As the sun shines across the Scottish countryside, a row of cars ascended to the grand castle. As the contestants enter the castle the bright mood shifts in anticipation to malicious backstabbing. The Traitors is a reality TV show where contestants compete to win a cash prize as either a faithful or a traitor. The game starts with the host Alan Cumming picking out the traitors on the first day, having up to 4 traitors at a time. Each night the traitors choose whom to murder in the group. As a viewer, we know who the traitors are, but the rest of the group, the faithful, do not. The faithful must work together to determine who the traitors are through, from body language to words said. At the end of each day, the contestants nominate who they think the traitor is at the round table.
Throughout the three seasons, the traitors have used many different strategies, like staying quiet, or being more outgoing. Each traitor’s strategy is greatly affected by their personality at the beginning of the game and how they come across.
In The Traitors, the majority of the contestants had past reality show experience. The traitors selected for season one were Cody Calafiore, Christian de la Torre, and Cirie Fields. Fields used the strategy by being on the silent side but becoming good friends with the key faithful. This worked to her advantage, winning the cash prize and becoming the first winner of The Traitors. Fields staging, “When, I won finally, the other two people there with me were so hurt and upset. So, I really couldn’t enjoy the win while watching them be devastated.” (E News)
Coming into season two, contestants on the show had more background knowledge of the game. The traitors had to be more aware and come up with new strategies to stay in the game. At the beginning of the season, host Cummings picked: Phaedra Parks, Dan Gheesling, and Parvati Shallow.
Moving on to the finale, was traitor Kate Chastain, faithfuls Mercedes Javid, Chris Taburello, and Trishelle Cannatella. Cannatella and Taburello ended up winning together and split up the winnings. Cannatella and Taburello’s deep trust created a major controversy because they voted out Javid; knowing that she was most likely a faithful, allowing them to take the money for themselves. With Javid saying, “Trishelle, I harbor no ill will because she’s a woman, and she wanted to end the game with me,” MJ reveals. “I just wanted to end it in the Faithful way, and we were three Faithfuls, and that is why I have no regrets for ending it the way a Faithful should.” (Entertainment Weekly)
Season three was completely different from the previous seasons. Many of the contestants were from the show Survivor, creating a unique dynamic between the contestants.
The traitors chosen were Bob the Drag Queen, Carolyn Wagner, and Danielle Reyes. Two episodes later, Boston Rob, a Survivor veteran and winner, was brought in to be a traitor.
Reyes and Wagner feared Rob because of his strategic moves and backstabbing done on Survivor. The tension was at an all-time high for the first time in the show’s history. That night, the traitors met at the turret above the castle to discuss who to murder. The traitors decided to murder Derrick Levasseur. This set a target on Rob’s back, specifically being targeted by Wes Bergmann; Derrick’s good friend from the game.
After that night, Reyes and Wagner were left butting heads about everything. Reyes had put Wagner’s name out there which reached some people in the castle. Reyes also trapped Wagner persuading her to pick herself for the prompt that stated the one who isn’t heard during a Chess game on Episode five.
The end of the episode ends with a cliffhanger where Cummings does not disclose the winner. It becomes apparent to every contestant that anybody could be going home. Both Danielle and Iver received equal votes, and Britney decided to vote for Danielle; going with the majority. The camera slides over to Reyes looking distraught saying to Britney one word “Wow.”
“I said I was going to come in this game and play for my family by any means necessary, and of course, I’m definitely a Traitor,” Reyes said in her exit speech, she admitted, “I feel stupid because I didn’t think Britney would be the nail in my coffin… I should have killed her!” (Variety)
Heading into the finale was Gabby Windey, Dylan Efron, Dolores Catania and Lord Ivar Mountbatten. Going into the last segment recalling the episode, “The Day of Reckoning is Upon Us” has all the remaining contestants pick either to end the game or continue the game to banishment. Catania eventually had to choose and picked green, ending the game all together. Host Cummings has each contestant read out lowed what they were the whole time. Each contestant had decided on her being faithful, having all the contestants share the over 200,000-dollar prize.
First, Ivar throws his bag into the fire, and it turns green (meaning to end the game), Windey picked green, Efron throws green, and last to go is Catania. The moment became suspenseful due to Catania having suspicions of Efron.
Some viewers enjoyed the ending due to the new friendships, but others thought it should have gone down to one contestant to win the grand prize. Overall, this season had so many twists and turns, but the most faithful in the history of the show won, earning them the prize money as well as the title of “The Traitors” winners.
