HINTS & THEORIES EPISODES 1-4 - DE MOL SEASON 12 - IN ENGLISH 

Really glad that I was able to find subtitles for this season and that you are back to cover it! I have loved all the belgian seasons so far and this one is no exception.

Man, I've been looking forward to this. Thanks to friends in Belgium, I've been able to watch this, and am absolutely loving this season so far. You remember that laundry list of things I didn't like about the last season of WIDM? It's like the producers of De Mol took that list and were like "Ok, this is how to do it right." 1) They make INCREDIBLE use of the locations. The theming of each episode has been immaculate. What a great episode that mafia one was. The sea journey of "Pandora's Box" - that was fantastic. So much great here. 2) There's been exactly one case of money being taken out of the pot, and it was done in such a way that it actually worked for the show. That "punishment"... man. Talking of which, if I'd been at that box, I would've demanded to see the producers, swore at everyone, loudly proclaimed my intention to quit, told the cameraman to get that camera out of my face, and generally been the most obnoxious person imaginable. I would've refused to move until a producer came out. ...Then, as soon as the others had gone to their rooms, shamed, I would've been all over that box like anything. I would not have stopped until I'd found exactly what the name of the Mole is. 3) The challenges have seemed particularly good this year. One can see where the contestants have fallen down and where the Mole's influence has been. (I have a LOT more thoughts on this, primarily because I think I know who it is.) The editing has been top-notch. (Pineapple used as a horror movie monster, together with appropriate scoring... who could've seen that one coming?) I mean... this is exactly what I want from this show. Great cast of characters, great challenges, fantastic editing, loads of suspense, and somehow it still always feels new and fresh. I think the doubler twist is used just the right amount. My favorite player is Lynn. I love what she's doing. I hope that it works out for her, but unfortunately I think she's destined for an episode five or six boot. I think that there are other people who are already on the track of the Mole, and I don't think that Lynn is. I have one suspect at the moment, and that is Senne. I think he, Michael and Stephanie are the most likely final 3 at the moment, and it will be kind of obvious (if it's not already) that it's Senne. I mean, only one of them is not missing a foot / testicle, right? From their actions I'm inclined to rule out all of the women completely, and Bernard as well. That really just leaves Michael and Senne, and of those two: Senne pushed for Charlotte as one of the possible doubler exemption-pushers (she wasn't), he pushed for Michael when Coco was eliminated (Michael wasn't), and he encouraged the group to choose Bernard and Michael's car as the one containing the two liars (it wasn't). Senne put himself in the tower in episode two, where the Mole would be, since the person locked up had ultimate control over when the challenge would end. He then acted annoyed by the group's lack of cooperation to throw suspicion off himself and put himself in a position where, along with Michael, he had a "reason" to take the pasvragen in the chest. He wasted a literal bunch of bananas and then stopped his go-kart a lap early. He held his pizza in such a way that it almost looked planned for it to be hit with pineapple in that exact spot. And in the very first episode, he retrieved a doubler to look good, but also made sure that the maximum to be earned was E4,000, not E10,000. As for the olives - he was in the group that eventually controlled the money. He only pointed out one correct bin - again, a Mole may do this to throw people off initially - but he could've been taking olives out of the right bins and putting them in the wrong ones all day and nobody would've noticed. At this point I'm inclined to say that Senne is as obvious a Mole as Lloyd was in Season 6, or Annelotte in Season 9. And if that doesn't give you confidence, what will? As per the clues: 1) Are they quoting only the candidates (not the Mole)? Has the host said anything to the viewers to indicate this? I'm not sure... 2) Yes, I've absolutely spotted the Wilhelm screams. And no, I have no idea why they're there.

Hi Julia, you're back. We missed you with your Mole theories and hints. Please come back more often. Thank you.

I'm so upset. I had such a looooong comment and I got out of the page by accident and it's all deleted. T.T Brief overview instead: 1. I'm SO glad you came back! I've missed you and the rest of our 'regulars.' It's like a bar where everybody knows your name! 2. The doublers this year have been hilarious, because so far it's been utterly pointless. (I haven't watched the new episode yet, so no spoilers for episode 5.) I was initially worried they'd be out at the end of episode 2. Now I'm worried they'll be out episode 7 but have earned no money. (I think it would be quite a clever thing if every episode had a hidden doubler, whether in the prison, Pandora's box secret compartment--how did no one look there???, in the barber shop, in one of the Apes, in the Mario course, etc). 3. Michaël and Senne are my only top suspects at this point. Stephanie and Lynn are in the middle, but I don't really think it's them. If it's either Bernard or Charlotte I'll be incredibly surprised. 4. I have not disliked a contestant in België history like I have Charlotte. Breaking ye olde Covid lockdown protocol for a hook-up and having no remorse for it (as a PHARMACIST) is rather appalling to me. She's had such a strong edit that I'm afraid we're stuck with her for another few weeks unfortunately. I don't know how I'll go on if she's the mole. 5. Love the season so far. Most of the challenges have been top notch and hysterical! 6. Major reasons why I suspect Michaël: The only one to not make a minute speech in task 1.1, didn't have to do anything when Coco knocked the correct barrel over in 1.2, yes caught out Stephanie in a lie in 1.3 BUT he stopped at his own video which felt really odd (plus there's practically no conversation between he and Gilles when the third task is explained, which is also strange), held the group up in the ice cream challenge (2.1) and could've easily had thrown successful ice creams away when alone in the backroom/freezer area, rather under-edited in 2.2 but gets a law wrong and eagerly gets his candle blown out, didn't take a whole lot of convincing to open Pandora's box (2.3), seemed to steer Philippe away from the barber (3.1), in no surprise at all broke the code of silence (3.2) and acted really frantic in the Ape (3.3), and too many moments in episode 4. Didn't lay pipes right. Took forever to put on overalls running his course. Seemed to boost Coco around the corners rather than on straightaways. Bad at counting laps in the tower. HAD CONTROL OF THE WALKIE TALKIE IN THE TOWER. (We see Senne's point of view when Michaël tells him to put his hand in the air if it's been 14 laps, not Michaël's. Could've not held the button down conveniently.) Really pushed Coco to identify either the gorgonzola or sardines to ensure his place in the pizza finale (at the point where they could only have one person in the finale). Led the group down the narrow alleyways in the pizza finale, which seemed to get Stephanie and Senne in bad positions to protect their pizzas. And was so freaking guilty in the Coco elimination challenge that I can't even. 7. Major reasons why I suspect Senne (only slightly less than Michaël at the moment): One of the ones to push Bernard to drop the dead weight of the other contestants in 1.1 (but did get a doubler which the mole does not want), didn't seem to do a whole lot at the olive grove but could be behind-the-scenes of not picking a lot of olives or dropping them or putting them in a bad barrel or something (1.2), was suspicious in 1.3 by not knowing what Gillian was wearing even though he saw that part of the video (and his video of finding out he's on the show...I found pointing at the person talking to him first kinda weird), bad at identifying Italian car brands which was a huge time waste in 2.1, in the prime position in expensive challenge 2.2 as the prisoner (didn't turn the button for the fans enough, didn't relay the info for the prisoners in the second room really, seemed to me he could've reached the keys/iPad with the time but just made it appear like he couldn't, wielded the hammer as a bargaining chip to waste more time), really pushed to open Pandora's box (2.3), kinda less suspicious in 3.1 but still got 1 song wrong, didn't do much in 3.2 either other than swim, was a part of the group in 3.3 to identify the wrong car with the pasta bomb, and then episode 4 it gets...kinda weird. For the counting laps bit, what was he going to do if at lap 14 he was like 'Okay I'm at lap 14' but the people in the tower were like 'No you definitely have 2 laps to go still?' Like he relied on the group in the tower to sabotage him, which is an odd mole tactic. Yes you can rely on the mistakes of others, but he didn't know they were going to mess up the counting and he had such a huge lead on the other driver that he would've easily earned 1k, which the mole certainly doesn't want. Was he going to insist he was done, rather than take an extra lap? That would be a really weird argument to make. 'No I'm definitely done!' 'We've been counting since the start Senne, you have one more lap.' 'NO!' Then just parks all huffy? I'm weird about this one. For the pizza challenge, threw pizzas really well to guarantee he was in the finale, but he didn't really do all that much to sabotage the others? Helped make sure Lynn got in and just got his own pizza out, which is fine, but he wasn't really tactically in a position to mess up anyone else, which doesn't feel really mole-like either. Then did absolutely nothing really of note in the last challenge. Like if you're the mole and know Coco's going out, but Michaël is there acting as guilty as my dog after eating something he shouldn't have, he barley says anything at all? Like he just points to him in one moment but gives it up so quickly. I dunno. Not a great set of two episodes for him if he is the mole.

I am thoroughly enjoying this season of De Mol so far (like every year). My prime suspects at the moment are Michaël, Stéphanie and Senne, in that order.

Great to see and hear from you! This season has been absolutely wonderful. The participants and assignments are brilliant. This program is at a really high level! At this point I am convinced that Lynn and Stephanie are not moles. I don't see them in that role. The most suspicious are Senne and Michael. After the first episodes I thought Senne, but he was the only one who pointed out the right answer to what Michael is afraid of, a bit strange game for a mole. On the other hand, every time he finds himself in the perfect position to sabotage, he is a little behind. Michael is very suspicious after Coco's elimination. Strange behavior on his part, he looked like he wanted the group to point him out. Bernard and Charlotte have their moments and fit into the pattern that is not very obvious in the Belgian mole. I wonder one thing, in the fourth episode the mole said hello to the three contestants or is this a clue for the final 3?

Hi Julie!! I have been watching De Mol, and so far I am LOVING this season! I actually watched the first half of episode 5 already, but I will not give any spoilers, of course. My main suspects at this point are Charlotte, Michaël, and Lynn. I see Bernard as a potential winner. The verdubbelaars were an interesting idea, but it is starting to seem like they aren’t really going to play a large role. Like you, I was also expecting to see them hidden during the assignments each week, but we haven’t seen that since episode 1. And the candidates haven’t really used them wisely. The assignments have been really enjoyable. It kind of makes me realize how uncreative some of the WIDM assignments are, in comparison. And they are really using their location to their advantage and showing how beautiful Sicily is. The only assignment so far that I haven’t enjoyed was the ice cream one…I couldn’t get past the fact that 4 people were all licking the same popsicles…eww. But episode 4 was just fantastic. The hilarious reveal that the “hidden danger” lurking in the town was pineapple pieces being flung at them from the rooftops. Everything about the Mario assignment (the outfits! The bananas! The epic failure!). It was perfection. Charlotte has been suspicious to me from the very beginning. She was part of the group on the boat that decided to end the assignment early (and she really pushed for them to end it as soon as possible). Then, during the little psychological game that they had before the first elimination, to see who would be responsible for the verdubbelaars, I THINK Charlotte was the one (correct me if I’m wrong, I can’t remember episode 1 too clearly anymore) who acted super suspicious and got herself incorrectly voted out even though she wasn’t one of the three fastest to push the button. She also spoke during the assignment when she was supposed to stay silent, lied really well during the bomb assignment, had a poor performance during the racing assignment, and forgot to bring the verdubbelaars with her when she was responsible for them. Also, she told everyone that her last name was “de Mol.” How funny would it be if the mole introduced themself to the rest of the group as “de Mol” in episode 1? Michaël has been somewhat suspicious as well. He knocked over the wrong colored block in episode 1 (I think?), opened Pandora’s box, and spoke during the assignment when he wasn’t supposed to. His actions during the racing assignment were also really sus. I don’t think it was Senne’s fault that he stopped racing 1 lap too early. Michaël was really making it seem like he was finished. I’m not sure if Michaël has the type of personality to make a good mole, though. I don’t know if he would have the self-control required. The singing mini-assignment with Lynn is kind of a perfect example-he got so excited when she completed the song correctly that he accidentally shouted and broke his silence. Either he is a brilliant actor, and really good at messing up and making it look like an accident, or…he doesn’t have enough self-control to be the mole. Lol. Lynn has me conflicted. On the one hand, I kind of believed her when she said she always wanted to play the game honestly, and go for the money at all times. She does seem like an honest person, and she has resisted opportunities to go for advantages (she was the only person not to press the button at all for a chance to get the verdubbelaars). But at the same time, she has been in important positions and contributed to money being lost. She used a verdubbelaar during the bomb assignment and then pushed for the group to choose the wrong car. She dropped her pizza right after someone told her to be careful not to drop it. She was part of the group with Michaël who incorrectly told Senne to stop racing too early. She has also had some moments that stood out to me as “not quite right.” After the first elimination, when the candidates were shown the video clip about Pandora’s box, when Gilles said “that box behind you” 8 of the candidates whipped their heads around to see if there was a box there. But Lynn didn’t move. She just kept watching the screen. Because she already knew there was no box? After Pandora’s box was opened, Lynn was the one that took the longest to get to the screen to stop the pot from decreasing. She even made one of the other candidates carry her from her room down to the box…because she wasn’t wearing her glasses? Or something? And during the assignment with Michaël when he wasn’t allowed to talk, Lynn figured out VERY quickly what she was supposed to sing. Almost TOO quickly. I’m just saying, if I walked into that room, having no idea what was going on, and had to figure out what to do based on the instructions that Michaël was giving via hand gestures…I never would have been able to complete that task successfully. But she just understood what to do, immediately. Lynn is also a videographer (I think?), so the “scream” hint you mentioned could apply to her. And she was the only person in episode 1 who started the first assignment in the smaller boat, because she was the only one in the group who said that she didn’t want to be the mole. So it would be kind of funny if it was her. Senne and Stephanie have had suspicious actions here and there, but I just don’t really get the impression that either of them is the mole. Bernard was a suspect for me after episode 1, but since then, he has looked more and more like a candidate who really wants to win. Now I am really looking forward to watching the rest of episode 5 tomorrow! I hope that other international viewers have found a way to watch this season as well. Thank you for the video Julie! 🙂

So I have more thoughts! Spoilers for episode 6 though. * * * * 1) I have a minor criticism of this show: the challenges seem a little bit too skewed towards "loss". Case in point, the earthquake tower. If the Mole got into the finale, it was all over, because he could easily choose the wrong answer (as he did) with zero counterplay from the other contestants. Shoulda been 2/3 is a win in that one IMO. 2) That aside, it's been a fantastic season. I seem to have underrated Bernard. His last confessional pointed at Michael but he also seems suspicious of Senne. Well, those are the two I'm interested in. I have a feeling that it might be another all-male finale. Charlotte was the one who stood out this week with a low offer that I just don't think the Mole would make. On the other hand, her breakdown in the car points to her being under a lot of stress, and previous Moles have had moments like this. It's still really difficult to point at her as the Mole based on her actions though. 3) I feel like I'm hedging my bets for the sake of caution. Honestly, I think it's Senne. I don't want to rule out Michael, and at this point Charlotte and Bernard have had suspicious moments aplenty. But Senne is the one whose actions I feel are consistently in line with what I'd expect the Mole to do. 4) That last elimination hurts. ☹ Stephanie is definitely someone I wouldn't have minded seeing win, and had pegged as a potential finalist until this episode. There were hints to her going this episode though. Especially during the Mole Book task. It did feel as though she had her own axe hanging above her head at that point. 5) I feel as though everyone might be on the right track at this point, and it could just come down to who knows the least. That may be why Stephanie left. 6) And finally, that last attacker (in the red rope task) had an epic fail. You had one chance to dash for the rope, and ya blew it? This is what happens when you hire cosplayers instead of ninja assassins. There's a moral here. Don't skimp on your hired thugs guys!

So here's some final thoughts before the finale. I haven't watched the full Episode 7 yet, but I have seen who's eliminated. So spoilers for that. * * * So, as I thought, it's come down to the three guys. I didn't think, and still don't think, that it's Bernard. I can't make a case against him. He seems to be playing hard as a candidate. Which puts it down to Senne and Michael. Let's take each episode one by one. * In episode 1, I think the Mole is Senne. In the first ship task, I think the Mole could've gone either way - either trying to stop his group from making it onto the yacht (which Michael did) or getting onto the Yacht and making sure the button is pushed early to make sure there's a maximum amount of money earned (which Senne did). (I am, of course, assuming that the Mole is at least partially responsible for the activity that went wrong. It wouldn't be much of a mystery if they showed exactly what the Mole did, unedited, for the entire challenge.) It's difficult to nail down which the Mole would do. Personally I think he may want to look good - and there's indirect confirmation of this. In his quiz interview, Gilliam said that he thought the Mole would do well early on to take suspicion off of him/herself. However Gilliam didn't name a suspect. I think that this mirrors, in a subtle way, Bruno from Season 8 naming Alina in the first episode and then getting cut from the second episode after claiming that the Mole was standing by the cake. However there were two people by the cake, and Bruno didn't suspect Alina - he suspected Laure. I think Gilliam's confession might have been put in to throw viewers off-track early into thinking the Mole didn't get onto the boat, when in actual fact he did. Looking at the second and third tasks, though, it's Senne all the way. Firstly, he suggests one correct answer at the olive challenge - which looks like an anti-Mole action - but may absolutely have done this to gain trust later on so that he could surreptitiously move a few olives into the wrong bucket. At the very least, I cannot see the Mole choosing to dance; and if they did, I cannot see Michael's actions as being Mole-like in that challenge. Finally, we know there was a doubler hidden in the olive grove that wasn't found. That might also be Senne's work. In the third task, Senne does two things of note during the doublers auction. Firstly, he points the finger at Charlotte, and secondly he gives incorrect information about Gilliam's shirt, even though he must have seen what Gilliam was wearing. It does seem as though he's trying to get people to vote anybody other than the actual two candidates here. * Episode 2 is where I caught onto Senne for the first time. But in the first task, he gets Bugatti wrong but suggests the right answer to Bernard (who corrects him - maybe a sign that Bernard was suspecting Senne all along?) He then gets a second question wrong with Philippe. As for Michael, he's more where I'd expect the Mole to be - catching ice-creams - and while he may sabotage my dreams (that image of him licking a popsicle in slow motion is I'm sure burned into all of our brains), his main act of sabotage is dropping a lot of ice-cream. Honestly this could be either of them. In the second challenge, though, everything comes up Senne. Michael is the first to cut Senne off, but then the one who figures out that Senne can turn out the fan. Senne makes a show of being frustrated at his fellow candidates, but why shouldn't he? He can make absolutely certain that he doesn't get out before time is up. Afterwards, he and Michael both go for the pasvragen. Finally, the one person who has said they absolutely won't go for a pasvragen is the one person who isn't offered a spot at the box, giving the Mole the best chance of someone else opening the box if he doesn't get the chance to. Only Senne had any say in that decision. Michael is very easy to persuade to go for the pasvragen, so he can't be ruled out either, but Senne looks like the Mole in this episode. * In episode 3, Michael is one of those who doesn't recognise the eagle (which, to be fair, looks more pigeon-like than eagle-like). But still, that's a really silly guess. Meanwhile, Senne identifies a Dean Martin song as "Italian", and acts completely lost when Charlotte gets an Italian song in the third round. Finally, in the last round, it's Senne who answers the phone, and could have given any information to Charlotte - right or wrong - we don't hear what's said. Honestly, both of them look kinda bad! What's pointing to Senne for me here is that I don't think the Mole would want to be an "investigator". In the "silenced group", Michael is the only one who has an opportunity to do anything, and this is the first challenge where Michael definitely looks more suspect. His squeak of joy when his challenge is completed is such a Mole move. That said, he does a pretty good job getting Lynn to do her task. If the Mole is Senne, this is Mole's time to look less suspect. And in the final task, both Senne and Michael could fail it, but once again, I think the Mole would want to be in the team choosing the liars, not in the bomb cars. Senne encourages the wrong answer from the back, for the second time this season. So he's my pick for episode 3. * Episode 4! In which both of our candidates look super-suspicious. Senne wastes all but one bananas and stops a lap short. Michael gives him the wrong information and does a horrible job laying pipe. (Oo-er missus.) Honestly, if I were the Mole, I'd probably want to be karting here, but I could see a case being made for Michael looking like the most suspect. This one's a toss-up. At pizza though, Michael earns E500 unnecessarily, Senne gets hit by pineapple in a way that looks REALLY staged. Point to Senne. Finally, Michael looks seriously shady, which could've been deliberate, but only Senne points him out. All the women suspect Coco instead. This one could go either way. It's interesting that the Mole tells Senne "I would be stressed in your position" but asks the others questions or discusses their test. However it's also interesting that Michael is the only one NOT to vote Coco. A deliberate attempt to look suspicion, or a clue pointing at the actual Mole? Hmmmm... * Episode five, and the columns of doom! Twelve minutes seems... short. On the other hand, I would prefer as the Mole to be in the position Michael was in, so I could drop the columns in the nick of time. Michael looks very, very suspicious here. Bernard gets his dish wrong, meaning that Senne has no choice but to pick the wrong one. So I can't hold this against him. And in the earthquake challenge, Senne is the only one to fail, losing them money. Michael makes it to the final and selects the same answer as his mother. Again, Senne. Finally, Senne has the option to give someone the doublers... and he chooses Lynn, an episode after seeing her quiz answers and knowing which way she's voting (if he's the Mole). Lynn ends up getting cut, and the last doubler is out of the game. Yeah, once again I'd go with Senne. * Episode 6! I've already talked about how much like Senne the Mole message at the start of this episode sounds. In the first challenge, Michael does absolutely nothing wrong, and Senne brings in a bit of money despite Charlotte providing basically no help whatsoever. Honestly, if there's any challenge where I'd be more tempted to go Bernard, it'd be this one. Then Michael gets the decision on whether to spend an extra E400 to hear the voices again, and picks it. Obviously. I think anybody would in that position. Can't really make a judgement on who the Mole is as it really depends on who gets that second-place bid. Finally, it's hard to tell who's shooting well in the last challenge. It seems like Senne is getting less shots than the others, but that could just be editing. I don't know about this one. Yeah, this episode is very little help in deciding which of the two of them it is. Dead heat? I think so. So that's five episodes where Senne looks more suspicious, and one where I can't separate them. What's making me hesitate with Senne more than anything else is the edit. His personality hasn't come out that much, which is typically a trait of male winners (think Axel or Sven) or finalists (Toos) rather than Moles. Michael has a very much more "Mole-like" edit. But I can't make a case for him based on his actions. In episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, Senne has actions that I think definitely point to him as the Mole over Michael; and in episodes 5, 3, and arguably 4 with the go-kart, Michael has actions that make him look more suspicious. Yeah, this could go either way. But I'm going to stick with my suspect of Senne until I've watched episode seven fully.

Spoiler for ep 5 here: * * * * So I say "Lynn is my favorite player, I hope she makes it far." Then next episode, exactly what I thought would happen did happen. I swear I've got a curse on me...