There WILL be spoilers
Thoughts on a Non-Celebrity Season
I’m not gonna lie, I very much prefer The Traitors when it’s a celebrity season. I like seeing how people from different environments and shows will play this game, but I’m really not mad at this being a season of civilians. In some ways it is refreshing to not have background knowledge or perceptions about the people playing the game. Also, no, I don’t think it’s a big deal a lot of them are influencers.
I think this season genuinely casted people who know the basics of and who love the game, and that’s not always true for the celebrities that come on to play. I personally don’t care about people’s reasons to want to win the money. Like, hello. It’s 2026, that man is president, the economy is not great, of course people need money. I know it’s also a way to learn what’s important to the contestants, but still.
It’s interesting they added in a bonus of there being an extra $15,000 added to pot for the number of traitors discovered. It’s a worthwhile incentive to stray people away from cozying up with a traitor and keeping them around so they can banish them in the end. It adds another layer of strategy, because now you have to decide if and when it’s a good time to add that money to the pot. Do it too early, and you might not be safe down the line when it matters, meaning you don’t even see the money. Do it too late, and you might not have the numbers to get your target out.
I think this group of people is ready to play and play hard. I mean, we got people going straight for a shield on the first challenge, so I think people here will be playing hard, and others will be forced to play hard to keep up with the rest of them.
Thoughts on the Strategies Played (So far)
I don’t think everyone who wants to play the game has to want to be a traitor. Regardless of if you’re a traitor or a faithful, your position in the game is risky. It’s arguable that being a traitor gives you more control over your fight, but that’s only true for so long and only true if you’re really good at deceiving people. I think wanting to be a faithful and standing firm in that when talking to Alan is a strategy in itself because why bite off more than you can chew?
Now, when it comes to being the first one to go for a shield in the first challenge…that’s not the best strategy...looking at you Victor. Obviously, it’s important to secure your safety, but in the early days, a move like that means eyes are on you. Whether you’re actually a traitor or not doesn’t even matter because people got to go, and now you’re looking selfish. Any big move like that automatically sets you up to be a target, especially before you even put in the work to help secure money for the pot. It tells people you’re self-interested and because of that, they can’t trust you. Later in the game, after you build some rapport, you can probably talk yourself out of trouble for that type of move, but no one knows you yet and now people think you’re being shady. Victor proudly talking about going for the shield, just shows he lacks some self-awareness and Tomica planting seeds and engaging with him in that conversation, leaving the remark about how people would be talking about him if they didn’t win the challenge, is the type of gameplay I like to see.
In episode 2, we see how that move hurt him, because now people are trying to get him out for sweating too much and being in a duo, where one person is believed to be a traitor.
Another strategy we heard already in play is Mark saying his strategy is to do well in challenges so people will keep him around to put money in the pot. We’ve seen this strategy before, and it can work well and get you far, because the only way to win money in the end is to add money to the pot, it just only takes you so far, in my opinion.
Another strategy we got was a contestant changing their occupation, which led us to our first elimination, but more on that later. I think your occupation can matter this early in the game, because there is nothing to go off of, it just didn’t work this time. There are other things that are more important than someone’s occupation in this game though and sometimes changing it is an unnecessary decision.
Thoughts on the Traitor Selections
In the first episode, we got two traitors selected Tomica, a pilot, and Joe, a funeral director.
Because I don’t know them from anything, it’s hard to know what to expect. At first, I thought Joe was going to be talking too much, and maybe he will be, but I think it also helps him come across as approachable and unassuming, which can help him blend in. So far, Tomica seems to be approachable too, but in a way that’s cool, calm, and collected, which can also help with her social game.
I think the fact they were both surprised and happy to see the other in the turret is a testament to how well they’ve both done so far, but it’s so early in the game anything can happen.
Throwing the twist about them choosing two accomplices, where one will be eliminated and the other will become an official traitor was a great way to see how they’ll navigate conflict and if they’ll remain loyal to each and yes, it’s been done in other countries. Joe and Tomica are in agreement about wanting to maintain control in the turret and it seems like they’re both big on loyalty, but time will tell.
They chose Xavier and Katie, and again, at this point, I’m just along for the ride since I don’t have too much to go off of yet.
First Murrrder
Kim was the first player to be murdered.
She changed her occupation from a lawyer to a women’s basketball coach, and she’s getting roasted for it, because she chose one occupation where you need to have influence and use strategy for another occupation that requires you to have influence and use strategy. Like, girl!
I get her thought process, because there’s literally nothing to go off of this early in the game and so your occupation does play a factor into your first impression, but I think what carries the most weight is how you present yourself. If you come off as too charismatic or too much of a leader, if you come off too smart or present like you’re going to be a really good faithful, smart traitors will get you out as soon as they can. While the traitors mention Kim’s occupation as a factor in why they chose Kim, they also mentioned that they felt like she had too much influence and she can sway a roundtable. Some of the faithful themselves said they would follow her lead in a roundtable, they wouldn’t challenge her, so I think the traitors made a good choice.
It’s a little disappointing for me, because Kim was one of the faithfuls I was looking forward to watching. I’m always rooting for the Black people, but I do think they made a good choice just because of the impression Kim left on people in that short of a timeframe.
Katie & Xavier
Joe said they chose Katie because he believed Katie would bring information from the younger generation and Tomica said they chose Xavier because he thinks ahead, “and he’s easy on the eye.” Girlll, this is not the game for that!
Xavier has the strategy of just completely throwing Katie under the bus, which is risky. I think coming forward with a target this early no matter if you’re a traitor or a faithful is risky, because the smallest thing can make the plan backfire, like throwing a potential traitor under the bus to an actual traitor. ‘Cause like Tomica said, “Do I want a traitorous traitor in the game who will turn on me?”
Kristie spoke first, so Xavier didn’t get to go full force with his plan at the roundtable, so who knows how that would’ve gone. It might’ve been for the best.
First Banishment
Kristie, Kristie, Kristie…our first victim this season of mishearing what someone said, running with it like it’s a fact, and then being completely loud and wrong about it.
What also gets me about Kristie is that she was so sure she was playing the game based on fact, when as an outsider, it was clear she was playing off of emotion. I genuinely believe Kristie thought Madeline said that, but I need us to be serious…do we really think a traitor would accidentally out themselves this early in the game? If a traitor were to do that, they were not vetted properly and shouldn’t have been a traitor in the first place.
Victor ate with that “You’re not a good hearer!” line and Kristie tries to say, “Well…if Madeline just…” when it’s like no…you messed up Kristie. You scapegoated her and made it impossible for her to defend herself, especially when you presented what you thought to be true as a fact.
Kristie isn’t the only person in traitor history who has done this, but it never gets old watching in real time someone realize they messed up. It also just proves how easy it is for people to be stuck in their bubble, looking for confirmation bias. It shows your perception isn’t always reality. And it goes to show how important it is not to be a target or do anything that makes you a target, because once that target is on you for any reason, it’s really hard to get it off of you, even when you objectively did nothing wrong.
I said it last year, but even the faithfuls, in some ways, play a traitorous game because every year they find the most ridiculous reasons as to why someone has to be a traitor, all so that they can keep the target off of themselves.
While, I do think sometimes, conversations about race regarding this show can be unfounded, though implicit biases always play a role when it comes to first impressions, I do think that Kristie and Victor both confidently making the moves they did this early in the game was something a Black person who isn’t a celebrity wouldn’t have the audacity to do this early in the game, but I digress.
New Celebrity Traitors Cast
I was so excited to see the celebrity Traitors USA season cast announced this soon! I heard it was going to be leaked, so they decided to drop the cast list, but I don’t know if that’s true.
What I do know, is that this cast is STACKED and it exceeded my expectations. I think they have a great mix of people and personalities and I’m happy to see so many familiar favorites, even if I’m not the biggest fan of them on their shows.
I will be rooting for Taylor Hale, first and foremost, as well as Cynthia, and Jana, and others. I just can’t sit through another Jag win. I can’t do it!
What do you think?