Der Maulwurf

No one saying "Who is...the Mole?"

It's okay. But missing some of the elements that made the first ones so great. A better host to amp the suspense. Where are their handy dandy little notebooks they were always writing in?! I remember them always writing notes in their little notebooks. Also the phones instead of a big screen is a bad choice. The huge screen was fun to see turn color.

Overall I am glad it is back. But don't ditch the things that made it so good the first time.

I really miss Anderson Cooper, though I get her has other things to do. But the host could really do a better job of saying things to build suspense, etc.

I am a huge fan of the original series: The mole Belgium (De Mol), that is running since 1998 and has 10 seasons and more to come.

Also I like the Dutch version (with celebrities), Wie is de mol? Which has done 20+ seasons.

Now I am enjoying this Netflix version set in beautiful Australia. The landscapes and locations are great, the group not so much. They are a bit to sporty, goodlooking and "in to it" for my taste. I would have loved a more diverse group, different body types etc.

The games and missions look very familiar is you're a The Mole Belgium fan, a lot is copied from season 9, which was set in Germany.

The part that's missing for me is the interaction between the contestants on location, that is we're the original series is so strong, you really live with the kandidates and can do your own mole search.

I really hope someone in charge of making this series is reading this. I get that you choose selfish people for this show to make it interesting and also throw the viewer off but this is no longer a fun watch. Genuine people getting screwed over by a majority of selfish individuals that don't even care about the money! This game should be about winning, sure but also empathy and TEAM effort and respect. All of these shows only showing us how ugly people get in order to win- doesn't even matter whether there's money on the line or not... please cast less of the corporate screw over type. It's unfair und really sad to watch people who don't care about anything win this show at all costs. It hast potential but this is just a sad representation of human "nature" bred by a capitalist society.

I love nearly all competition reality shows including previous versions of The Mole and I'm usually an easy audience. I also worked for years as a reality tv and game show producer. With that said, this show is disappointing to me for two main reason.

First, it's an unusually unlikable cast. I'm struggling to find anyone to root for. The only person I like is the host.

Second, nearly all commentary throughout the show are just contestants accusing each other of being the mole for any reason. This would be fine if it felt sincere, but it doesn't. It's like the producers decided that constant, empty, accusations without substance would be an easy way to produce the show. It's exceptionally hollow...even by reality show standards.

I REALLY wanted to like this.

I don't think it's bad. I do think they fall into some of the same pitfalls that plague so many other reality shows.

The weird thing is that this version is very clearly based on the latest Belgian run (some games are almost literal copies) but they don't quite get why that version is superior.

* You barely see people interacting when not playing a game.

* The constant skipping to the interviews/contestant voice overs make it seem very scripted. They need to limit those. Let the action and interactions speak for itself.

* Notebooks! Bring back the notebooks!

* Diversity. What you have is a group of people from a fairly narrow age range (25-40) who all look like they could start a modelling career and whose hobby is cross fit. Diversity is more than a bunch of attractive millennials with a different skin color. The Belgian runs have people between 18 and 50+. It's their personalities and different experiences that bring so much more to the game.

* I do like the use of cell phones instead of the large screen they use in the Belgian version.

* I didn't like the "ending on a cliffhanger" of the episodes. Why does everything have to end on a cliffhanger? Just finish after the selection. It destroys the pacing of the episodes because the elimination should be the emotional high point of the episode. Not the lead in.

* More of a personal note but the Belgian presenter, Gilles de Coster, has a very dry, factual way of interacting with the contestants during the games. I think that works better than Alex Wagner's.

If you want to see how good it can be, try and find the current Belgian version (especially series 9 (Germany) ).