Mole Hunt
Encyclopedia
"Mole Hunt" is the pilot episode of the animated comedy Archer
. It was the first episode produced for the show and originally aired as a special sneak preview on September 17, 2009, but officially aired billed as the second episode on January 14, 2010 after the episode "Training Day
" which aired the same day.
In the episode, suave yet rude and belligerent spy Sterling Archer breaks into the mainframe of his organization ISIS after Malory, his mother and boss, questions his expense account and inadvertently discovers a mole
in the organization. The episode was written by Archer creator and co-executive producer
, Adam Reed
, and directed by Mack Williams. It was produced at Floyd County Productions and animated at Radical Axis Studio
in Atlanta, over the course of approximately one month.
The FX Network officially greenlit the series in August 2009 for six episode—along with an additional four scripts
—and planned on airing it alongside the fifth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
. However, due to production time constraints, the network was forced to push the official series run to January 2010 and changed Philadelphia's paired series to The League
, but aired the special sneak preview of this episode following the season premiere
of Philadelphia on September 17, 2009, without promoting it or listing it on channel listings.
"Mole Hunt" attracted 1.4 million viewers, with 950,000 between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode received generally favorable reviews from television critics, who noted that despite its raunchiness, it contained sharp dialogue and quick wit. H. Jon Benjamin
received a Primetime Emmy Award
nomination for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
for his performance as Archer in the episode.
training exercise, but causes it to be terminated after complaining about fellow agent Krenshaw's fake-torture tactics. The following day, while trying to get members of the organization to smell his dry cleaning
due to its strangely curry
-like odor, he is called into the office of Malory, his mother and boss, where he is chastised for misusing his ISIS-run expense account. He seeks assistance from Cyril, a member of the organization and his ex-girlfriend's current boyfriend, to clear his account, but he refuses. Archer tries getting secretary Cheryl to leave the mainframe open that night, allowing Archer to easily slip in and clear his account, but she too denies his request.
Without any outside options, Archer is forced to manually break into ISIS's mainframe. Though he initially thinks that this will be an extremely difficult task, he discovers that actual security is appallingly terrible and he easily figures out the password to hack his account after the first try. While trying to transfer all of his excess expenses from his account to Krenshaw, the agent enters the room and holds a gun up to Archer's head. He reveals that he is actually a Russian spy named Kremenski and is fearing that the agency is started to realize that he is a mole
, so he plans on stealing $50,000 from Archer's account and flee from the country. Just then, however, Archer's ex-girlfriend—Agent Lana—arrives and pulls a gun on Kremenski. She and Archer begin to argue and the mole is able to escape.
They pursue him outside, where Cyril and Malory have already arrived. Kremenski grabs Malory and threatens to kill her if they do not let him leave; Archer tries to turn the tables on him by grabbing Lana and threatening to do the same, but Kremenski does not care about her well being. When Lana proclaims that Archer is getting an erection
, though, Kremenski lets go of Malory in disgust, allowing Archer room to shoot him several times in his chest and once in the head, killing him.
Despite his previous actions of breaking into ISIS and hacking the mainframe, Archer is excused from his expenses after Cyril comes to the assumption that Kremenski had been stealing from Archer's account the whole time. Malory notes that she would have known if there was a mole at ISIS, her earlier phone call shown to have been with Nikolai Jackov, head of the KGB. She changes the subject when questioned, and rather complains that someone left donuts on the floor attracting ants.
creator and co-executive producer
Adam Reed
, while the series' animation director
Mack Williams directed it. Reed had been known for his creation of several Adult Swim
animated television programs that he worked on with Archer co-executive producer Matt Thompson
, such as Sealab 2021
and Frisky Dingo
. In 2008, while walking along the Via de la Plata
in Spain
, Reed conceived the concept of Archer. Being a longtime "rabid fan" of FX Network and its original programming, he pitched the concept to the network and they accepted it, ordering six episodes of the series to be produced, along with an additional four scripts.
The pilot episode was produced at Reed's Floyd County Productions studio in Atlanta, Georgia
, over the course of approximately one month. Animation took place at Radical Axis Studio
, also located in Atlanta. The artistic style of the series was designed to be as realistic as possible, so the character designers used as much reference material as they could. In order to create consistency between the separate animators, the artists take photographs of each actor and utilize Adobe Illustrator
to trace over them as a base for each actor's character As Chad Hurd, the lead character designer for the series, noted, the end result resembles "a 1960’s comic book come to life."
FX originally planned on pairing the premiere of Archer with the fifth season of the network's situation comedy
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
on Thursday nights in the Fall. However, the network learned of the long, month-long production length it would take to create the needed six episodes and realized that there was not enough time to have all of the episodes ready before Philadelphia began its new season. FX then decided to reschedule the series and start airing it in January 2010, and replaced Archer with The League
as Philadelphia's companion show. Despite this, FX also decided to air a sneak airing of "Mole Hunt" following the season five premiere of Philadelphia on September 17, 2009. The network did not promote the sneak peek, nor did they feature it on any program listings, and merely informed select television critics.
", which aired the same day and attracted 1.2 million viewers in between the ages of 18 and 49, and 1.8 million viewers in total. In 2010, H. Jon Benjamin
received a Primetime Emmy Award
nomination for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
for voicing Archer in the episode; he lost, however, to Anne Hathaway
for her performance in The Simpsons
.
"Mole Hunt" received generally favorable reviews from television critics and media outlets. David Hinckley of the New York Daily News
wrote that it "has a little 'Arrested Development' and a little of 'The Office
' and maybe some 'Mad Men
,'" and recommended it to readers as one of the "new and good on TV this fall." Hinkely also commented favorably on the scene where Archer tries firing bullets at the door to the mainframe, only to a bullet ricochet and hit another agent, likening it to "Leslie Nielsen
classics." Matt Roush of TV Guide said that he "got many more sustained belly laughs" out of the episode then he did with the aforementioned Philadelphia premiere.
Writing for Variety
, Brian Lowry opined that with "Mole Hunt," Archer "gives FX something that the drama-heavy channel hasn't enjoyed for awhile — namely, a sharp comedic arrow in its quiver." Jonathan Toomey of TV Squad applauded the character development in the "Mole Hunt," as it "was fairly impressive." Moreover, though, Toomey praised the dialogue, saying "The back and forth between Archer and Figgis and Archer and Lana were laugh out loud funny," and noted that he wished he could incorporate the phrase "baby town frolics" from the episode into a conversation. Toomey did, however, say that he felt that the plotting was "a bit of a stretch," and noted that the realization that Krenshaw was actually a Russian spy named Kremenski was "out of nowhere" and "a bit confusing."
Whitney Matheson
wrote for USA Today
that "Mole Hunt" was "crude and offbeat" but "also very funny and a welcome addition to [her] DVR
queue." Maureen Ryan, writing for the Chicago Tribune
, applauded both the voice cast and the "deadpan wit and surreal goofiness." Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald
, awarded the episode a "B+" calling it a "spy spoof [that] hits a bull’s-eye with risque snark and one of the best vocal casts assembled for any animated series." In an article for the San Francisco Chronicle
, Tim Goodman called "Mole Hunt" a "brilliant pilot." Rob Owen in his review for the series in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
said that though it was crude, the episode is "far more clever than last fall's disappointing 'Testees
,'" and that it "wins points with its observational humor about modern life and in its mocking of mundane workplace minutiae." Aaron Barnhart wrote in his article for McClatchy News Service that it was "very funny."
Other reviewers, however, have commented negatively towards "Mole Hunt." Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter
did not enjoy the episode, saying it "looks great but could be much funnier" and "rife with words that would be bleeped on broadcast channels and even most other basic-cable outlets." Rick Bentley of McClatchy Newspapers wrote, "Most of the comedy is milked from the personal relationships in the office, which start off tedious and only grow more annoying. The adult material – from nudity to words you haven't heard on basic cable – comes across as merely an attempt to be shocking. It's hard to be shocked when you are bored."
Archer (TV series)
Archer is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating....
. It was the first episode produced for the show and originally aired as a special sneak preview on September 17, 2009, but officially aired billed as the second episode on January 14, 2010 after the episode "Training Day
Training Day (Archer)
"Training Day" is the second episode of the animated comedy Archer. It was written by Archer creator and co-executive producer, Adam Reed, and directed by Mack Williams. In the episode, Archer's mother Malory assigns her son the task of training Cyril to be an agent...
" which aired the same day.
In the episode, suave yet rude and belligerent spy Sterling Archer breaks into the mainframe of his organization ISIS after Malory, his mother and boss, questions his expense account and inadvertently discovers a mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
in the organization. The episode was written by Archer creator and co-executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
, Adam Reed
Adam Reed
Adam Brooks Reed is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions....
, and directed by Mack Williams. It was produced at Floyd County Productions and animated at Radical Axis Studio
Radical Axis (studio)
Radical Axis is an animation studio headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States known for its diverse work in both episodic television and commercials...
in Atlanta, over the course of approximately one month.
The FX Network officially greenlit the series in August 2009 for six episode—along with an additional four scripts
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
—and planned on airing it alongside the fifth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom...
. However, due to production time constraints, the network was forced to push the official series run to January 2010 and changed Philadelphia
The League
The League is an American sitcom that premiered on FX on October 29, 2009. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy about a fantasy football league, its members, and their everyday lives.-Synopsis:...
, but aired the special sneak preview of this episode following the season premiere
Season premiere
In North America, a season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a given television show. It often airs in September or October, after several months of reruns.-Evaluating the changes:...
of Philadelphia on September 17, 2009, without promoting it or listing it on channel listings.
"Mole Hunt" attracted 1.4 million viewers, with 950,000 between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode received generally favorable reviews from television critics, who noted that despite its raunchiness, it contained sharp dialogue and quick wit. H. Jon Benjamin
H. Jon Benjamin
Henry Jon Benjamin , known professionally as H. Jon Benjamin and Jon Benjamin, is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for his voice-over roles as Jason and Coach McGuirk on Home Movies, Ben on Dr...
received a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a creative arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in a series or a special." Prior to 1992, voice-actors...
for his performance as Archer in the episode.
Plot summary
Sterling Archer, a suave agent from the spy organization ISIS, partakes in a tortureTorture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
training exercise, but causes it to be terminated after complaining about fellow agent Krenshaw's fake-torture tactics. The following day, while trying to get members of the organization to smell his dry cleaning
Dry cleaning
Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a chemical solvent other than water. The solvent used is typically tetrachloroethylene , abbreviated "perc" in the industry and "dry-cleaning fluid" by the public...
due to its strangely curry
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
-like odor, he is called into the office of Malory, his mother and boss, where he is chastised for misusing his ISIS-run expense account. He seeks assistance from Cyril, a member of the organization and his ex-girlfriend's current boyfriend, to clear his account, but he refuses. Archer tries getting secretary Cheryl to leave the mainframe open that night, allowing Archer to easily slip in and clear his account, but she too denies his request.
Without any outside options, Archer is forced to manually break into ISIS's mainframe. Though he initially thinks that this will be an extremely difficult task, he discovers that actual security is appallingly terrible and he easily figures out the password to hack his account after the first try. While trying to transfer all of his excess expenses from his account to Krenshaw, the agent enters the room and holds a gun up to Archer's head. He reveals that he is actually a Russian spy named Kremenski and is fearing that the agency is started to realize that he is a mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
, so he plans on stealing $50,000 from Archer's account and flee from the country. Just then, however, Archer's ex-girlfriend—Agent Lana—arrives and pulls a gun on Kremenski. She and Archer begin to argue and the mole is able to escape.
They pursue him outside, where Cyril and Malory have already arrived. Kremenski grabs Malory and threatens to kill her if they do not let him leave; Archer tries to turn the tables on him by grabbing Lana and threatening to do the same, but Kremenski does not care about her well being. When Lana proclaims that Archer is getting an erection
Erection
Penile erection is a physiological phenomenon where the penis becomes enlarged and firm. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular and endocrine factors, and is usually, though not exclusively, associated with sexual arousal...
, though, Kremenski lets go of Malory in disgust, allowing Archer room to shoot him several times in his chest and once in the head, killing him.
Despite his previous actions of breaking into ISIS and hacking the mainframe, Archer is excused from his expenses after Cyril comes to the assumption that Kremenski had been stealing from Archer's account the whole time. Malory notes that she would have known if there was a mole at ISIS, her earlier phone call shown to have been with Nikolai Jackov, head of the KGB. She changes the subject when questioned, and rather complains that someone left donuts on the floor attracting ants.
Production
"Mole Hunt" was written by ArcherArcher (TV series)
Archer is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating....
creator and co-executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
Adam Reed
Adam Reed
Adam Brooks Reed is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions....
, while the series' animation director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
Mack Williams directed it. Reed had been known for his creation of several Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
animated television programs that he worked on with Archer co-executive producer Matt Thompson
Matt Thompson (animator)
Matt Thompson is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions.He has been a voice actor, writer, director and producer for Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo, which he co-created with Adam Reed, as well as performing the same...
, such as Sealab 2021
Sealab 2021
Sealab 2021 is an American animated television series. It was shown on Cartoon Network's adult-oriented programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 23, 2000 and the final episode aired on April 25, 2005...
and Frisky Dingo
Frisky Dingo
Frisky Dingo is an American animated cartoon series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Adult Swim. The series revolved around the conflict between a supervillain named Killface and a superhero named Awesome X, and much of the show's humor focuses on parodying superhero and action movie...
. In 2008, while walking along the Via de la Plata
Via de la Plata
The Vía de La Plata or Ruta de la Plata is an ancient commercial and pilgrimage path that crosses the west of Spain from north to south, connecting Mérida to Astorga, and in extension Seville with the Bay of Biscay, at Gijón...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Reed conceived the concept of Archer. Being a longtime "rabid fan" of FX Network and its original programming, he pitched the concept to the network and they accepted it, ordering six episodes of the series to be produced, along with an additional four scripts.
The pilot episode was produced at Reed's Floyd County Productions studio in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, over the course of approximately one month. Animation took place at Radical Axis Studio
Radical Axis (studio)
Radical Axis is an animation studio headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States known for its diverse work in both episodic television and commercials...
, also located in Atlanta. The artistic style of the series was designed to be as realistic as possible, so the character designers used as much reference material as they could. In order to create consistency between the separate animators, the artists take photographs of each actor and utilize Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Adobe Systems. Illustrator is similar in scope, intended market, and functionality to its competitors, CorelDraw, Xara Designer Pro and Macromedia FreeHand....
to trace over them as a base for each actor's character As Chad Hurd, the lead character designer for the series, noted, the end result resembles "a 1960’s comic book come to life."
FX originally planned on pairing the premiere of Archer with the fifth season of the network's situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom...
on Thursday nights in the Fall. However, the network learned of the long, month-long production length it would take to create the needed six episodes and realized that there was not enough time to have all of the episodes ready before Philadelphia began its new season. FX then decided to reschedule the series and start airing it in January 2010, and replaced Archer with The League
The League
The League is an American sitcom that premiered on FX on October 29, 2009. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy about a fantasy football league, its members, and their everyday lives.-Synopsis:...
as Philadelphia
Reception
In its official broadcast on FX on January 14, 2010, "Mole Hunt", which aired as the second episode, attracted 1.4 million viewers, with 950,000 of them being within the key 18-49 demographics. This was a slight drop from the airing of the second episode "Training DayTraining Day (Archer)
"Training Day" is the second episode of the animated comedy Archer. It was written by Archer creator and co-executive producer, Adam Reed, and directed by Mack Williams. In the episode, Archer's mother Malory assigns her son the task of training Cyril to be an agent...
", which aired the same day and attracted 1.2 million viewers in between the ages of 18 and 49, and 1.8 million viewers in total. In 2010, H. Jon Benjamin
H. Jon Benjamin
Henry Jon Benjamin , known professionally as H. Jon Benjamin and Jon Benjamin, is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for his voice-over roles as Jason and Coach McGuirk on Home Movies, Ben on Dr...
received a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a creative arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in a series or a special." Prior to 1992, voice-actors...
for voicing Archer in the episode; he lost, however, to Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
for her performance in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
.
"Mole Hunt" received generally favorable reviews from television critics and media outlets. David Hinckley of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
wrote that it "has a little 'Arrested Development' and a little of 'The Office
The Office (US TV series)
The Office is an American comedy television series broadcast by NBC. An adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name, it depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company...
' and maybe some 'Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
,'" and recommended it to readers as one of the "new and good on TV this fall." Hinkely also commented favorably on the scene where Archer tries firing bullets at the door to the mainframe, only to a bullet ricochet and hit another agent, likening it to "Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
classics." Matt Roush of TV Guide said that he "got many more sustained belly laughs" out of the episode then he did with the aforementioned Philadelphia premiere.
Writing for Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Brian Lowry opined that with "Mole Hunt," Archer "gives FX something that the drama-heavy channel hasn't enjoyed for awhile — namely, a sharp comedic arrow in its quiver." Jonathan Toomey of TV Squad applauded the character development in the "Mole Hunt," as it "was fairly impressive." Moreover, though, Toomey praised the dialogue, saying "The back and forth between Archer and Figgis and Archer and Lana were laugh out loud funny," and noted that he wished he could incorporate the phrase "baby town frolics" from the episode into a conversation. Toomey did, however, say that he felt that the plotting was "a bit of a stretch," and noted that the realization that Krenshaw was actually a Russian spy named Kremenski was "out of nowhere" and "a bit confusing."
Whitney Matheson
Whitney Matheson
Whitney Matheson in Fredericksburg, Va. is a writer and the author of Pop Candy, a popular entertainment blog which is posted on USA Todays website, and also writes entertainment and pop culture features for the newspaper....
wrote for USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
that "Mole Hunt" was "crude and offbeat" but "also very funny and a welcome addition to [her] DVR
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
queue." Maureen Ryan, writing for the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, applauded both the voice cast and the "deadpan wit and surreal goofiness." Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
, awarded the episode a "B+" calling it a "spy spoof [that] hits a bull’s-eye with risque snark and one of the best vocal casts assembled for any animated series." In an article for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Tim Goodman called "Mole Hunt" a "brilliant pilot." Rob Owen in his review for the series in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
said that though it was crude, the episode is "far more clever than last fall's disappointing 'Testees
Testees
Testees is a Canadian television series, created by Kenny Hotz and written and produced by Kenny Hotz and Derek Harvie . Testees originally aired on Thursdays at 10:30 PM EST on FX and ran from October 9, 2008 to December 18, 2008. and debuted on October 14, 2008 on Showcase in Canada. The show is...
,'" and that it "wins points with its observational humor about modern life and in its mocking of mundane workplace minutiae." Aaron Barnhart wrote in his article for McClatchy News Service that it was "very funny."
Other reviewers, however, have commented negatively towards "Mole Hunt." Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
did not enjoy the episode, saying it "looks great but could be much funnier" and "rife with words that would be bleeped on broadcast channels and even most other basic-cable outlets." Rick Bentley of McClatchy Newspapers wrote, "Most of the comedy is milked from the personal relationships in the office, which start off tedious and only grow more annoying. The adult material – from nudity to words you haven't heard on basic cable – comes across as merely an attempt to be shocking. It's hard to be shocked when you are bored."
External links
- "Mole Hunt" at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
- "Mole Hunt script" at www.archerscripts.com