Winner Michael O’Brien, Mole is Sean Patrick Bryan

SPOILER ALERT:This post contains spoilers from the season 2 finale of “The Mole,” now streaming on Netflix.

For those wondering whether Netflix’s revival of ‘The Mole’ would actually choose the retired undercover cop as the titular saboteur, we finally have our answer.

In the season 2 finale of the reality competition series, Sean Patrick Bryan, who identified himself simply as a stay-at-home dad (strategically leaving out the undercover cop part), was unmasked as the Mole. It wasn’t the biggest surprise, especially after the group sacrificed thousands of dollars in prize money to listen to each other’s audition tapes for clues in Episode 4. Several people chose Bryan’s, in which he revealed his former profession, further arousing suspicion towards himself.

But Michael O’Brien already figured out Bryan’s subterfuge, and he stuck with his feelings until the bitter end, when he claimed the $154,000 prize over fellow finalist Muna Abdulahi.

“When I went all in for Sean, I never really changed it because I knew I had to commit to it – right or wrong,” says O’Brien Variety in a joint interview with Bryan. “As soon as I think about someone else, I knew I would start doubting myself. I lived or died with Sean as the Mole.”

The two men come back together to talk Variety about how early O’Brien chose Bryan as his target, giving ousted castmates the best chance of making it to the end, and that stretched final four challenge.

Sean, now that you can talk about it, is it hard being the Mole? What was the most challenging sabotage you had to orchestrate?

Sean Patrick Bryan: It’s so stressful! The first two weeks I was so stressed that I wondered: why was I doing this? Why did I accept this? That’s heartbreaking, because you’re doing twice the work. You try to play the game as a player, but still be the Mole and sabotage. The first two challenges were the hardest, as I was still trying to get a feel for the players. I didn’t know any personalities, or what I could get away with. The first two were also a complete failure. I didn’t do my job properly because they put money in the pot!

But after I got a sense of who I could align with, who I could trust, and who I knew wouldn’t think I was the Mole, I started playing a little more. I got so locked up and said, ‘There’s no more money in the pot. I’m going to do what I can do to ruin lives and upset these people and their relationships.”

You had to have some kind of strategy, right?

Bryan: My strategy, even when I was talking to the producers, was that I can’t have a set strategy without knowing the pieces in the game. I didn’t know who I was playing against. Of course I took notes from Kesi [Neblett] last season, of the things you should and shouldn’t do as De Mol. I actually didn’t want to be noticed by the viewer at all.

My target was the viewer. I knew these guys would follow me, and after a while I would find out that I was the Mole. But for the viewer, I wanted to do so many subtle sabotages behind the scenes to make things go better at home. That was my strategy. And of course to find guys like Michael, who were willing to be the shield of their own sabotage for me to hide behind.

Michael, you identified Sean as the potential Mole quite quickly. Was there a moment that confirmed it for you?

Michael O’Brien: It wasn’t necessarily what Sean did, but what everyone else around him did. I was all in for Sean on the second quiz, which is very exciting. I actually realized, just through the process of elimination, that it was the only one it could be. Plus the first two missions were so tiring so I figured if I went all in on him I would either go home after enjoying a holiday in Malaysia or I would end up winning it all because I figured it out .

But my own plan was to act like the Mole, even though I wasn’t the Mole. In the first few episodes you think I flew under the radar and did enough to be suspicious but not obvious. When I found out it was Sean – or I thought it was – my game changed and I knew I had to block Sean’s sabotage when I saw it. So it often seems obvious. But that’s because people saw what I did, not what Sean did. I think almost everyone except one person voted for me at least once on the quiz, and I stand by how I played because I made it to the end – and I won. No one knew what I was going to do next, and that’s how I wanted to play.

Bryan: And that actually complemented my playing because no one noticed me because it was coming up a lot. So it actually worked perfectly. He’s at the forefront of all these sabotages, and I’m doing my own sabotages behind the scenes. It was beautiful.

Do you know that one person who didn’t vote for you, Michael?

O’Brien: Yes, it was Muna. From day one, Muna and I had an alliance. An alliance in the sense that we worked together, but never shared information. Every time we got the chance, we threw sabotage and suspicion on the other. I knew that if I made it to the end, Muna would probably be right next to me. And if I lost, I was 100% okay with Muna beating me because she played such a great match.

Ever since Tony’s elimination, I started focusing on one person to eliminate so I could progress further in the game. But it was also to advance the people I was closest to, who I thought played the best game and who I could be proud of if they beat me. As if Ryan would have won this match. But I purposefully chose to be in the cave with her and do the wire mission to throw her off. I know she focused almost entirely on Sean too. But I managed to confuse her so much that she switched her answers and went home. So people may not see that I’m putting money in the pot, but that wasn’t my strategy. It was to eliminate each person and reach the end.

Sean, does it help or hinder you that someone like Michael behaves as aggressively as his own self-proclaimed Mole?

Bryan: To be honest, sometimes I thought there were two Moles, but the producers just didn’t tell me! But when those moments happened, I got a pass. I could just sit back and let them sabotage each other. They made my job so easy sometimes.

To allay suspicion, you often talked about how you were a stay-at-home dad whose wife went back to school and is now the breadwinner. How did your wife feel about being your sympathy strategy?

Bryan: Well, it’s all a fact. I definitely needed money, and I thought I could capitalize on the real events in my life. And she loves it! She is the sole breadwinner of our household; I have nothing but crazy respect for her, and I wanted her to get her due. I take care of the house, I cook and clean, and I take the kids to baseball practice. But she’s the one who screws her up every day. So yeah, all those comments about me messing around with her, that’s real life. I mentally played out what I know.

O’Brien: I have now had the opportunity to meet his wife and family, and they are absolutely proud of him.

Bryan: My family is all liars, they play “The Mole” just like we did!

Perhaps the most entertaining challenge this season was the final four museum heists, as it gets very exciting. Was that real frustration or was it all for show?

Bryan: As soon as Michael wanted to put on that armor and stand in the middle of the museum, I knew this was going to be great TV, and we weren’t going to win a dollar. This is what I wanted! From the moment this beautiful body was in this harness, I loved it.

O’Brien: I knew Sean was going to go all out, because why put the biggest guy up there? No one will be able to do that [move me] about those lasers, and I knew it was only me up there doing the sabotage. Everyone tried a little at some point, but each of us also tried to sabotage. It was so comical how bad we were. I was almost in tears laughing. The crew couldn’t look at us.

Bryan: But let’s be honest: did you get a little upset too?

O’Brien: Oh, at the very end it was real. When I threw that vase, I had already been there for an hour. I lost feeling in my legs, we didn’t get anywhere and then all three of you started arguing outright about sabotage. I was just so done with it at that moment. I threw the vase and said, “F everyone.”

Bryan: God, I love that challenge!

Sean, have you ever worried that someone else was watching you, like Michael?

Bryan: A hundred percent. I knew Ryan was onto me for a moment. I could just tell by her body language. She was very quiet with me, but always wanted to work with me. I purposefully avoid her in many missions to keep her at bay.

On the other hand, Michael, did you ever doubt that Sean was the Mole?

O’Brien: Sometimes I thought I was the Mole! But you know, in my daily life I doubt myself. It’s a big problem of mine. So I went into this game saying I was going with my gut feeling, and I wasn’t going to act on it. When I went all in on Sean, I never really changed it because I knew I had to commit to it right or wrong. As soon as I think about someone else, I start to doubt myself. I lived or died with Sean as the Mole. I didn’t let anyone else get into my head or I would have done what Deanna or Ryan did. They second guessed and spread their quiz answers too far among multiple people.

Sure, being the Mole is fun and all. But was there ever a time when you were jealous of the players who didn’t have to do the dirty work, Sean?

Bryan: Yeah, because I was the only one who tried to break up the team. That’s not my natural role in life. I enjoy coaching and leading. Not to the extent that Neesh [Riaz] likes to be the leader. But yeah, it was tough. They built this team, and I was just pretending. I wanted to be part of the team!

It seems like there is no animosity between the two of you now, despite all the cheating.

O’Brien: Oh no, he’s stuck with me for life now. I told him that. At the end he told me that he really liked me, even though we sometimes argued with each other. And I said, “Good, because you can’t get rid of me now, Sean.”

This interview has been edited and condensed.