‘The Mole Australia’ season 6 finale review: Who won, and getting too much of a good thing

Whenever we watch a reality show that we love to the point of addiction, like most seasons of “The Mole,” there is a question that comes almost immediately after the show ends: Why weren’t there just a few more weeks? They would end up being so drawn out that you have to commit may too much time to what should be a simple game.

There were elements of “The Mole Australia” this year that were awesome. The contestants were memorable (see Ally and Shaun in particular), some of the competitions were great (traveling around Mebourne, collecting various objects), and the visuals were the most beautiful ones ever produced for the franchise.

But, whoever decided that there should be so many episodes a week really needs to get their head examined. The only primetime show to us that deserves having multiple weekly airings is “Big Brother,” and that is because the competition is actually happening in real time. While “The Mole Australia” had a ton of content to justify the time, they could have cut a few challenges here and there in order to streamline things a little bit. Also, maybe in the process this would have presented the avalanche of twists, exemptions, and freebies from coming out. The idea of having this much to follow complicates things; a good comparison is when “Survivor” does not go crazy with immunity idols that way the more chances there are for surprise eliminations (or “executions” in this case), the better off the show would be.

But with all of things being said, congratulations to Hillal Kara-Ali for not only being the winner, but a cool guy and positive role model to Muslims that we wish American TV had. Also, Erin Dooley was the Mole … shocker? No. Here’s a word to future contestants if this franchise comes back anywhere in the world: The young, white woman contestant is always the Mole. Three out of the four versions of the show in America had a similar Mole, while even “Whodunnit?” here in North America had a young blonde woman in Cris at the center of its mystery. It’s almost as though they are so against type at this point that they are making it obvious.

We know it’s a stretch that the show comes back again soon, but we hope that it does with a version that combines the technical achievements and the casting here with some of the original show’s espionage and simplicity. Cut out the freebies, and make an exemption mean more than ever. While we applaud the risk on this season, what it left us with was an at-times awkward season that could have been great. Grade: B-

Photo: Channel 7