I think they are treating the mole a little differently this time. For one, I'm pretty sure they are treating it as if Jack is the audience.
Jack: There's a mole, we have to find it
Fembauer: No, there isn't.
Jack: Well, here's your proof, bitch. Trust me, I've been through six seasons of moles.
Fembauer: Oh.
Second of all, the plot looks much more structured this season. Again, its the first four episodes of the season, but I have this feeling that something in these first two episodes may show up again in the end and completely shock the fuck out of the audience.
It's no surprise that people don't like these first episodes on GAF/EB. I believe that some people just want to fucking hate shit without giving it a chance. There's at least three satisfied customers in this thread.
And honestly, moles are 24 trademarks. Did you seriously think they were going away? At least they are giving us the moles in the first two fucking hours rather than later in the season. This logically means that they are probably going to go away from moles later in the season and not concentrate on the plot device.
My only real complaint is that Tony got captured WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too early. However, since he "died" because of an overdose of the torture drug, it's going to make the interrogation really interesting.