022)

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (s1)

Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)

Derry Girls (s1*, s2*,s3)

Demon King/The Parting of the Orchid and Cang by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang

Heaven Official’s Blessing (vol. 4) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Dracula by Bram Stoker *

Roswell, New Mexico (s1*, s2*)

Meteor Garden (s1)

Falling for Christmas (2022)

The School for Good and Evil (2022)

Mistakenly Saving the Villain by Feng Yu Nie

Heroes (s1)

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

The Scum Villain’s Self-saving System (vol. 4) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Kieta Hatsukoi (s1)

Plainwater: Essays and Poetry by Anne Carson *

Lighter and Princess (s1)

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins *

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

The Vow (2012) *

Mr. Bad (s1)

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins *

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins *

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris *

Alice in Borderland (s1, s2)

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu

Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist

No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July *

The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)