By Danielle Danaher, Final Year French and Spanish
This year’s season of The Traitors had a lot to live up to after the finale of season 2 saw Harry, a series-long traitor, commit one of the most gut-wrenching acts of treachery in gameshow history (even worse than that infamous episode of Golden Balls). If the last season has taught this year’s contestants anything, it’s that you simply cannot trust anybody. This chilling truth created a group of players who were somewhat lacking in camaraderie, with suspicions and paranoia eventually severing any remaining bonds between allies and friends. It’s the kind of show that reveals the worst qualities of human nature, which makes for undeniably superb television.
Season 3 had all the tropes of a classic series of The Traitors: more pointless missions (though admittedly ramped up for dramatic effect), more servings of camp-gothic realness from Claudia Winkleman, and more butchered spellings of names on chalkboards. However, it did run the risk of becoming a little bit repetitive. Despite a few added twists, like three contestants being immediately kicked off the train and off the show in episode 1, it did lack some of the jaw-dropping revelations that made the previous season so memorable—namely, Diane’s iconic delivery of “Paul just couldn’t be my son… but Ross is!” Some viewers even speculated that Frankie and Freddie might also be mother and son, but that might have been too on the nose.
Among the show’s viral moments, 70-year-old opera singer Linda is largely responsible. From turning her head during the first round-table when Claudia said ‘Traitors’, to acting performances so bad they gave Curtis and AJ Pritchard’s Hollyoaks cameo a run for their money. Charlotte’s fake Welsh accent, which she hoped would make her more trustworthy, also deserves an honourable mention, since actual Welsh-born Elen was ruthlessly banished in episode 2.
One thing that never fails to amuse me is the faithfuls’ tendency to cling to any minorly evil-sounding phrase or misstep, rather than concrete evidence like Linda’s head turn, in their desperate bid to catch a traitor. Kas happened to be one of the contestants that fell victim to this tactic, as Joe fixated on a glint in his eye, and Jake ran with the narrative of him being a doctor by day, murderer by night. This provided the opportunity for a beautiful exit by Kas, who taunted them with the idea that they were right all along before revealing his true faithful status, and consequently, their stupidity.
The penultimate episode proved to be arguably more entertaining and intense than the finale thanks to the introduction of the all-new ‘Seer’ role who had the ability to reveal the true identity of one other player. When Frankie was awarded this privilege she chose Charlotte, the only remaining traitor, turning the whole game on its head with a cliffhanger that literally left me screaming on my sofa. While Charlotte did put up a good fight to feign her faithfulness, and lost her dignity in the process, there was no coming back from this information. She immediately lost her trustworthiness despite pouring what must have been copious amounts of energy into that Welsh accent. This revelation of the final traitor within the first few minutes of the last episode resulted in a slightly anticlimactic resolution that left viewers feeling a bit deflated.
Nonetheless, a new rule that forbade the finalists from revealing their true identities when banished ensured the drama continued to unfold among the faithfuls. Sadly, Frankie and Alexander were denied the money before the night was up, with Leanne and Jake doubling their winnings (because they might as well). One of the potentially unfair flaws of the programme is that those faithfuls who show any trace of intellect are quickly murdered or banished as the series goes on, leaving those without a clue one step closer to the prize pot (cue Leanne being dumbfounded she was still there at every roundtable).
Overall, however, this series of The Traitors provided endless delight and was exactly what the British public needed to justify our hibernation during those bleak January nights. Despite the fact that it follows the same format every year, one thing is for certain: I will be sat and ready for Season 4—I need this show injected into my veins.
What did you think of season three?
