A New Group of Players Attempts to Whack The Mole

Ah, yes, The Mole. You might think that this Netflix reboot of a classic 2000s reality-competition show is just about being strategic and winning cash. After all, players must try to gather intel about a secret “Mole” who is messing with team missions that earn the prize money for the final winner. Eliminations are made based on who knows the least about the liar in their midst. But judging from the first season, the show might also be an audition to win a recurring role elsewhere in the Netflix reality-verse. Season-one contestant Dom Gabriel has now appeared in two back-to-back seasons of the dating competition show Perfect Match … so maybe The Mole is as much about finding a secret saboteur as it is about finding Netflix’s next heartthrob? Either way, there’s drama ahead. Below, here’s what to know about The Mole season two, including what happens in the new trailer, who’s in the cast, and when it drops.

Our 12 players are ready to make some money in Malaysia, but whoever the Mole is seems to be doing a pretty good job of covertly messing with missions. Everyone looks shocked when this season’s new host, NPR’s Ari Shapiro, reveals that the cast hasn’t actually added any money to their prize pot yet. Cue the shouting, tears, and conversations about weaponized incompetence. By the end of the trailer, everyone is staring each other down at a long table. It’s kinda giving the Last Supper — which one of you will betray me?

This year’s mix includes a Muslim woman who has sailed around the globe, a forensic accountant who is also an escape-room enthusiast, a five-foot-two mother of four who can box jump nearly half her height, and a web sleuth you might recognize from Don’t F**k With Cats. Below, courtesy of descriptions from Netflix, meet each of the 12 contestants — and feel free to speculate wildly about who is the saboteur (and who might end up breaking hearts on Perfect Match).

Tony, 24
Job: VIP host
Fun fact(s): Has been working out for half of his life. Averages a daily screen time of 19 hours.
Why I’m not the Mole: “Hiding my true intentions for that long sounds exhausting, and I don’t have the mental stamina to keep that act up.”

Hannah, 23
Job: Marketing consultant
Fun fact(s): Is a student pilot and once completed a blind landing in a single-engine prop plane. Has a Doberman puppy named Bane.
Why I’m not the Mole: “I’m team money and here to win the whole pot.”

Quaylyn, 41
Job: Bus driver
Fun fact(s): Loves tornadoes and wants to chase one one day.
Why I’m not the Mole: “I am too honest and I play around too much.”

Ryan, 33
Job: Volleyball coach
Fun fact(s): Has four kids with her high-school sweetheart. Is five-foot-two but can do a 30-inch box jump.
Why I’m not the Mole: “I am a team player, and I want the biggest prize at the end to take home!”

Andy, 65
Job: Forensic accountant
Fun fact(s): Is an escape-room enthusiast who has played 600-plus rooms in 11 countries.
Why I’m not the Mole: “The most fun part of this game is the missions — I want the missions to be as successful as possible to add money to the pot.”

Jennifer, 28
Job: Program analyst
Fun fact(s): Has traveled to six continents. Favorite show is The Big Bang Theory.
Why I’m not the Mole: “I am too competitive and wouldn’t be able to throw challenges.”

Michael, 30
Job: Parking manager
Fun fact(s): Plays in a gay flag-football league and travels the U.S. competing in tournaments.
Why I’m not the Mole: “I talk way too much to be the Mole.”

Deanna, 50
Job: Web sleuth (and Don’t F**k With Cats star)
Fun fact(s): Claustrophobic, gags at smell of olives.
Why I’m not the Mole: “I am an absolutely terrible liar. This isn’t a low-key brag … I wish I was better. I don’t know if it has something to do with being autistic, but I always assumed that I lacked the nuance to do it well.”

Neesh, 30
Job: Marketer
Fun fact(s): Earned the nickname “Lavish” in high school because he loves getting massages.
Why I’m not the Mole: “Lying isn’t in my genes. I’m the great-great-great-great-grand-nephew of Abraham ‘Honest Abe’ Lincoln.”

Melissa, 34
Job: Poker player
Fun fact(s): Plays pinball competitively (to the tune of 75-plus tournaments last year).
Why I’m not the Mole: “I usually wear my heart on my sleeve, and this game is a marathon — not a sprint — so I’m much more interested in unearthing the truth than in hiding it.”

Muna, 24
Job: Software engineer
Fun fact(s): Is a spoken-word poet. Has circumnavigated the world on a ship.
Why I’m not the Mole: “I am a detective at heart.”

Sean, 43
Job: Stay-at-home dad/retired undercover cop
Fun fact(s): Loves ’80s and ’90s boy bands. Has split his head open seven times.
Why I’m not the Mole: “I’m here to compete for my family and win cash. I don’t have what it takes to sabotage or ruin people’s chances of winning money.”

The scheming will be streaming in three parts. The first five episodes drop on June 28; episodes six, seven, and eight drop on July 5; and episodes nine and ten drop on July 12.