Belgian Mole 2021

Sundays, 7:55pm (CET),
Play4 and Goplay

We’re finally here! Ten contestants adventure to Germany under the auspices of Gilles De Coster to complete tasks to earn money for a pot. One of the ten is an imposter, The Mole, and must try and sabotage the tasks without being detected. Every week the contestants do a multiple choice quiz on who they think the mole is and what they think The Mole has done and whoever is furthest away from the truth is eliminated, until just the winner remains to claim the pot and and unmask the mole.

The Starting Ten

These are the ten people who were selected as the contestants:

They are:

  • Kevin, 30, Lawyer
  • Katrien, 39, Heart surgeon
  • Philip, 51, Marketing teacher
  • Samina, 42, Flamenco teacher
  • Lennart, 25, Educator
  • Annelotte, 25, Recruiter
  • Sven, 41, Catering operator
  • Jasmien, 30, Advocate
  • Jens, 30, Joiner
  • Dami, 20, Psychology Student

HOWEVER, and it’s a big however, we know that during episode one we also meet 10 contestants who weren’t selected but almost made it, and they might have a chance to replace the selected ten in some sort of challenge.

As ever, we’re a British site with a mainly British audience, we ask our international friends not to spoil until the subtitled videos are up. Thanks for your co-operation.

You can jump to relevant points of the discussion here:

There is also a #molchat channel on the Bother’s Bar Discord.

75 thoughts on “Belgian Mole 2021

  1. Joseph M.

    The subtitles in English (translated with Google Translate and secondhand knowledge of Dutch from the show)

    “This year the will to unmask The Mole was greater than ever.

    More than 30,000 people registered, but did not make the selection. A small group did get the green light.

    Ten contestants start the adventure of a lifetime.

    But whether it is these ten is still the question. This year no one is sure of his place.”

    Reply
  2. John R

    Natalia is back! It just cheered me up no end knowing that she is OK! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Sinan Stan

    Until the final few seconds of the episode, my conspiracy theory was that “Jens” was a production plant hired to go out first and that the successful attacker was always going to be the mole.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      I reckon they’ve got a bit unlucky as that I just can’t see someone that young being a good Mole. But perhaps he is and will be brilliant, so…

      Reply
  4. John R

    I watched the episode several hours ago (Thanks Natalia, incredibly speedy as always!) and have been walking around with a huge smile on my face ever since, absolutely fantastic! (the music editors deserve a raise, that slow piano rendition of Life On Mars in particular had me reaching for the tissues!)

    Then they basically stuck two fingers up to Covid, then time to lose the first contestant…hmm hang on has Natalia accidentally left the recording going a bit too long as there are still 20 minutes left…ahh…yay! Time for a bottle of be…OH MY GOD!

    An interesting point raised that they took a short test for the car seats (‘as they always use to decide’ in Gille’s own words) but there was no red screen for the poor eliminated contestant…so that may come back to haunt later in the season

    Reply
    1. Dale

      I said the same thing about the red screen. No red screen being shown = not eliminated. I also wonder about all the other mystery players as well.

      If this was in non Covid times its say that I could seem them returning for revenge on the players for not being selected to steal money from the pot. OR OR WHAT IF Jens WAS the mole and they didnt show the screens bc the mole ALWAYS gets a green screen 😮

      Reply
  5. Alex McMillan

    I mean, I love that they’ve set it up that Noah *could* be the mole, but it’s still significantly less likely it’s him than any of the others, right? 10% chance the Attacker mole getting in, I’d still bet hard on Noah not being the mole.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      Oh absolutely, for no other reason than I can’t see them giving it to someone with so little life experience – it might be more believable if it was someone a few years older.

      Although perhaps that’s what they WANT us to think.

      Reply
      1. Brig Bother Post author

        Although as erstwhile FOTB Matt suggested on the Discord, it was quite amusing seeing him phone his mum to say he wasn’t coming home.

        Reply
      2. Clicky

        Before knowing the final scene at the end of the episode, I honestly just assumed every single person in an orange mask was 18 years old (and assumed they were all competing to be the Mole)… perhaps one reason for the disguise in the first place, to cover up their age, it felt like a shock that he was so young so I wonder if they were all that young. :O

        Probably wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised!

        @Alex – wouldn’t the odds be the exact same that Noah is the Mole compared to everyone else?

        Reply
  6. Aprilbride15

    We know the alternative mole was in the corn field in advance…do you think they were briefed by production on the task? Might they have any kind of advantage over the other contestants in the second group?

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      I think they were aware of how it worked but probably not given the code at the start, having to earn their place, but I reckon the actual mole knew which one they were so they could try and eliminate them to ensure being on the show.

      Reply
  7. spp138

    Episode 1: Holy cow! I had forgotten how beautiful and creative Belgian Mole is!

    Episode 2: Holy cow! I had forgotten how ruthless Belgian Mole is!

    Reply
  8. Brig Bother Post author

    There’s quite a lot of #molchat going down in the Bother’s Bar Discord btw, if you think it’s a bit quiet here.

    https://discord.gg/cCYTDgk

    Here’s what I’ve posted, for posterity:

    That first challenge, Carpool Karaoke Literally In Paddling Pools With Brake Tests is an all-time comedy classic, and probably one of the best “task A affects task B challenges” they’ve done. Funnily enough, I was half expecting the piano in the hall to explode if someone made three mistakes.

    The second challenge looked impossible so I was really impressed that they earned so much. I too want to ride the Winecoaster. I genuinely thought there was no way any wine was making it to the table, so for them to get as much as they did, and almost getting a fair amount more, was impressive.

    Third challenge: goddamn that setting and set-up. I thought there would be no room in the garages to actually open the doors and they’d have to do something trapped in the cars but fortunately we got something much more interesting. We were always due a double elimination although I’m quite surprised it felt so early. Also seems a bit odd that we’re two eliminations in and they’ve both had twists when normally they’ll do one with a twist halfway through the series.

    Actually also amazed re: challenge two a) nobody who drunk the wine went A over T down the hill at any point and b) Philip drinking and driving? Surely not!

    Reply
  9. Clicky

    Does anyone else think the Mole might have “slipped” in this episode and made a crucial error and possibly revealing themselves? I’m referring to a specific moment but when I explained it to my friends nobody else seemed to think anything of it.

    Reply
    1. John R

      Yep, but then others have pointed out the editors surely wouldn’t leave something like that in making their chance of being the Mole even less likely!

      Reply
    2. steve

      reffering to what ? and if had slipped would the editors really leave it in

      Reply
    3. spp138

      If we’re thinking about the same thing, I think I noticed it too. But then, I noticed more than one person doing the same thing

      Reply
  10. Sinan Stan

    From what I’ve read I seem to be the only one who thinks this, but for the first time I feel they actually went too far with the twist. Not a series ruiner like the one in WIDM, of course, but it was pretty shit seeing the more interesting team face elimination while the one with all the fodder on it got a free pass.

    Reply
    1. TVs Michael Harmstone

      I was a bit gutted it was them, but on the plus side we sort of got the answer to who would have gone last week – three of the people who could have got red last week were in the vulnerable team.

      On the plus side, it’s almost worth it for the visual of them exploding execution chairs (and the others having to sit on chairs that could be rigged with explosives too) and for the utter hilarity of that result podcast-wise.

      Reply
  11. Brig Bother Post author

    As we know, sometimes non-elimination twists don’t quite go how production were anticipating. I wonder how the bunker challenge would have worked if someone *did* get eliminated in the first week?

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      Thinking about it some more, this is pretty easy – everyone’s up for execution or only half of them still are.

      Reply
  12. Harry

    The setting for that twist was great. The twist on the other hand, eh…

    It was a nice idea but the ‘carrot’ of €3000/€5000 felt much too small for what was an exemption in a double elimination. There was also no ‘stick’ for pressing the button. I know we don’t like mole to be too cruel but I wonder if there was a rule of “if you both press the button the pot gets wiped” we might have a much more interesting game.

    As it stands the easiest solution to the dilemma was to hit the button but then it felt much more like a race with amazing prize than it did an opportunity for betrayal.

    I’m also somewhat disappointed that Jens isn’t coming back given it contradicts the ‘lore’ the show set up in South Africa. Nevertheless Belgian mole is still by far the best thing on tv at the moment and I very much look forward to seeing where they go next. The other two challenges were great!

    Reply
  13. Brig Bother Post author

    Right, so naming no names right now, but Gilles’ ten-minute call was clearly a coded instruction to The Mole, and two people went straight for the code rather than ripping the box up.

    Reply
    1. John R

      Absolutely fantastic episode that was, and just for good measure they chucked in a new candidate but of course there are several twists to go along with that!

      Also nice to see with whatever Covid measures they had in place they were allowed to do so mingling with the locals

      I feel like I’m going to absolutely be kicking myself at some of the clues revealed in Episode 9 already :/

      Reply
  14. Brig Bother Post author

    Thought it was the weakest of the three so far, but still very good.

    I enjoyed the thought processes behind the challenges:

    1) Do dogs really look like their owners?
    2) Can you break hypnotism?
    3) Wouldn’t it be cool to 3D print pasvraggen? And some dominoes.

    I don’t think Noah gets enough credit for keeping his eyes open for over two minutes, that’s basically incredible.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      So many great moments this week. Molments, if you will.

      The football was quite funny, but my favourite bit was after Philip let in his second penalty he looks round and goes “…EHHHHH?”.

      Some classic Mole-y challenge misdirection in the second challenge. I’ve seen that cliff face tent thing before, I think they did it on 79 Degrees North back in the day.

      The framing of the third one, which basically a classic Mole “spot the liar one” was excellent, Gilles clearly having a great time with it, and even funnier with “Lennart, the councillor of the group, spotted the bomb on the table… Lennart, the councillor of the group, spotted the bomb on the table… *inward sigh*… Katrien, the teacher of the group spotted the bomb on the table…” “There’s a bomb on the table.”

      Reply
  15. Tantusar

    EPISODE FIVE

    …Is up a tree somewhere, waiting to get you.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      Super fun episode this week, plenty of LOL moments throughout. Agree with The Gen Game comment, although we can’t ignore it was a bit The Apprentice as well. Quietly impressed they almost managed to double the money given their first performance.

      Nice way of doing the visitors.

      I see AnMolette hasn’t got the dog to reliably push the button yet. It’s totally going to be a money clock thing during episode 8.

      I loved the puzzle boat challenge – a conjunction of two different ideas – what if we made them solve a puzzle on a paddling board, and what if we did a “beat the Mole” challenge? Also Water Pistol Mini Golf is surely the next big craze waiting to happen. I wouldn’t read too much into the running along the boards task as the Mole had probably been told that they had already won by that point anyway.

      Next week: A Vreistelling in East Germany!

      Reply
    2. TVs Michael Harmstone

      Most of the discussion seems to be on Discord at the moment, but this is a very much excellent season despite the logistical challenges that they faced.

      Reply
      1. John R

        The drone operator has really gone to town this series…loved the piece before the puzzle challenge where it zoomed around Gilles!

        Reminded me slightly of the greatest IBAOTN title sequence EVER (that of course many, many, many years before ‘drones’ were even a thing!)

        Reply
  16. Brig Bother Post author

    God this show.

    To address the elephant in room, yes I’m not fond of pot draining tasks like that – and especially near the end of the run, and if it didn’t have the thought put into into it that you’d expect from Belgian Mole we’d wholeheartedly slag it off like we do with the Dutch show. However it DID have the thought put into it that you’d expect from Belgian Mole, so just about gets away with it – I hope it’s not something they play about with too much in the future though.

    All the challenges were excellent this week, Tag Tag Tag was a smart take on the traditional paintball/laser gun games – Jet Set Radimol, if you will. And I was laughing quite hard variously during the Flight Sim game, and I was genuinely impressed by the gliding thing which I hadn’t seen before

    Reply
    1. David

      No kidding- the amounts bid for the exemptions/jokers in some of these tasks are outrageous.

      Now if they switched it up a bit it could get interesting:
      Like maybe they out and out tell them there’s an exemption up for grabs, and they have to make their bid from the pot in even 100 increments after they get time to discuss (minimum of 100, but with a upper limit- say half the pot rounded); they’ll be told the amount taken from the pot will be the AVERAGE of all the bids rounded to the nearest 100. They’ll assume the highest bid will win the exemption- but after the bids are in, tell them the LOW bid wins; and that any ties will be discarded in determining the winner and average! (TM can try and go low to win the exemption, or high to try and mess the average up, or a weird number to try and avoid being canceled out) Those who are really confident in their Mole pick will probably go low (and if there are many, perhaps cancel each other out), and those who aren’t sure will go high (and with the known upper limit, perhaps cancel each other out too)

      Reply
    2. John R

      I’m suspecting the red button challenge will be an opportunity to stick a lot back in the pot, it did feel like a harsh episode first losing €3000 on a technicality, then losing the lot on the flight simulator then the exemption bidding…but you can’t deny it made a great episode overall! (I like this series how it switches from light to dark mood in an instant)

      At the start of the flight simulator challenge I did have to check I was watching the correct video file as they nicked the jolly music from the Dutch reunion episode where they reveal the hidden clues!

      Another finale coming up where they all have mole quality…suspect next week will be the shock elimination of Phillip

      Reply
          1. Brig Bother Post author

            It’s a really famous soundtrack! I’m amazed/impressed people don’t know it, especially if they watched The Genius!

  17. Tantusar

    EPISODE SEVEN

    …Will cause you to COWER in fear. Or something. I dunno, I haven’t watched it yet.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      Such a good episode, I don’t think I’ve LOLed quite so much during an episode and that’s with stiff competition.

      Lots of strong challenges, only the reading the story bit is a bit weak, the haunting of the mansion was excellently directed and edited, and Sven and Lennart providing big laughs as they frequently do in the hotel challenge, “Er, have we started yet? WAAAAH!”

      Reply
      1. John R

        HOLY EUH THAT EXTRA FOOTAGE AFTER THE ELIMINATION!

        Reply
        1. Dale

          RIGHTT That passvfrag came in HUGE and Phillp must have been really off track for him to still go home after that reveal.

          Reply
        2. spp138

          If Annelotte is revealed to be the mole, then she deserves awards for the completely stunned and shattered look on her face when Philip was eliminated

          Reply
  18. David

    I’ve been thinking it’s Sven all season, and this is the first time in a long time my Episode 1 pick has made the finale. I’d lose it if this season is the one where none of the players get it and yet I do, with my current track record of 3/40+ correct guesses from final threes.

    Reply
  19. Ben

    Why was Lennart represented as a JOKER/JESTER in the fairytale book at the beginning of the episode?

    As I was watching the fairytale book I was like “oh the Jester represents the Mole in the group” but the final pages made it VERY obvious the joker was in fact Lennart (and rewatching the scene it’s very obvious the jester was always representative of Lennart). I am not seeing an obvious connection to a Joker/Jester and Lennart… does that mean…

    Reply
  20. Alex McMillan

    This marks the third time myself and Laura have picked our mole in the first two weeks and they end up winning. What on earth are we doing wrong?!

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      The idea is to pick the person who is doing the sabotaging not the person who wins. Try doing that in future.

      Reply
  21. TVs Michael Harmstone

    Return of the Pap. Once again.

    Gilles is joining us for a post-season treat, but we’re recording with him *TUESDAY*. Hit me up wherever if you have questions you want asking.

    Reply
    1. Alex McMillan

      Is it difficult to maintain a pokerface when you know who the mole is? Do the other candidates ever try to get clues from you as to who the mole is?

      Reply
      1. John R

        I have a couple!

        -I’ve always wondered the contingency, if there is any, in case a Mole has to leave the series due to a serious illness (see American Mole Season 5 for a close call!)…particularly this year if they had tested positive for Covid during filming

        -How did they go about finding some poor local children to have to suffer through Philip and Sven making up their own fairytales

        -How do they go about rehearsing the epic mole reveal sequences? Does Gilles pretend to be the mole?! (Also : far better than the ‘you’ll see that…next week!’)

        Reply

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