The Mole Season 6 Episode 5 Review: Human Lie Detector
Justin Carreiro
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The group's luck needs a change of pace. Something has got to give for them to win money.
Between the trust test and the endurance, every mission on The Mole Season 6 Episode 5 was an uphill battle.
A challenging time for the players yet an easy day for The Mole. It's another enjoyable and thrilling episode for us at home.
"Human Lie Detector" captured the essence of the counting clock trope that The Mole does so beautifully well.
The tension ramps up considerably whenever there's a deadline for the players to complete their goal. And when there's a hurdle that splits them up, we can tell which players rise to the occasion and which ones fall.
Sometimes, it's when they're tempted by an offer they can't pass up that hooks us in.
Suspicious behavior, diverging paths, and enticing deals were all on the table. Just like The Mole Season 6 Episode 2, the combination of all the parts made this a captivating round.
The results of the bank heist were surprising because the Cash group went that far over $10,000.
Pranav gave them the wrong currency exchange rates, or someone miscounted the bills. The edit made it seem more of the latter since Avori caught Jacob messing up his counting.
[In confessional] Kesi is a team player in that she’ll go where the group tells her to go. But when she’s there, she pretty much drops the ball. So, I’m gonna sit back and let her do her thing. I’m on the lookout for any slip-ups because you need to be on your toes to gather your data and prep for the quiz. If Kesi is The Mole, there’s gotta be some type of sabotage.
Greg
Was he sabotaging as The Mole? Could Pranav have been the one lying?
We won't know the whole truth until the finale, but it's mighty suspicious for this big of a loss. And since Sandy got executed after the quiz, it couldn't have been her. Either Pranav, Avori, or Jacob was the one who sabotaged this mission.
The possibilities have narrowed themselves down for the time being.
I would've loved to have taken part in the mail run challenge. Each leg was so different that you could figure out which style could work best with your skills.
The car team should've been the easiest to complete out of the three.
All Joi and Jacob had to do was follow the map and spot the mailboxes. Plus, they were in the comfort of a moving car, so that they could've easily zipped right to the end. Their failure seemed very suspicious.
[In confessional] Once again in the game, Joi has messed up with the map.
Jacob
The strategy here shouldn't have been to backtrack. If Jacob and Joi missed one of the mailboxes, the best move would've been to keep moving forward and find the next parcel.
Them going back for the first and third mailboxes wasted plenty of time they couldn't make up again. Also, the group should not trust Joi with navigation again.
The train team made the right call by putting Greg back in the central spot.
He successfully grabbed the first bag, so the odds were high that he could retrieve the last bag too. And they couldn't risk losing another bag after Kesi dropped the second parcel.
I'm unsure if Kesi purposely dropped the bag. Grabbing a mailbag from a moving train was challenging enough; she wouldn't have had to try hard to fail the mission if she were The Mole.
It might've been a simple accident that made her look suspicious.
The same goes for Avori on the foot team. Could you have run that same distance without getting exhausted too?
William and Pranav kept up with the running pace, so they seemed the least Mole-ish from the team. Their frustration with Avori moved them down the suspect list a bit; they seemed genuinely upset about falling behind.
Pranav: You gotta run faster!
Avori: I can’t!
Pranav: Push as much as you can.
Avori: This is my pace.
Pranav: We can go at a 10-minute mile pace anymore.
Avori's behavior seemed both real and exaggerated. It was hard to tell if she was faking her tiredness to make herself look suspicious. Slowing the group down would work in her favor if that was her objective.
Avori's gameplay is a confusing one.
This move could be how the cracks start to form in her coalition with Pranav. Many questions were asked about her gameplay; we were right there with Pranav about if we could trust her.
Balancing the mail run with the explosive dinner mission was a good balance for "Human Lie Detector." We had a physically taxing task that separated the players and then a more deceptive game that brought them together.
The key skill for this challenge was to have a strong poker face.
Regardless of the disgusting food to eat, you have to fake it until you make it. The players who kept up the ruse and went with the flow were the ones who had the most success. Like, Joi's poker face might be the best in the group by far!
And then you have players like Greg and Casey, who cracked under pressure. Though wasabi and vinegar are strong things to eat, I'd have a similar reaction after eating a heavy dose of them.
Will Joi take the money, or will she take the exemption? That's the big question up for debate.
Only eight players remain on The Mole Season 6, so every exemption and bit of information counts.
As I discussed during The Mole Season 6 Episode 4, take any opportunity for safety. The cost has to be worth it, though. Giving up $15,000, especially after Joi spent $25,000, is a high cost for the group.
William: You’ve already had one, Joi.
Joi: I’m greedy. I wanna win, Will.
William can try, but I suspect Joi will take the deal. She's already paid a huge price for an exemption; safety is important to her, and it's new money she'd be giving up.
History could be repeating itself here.
Last Thoughts From The Mole:
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Casey took the biggest backseat during the mail run mission. That could be a strategy from The Mole to let others make mistakes and get suspicion.
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Alex Wagner is opening up more and getting into the show's fun.
- Kesi should've made her case harder not to be voted out at the table. She knew she was sitting on a detonator—mighty suspicious behavior.
Now, over to you, Mole fans.
What did you think of "Human Lie Detector"?
Will Joi sacrifice the money to take the exemption? How did the car team fail so epically? Are you sad to see Sandy get executed?
The Mole is now available to stream on Netflix.
Justin Carreiro was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
