The Mole (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

In its original American broadcast, "The Mole" was seen by an estimated 3.41 million household viewers and gained a 1.7/4 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[1] This was a 35% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 5.22 million viewers with a 2.5/7 in the 18-49 demographics.[2] This means that 1.7 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With these ratings, Brooklyn Nine-Nine was the second most watched show on FOX for the night, beating Mulaney and Bob's Burgers but behind The Simpsons, sixth on its timeslot and fifth for the night, behind Madam Secretary, The Simpsons, Once Upon a Time, 60 Minutes, and NBC Sunday Night Football.

"The Mole" received mostly positive reviews from critics. LaToya Ferguson of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A−" grade and wrote, "'The Mole' is one of those episodes of television where, even though it hits all of its beats well and to satisfaction, there's every chance that extending the episode would somehow make it even stronger. Remember when NBC would 'Super Size' its sitcoms? Unlike those shows, Brooklyn Nine-Nine could actually benefit even more from that."[3]

Jackson McHenry of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "The cops on Brooklyn Nine-Nine catch criminals, but the show spent this week tripping up its characters. The episode ran on basic sitcom rules and structures, but it ran on all cylinders, and it was a lot of fun."[4] Allie Pape from Vulture gave the show a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "'The Mole' is dead-set on pushing several different plotlines forward, but it may have bitten off more than it can chew for one episode, as a lot of the jokes this go-round feel tired. (A guy so germophobic, he can’t touch anyone? A “good” kid secretly selling drugs? Wrecking someone's new car via a powdered doughnut? B99, you can do better.) Even the overall premise is based around a cliché: The 'somebody's been lying and everyone's under suspicion' episode is a long-standing tradition in sitcom culture, one that's been yielding diminishing returns in recent years."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "I feel like season 2 still has yet to find a higher gear and give us an episode (or, better, run of episodes) as great as we saw the show could be last season, but each outing has been fun and smart, and 'The Mole' did a strong job with all three plots."[6] Andy Crump of Paste gave the episode an 8.4 and wrote, "There's a lot to laugh about here - Samberg's climactic 'whaaaaaaaa' and Terry's headphone check in the silent disco in particular, but Melissa Fumero's line-read of her texting history with Gina is probably the funniest non-Braugher moment 'The Mole' has to offer. Since Brooklyn Nine-Nine's premiere, we've known that Braugher is its secret weapon; now we have proof that he's one of its essential building blocks. But more than that, 'The Mole' reminds us of just how good the show can be when it puts one of its supporting troupe members on center stage, and lets Samberg sit in the passenger seat. (Unless he's spilling powdered donuts on the dash)."[7]