The season was hosted by news reporter Anderson Cooper and featured American contestants; it was filmed mainly in France, Monaco, and Spain.
Airdates Locations Rules summary Details Casting for the first season of The Mole was held in late August 2000.
[3] Unlike other similar reality shows, contestants on The Mole were ordinarily treated to full course dinners, sit-down breakfasts, and fine wines at supper, while staying some nights at fancy hotels in exotic locations.
It contrasted sharply with other reality shows of the time, such as Survivor, that saw players in wilderness locations eating meager meals.
Notes Skydiving: All ten players arrived at a remote location in the California Mojave Desert.
After dinner, the players were allowed to spend the night out in Paris, with a catch - the entire group must stay together, and had to be back to the hotel before midnight (approximately two hours).
ATM: The players are shown ten screens which display personal information about their fellow competitors.
Penalty: The remaining players wait during ATM test, and are told not to discuss the information from the screens.
If all eight players find and arrive at his secret location (Cannes, France) in less than two hours with three keys, they will add $50,000 to the pot.
For each player (up to five) that performed a tienta (pulling the bull's tail down to the ground), a bonus $5,000 would be added.
While avoiding laser shooting snipers, the players must rescue Kate and bring her to the cinema and ring a bell.
One "runner" from the first group would then have to find his or her way back to the room, and convince the other team to stop working.
The "resourceful" team is provided a truck filled with an array of odd items, including a scooter, a bicycle, a liferaft, and geese.
If either the "smart" or "resourceful" team joins the "stupid" group at the hotel, $40,000 will be added to the pot.
Reunion: After nearly three weeks of seclusion, a mystery loved one of each of the six players arrives to be part of the game for a day.
To succeed, the players must keep the bowl illuminated from sunset to sunrise, or shoot and hit all the aggressors, preventing further attacks.
The clues point to specific books on the shelves which contain a ticket to ride a horse-drawn carriage.
If they can find the book, and take the ticket to a specific stop on the ride, they can board the carriage at that point.
The players succeeded at the main mission, but failed to earn the bonus (there were 751 sheep, the exact number listed at the beginning of the test).
The three tasks are as follows: one player has to stand blindfolded against a wall as a knife thrower throws a hatchet at them.
The knife thrower did not throw the hatchet at Kathryn, he walked up and simply banged it into the wall.
Three Rooms: The final test sees the players check into a hotel in Ronda, Spain.
According to clues during the game, this test occurred on the final full day of filming, October 19, 2000.
Highlights of the season, including sabotage, and "moleish" behavior was documented, as well as secret hidden clues.
Kathryn is revealed to be the mole, with Steven the winner of $510,000, and Jim the runner-up, the final player executed.
Dice game: Kathryn discussed with Wendi the day before that if asked, she would not shave her head for money.
Since she was planning for her wedding in a couple months, she refused to do the task, had a good excuse, and avoided suspicion.
She knew the van would eventually break down, so she attempted to waste time having Steven try to fix it.
Trust: The producers did not give Kathryn any information about the test, so that she would exhibit genuine fear.
During the final episode, it was revealed that Kathryn struggled to keep her cover as the mole at certain times during the four weeks of filming.