WIDM aftertalk: this is the big loser

Don't worry, we haven't suddenly jumped to the final. But what might be even worse than not unmasking the Mole is being the first to be eliminated. The ‘Ron Boszhard award’ that no one wants, but which we really can't escape. And again we have seen: diving into tunnels too quickly can be costly.

A generation gap

Don't shoot the messenger, but if we are to believe the younger candidates, the problem in task one really lay with the ‘boomers’. Taking panoramic photos and depicting words with your body turns out to be a bit more difficult than expected. Right Ray, Maaike, Bridget? A lot of dawdling and then opting for an easier word, it all takes time and money; and that only benefits the Mole, of course. This group didn't really make much effort to guess the words either. Suspicious, if you ask me. But fair is fair: even the youngsters, especially Sam, also had to find their footing literally and figuratively. To make up for the meager yield of three correctly guessed photos, a group photo spelling out the capital Phnom Penh could still earn a bonus. But Roos, after all the postcards on the tuktuks, haven't you read the name of the city often enough? Or did the confusion over the spelling suit you well? We'll just jot it down in our Mole notebook. Well, a yield of 1100 euros is quite a successful task for WIDM-concepts. But what exactly did Rik mean with the words ‘Mole, good luck with the heist’?

WIDM meets Mission Impossible

We got somewhat of an answer to that question in task 2. For a moment, I thought we had already landed at the annual laser task, but we'll save that for later. Under the leadership of Ray and Gabriel, the candidates have to commit a heist. But beware: do they see the Mole's fingerprints on the objects with blacklight? Then they should definitely leave those behind. Despite the further good ether discipline (Ellie will be proud), Ray just forgot to mention that you would take min-money with those items. Special action, we'll note it down. 2 out of 3 candidates who took an object thought checking for fingerprints wasn't really necessary. That mainly cost Bridget dearly, perhaps intentionally; although she slyly shifted the blame onto Ray. The four candidates who were caught by guards got to continue in a real escape room. Where especially one person went completely wild. Hiding keys, messing with napkins, and sowing confusion about years. Roos, Roos, Roos, what are you doing? Everything that is too obvious won't be a Mole action, right? Or maybe it will, in WIDM you never know. With the first trump cards in play, the battle has really begun, Sam and Sophie are almost ready to fight over a joker. Do they really need it that badly? I still have more questions than answers, but luckily I don't have to take the test. Then it's really time for that dreaded first red screen and that enthusiastic Teun gets the first room in the losers‘ hotel. Even the lucky kisses on his necklace couldn't save him. I would have liked him to go a bit further; but yes, spreading ‘but’ over three people in episode one is also a risk. In any case, we are crossing off a potential Mole. On to next week.

Image: Joy Hansson