If you had been Stephen.... (Traitors spoilers)

[Allswellthatendswelll]

It's a Traitors one sorry! I know this has probably been discussed elsewhere.

Would you have taken all the money when you had the chance at the end (by voting with Jack to banish Rachel)? A few people have told me they would have and I'm now looking at them in a different way (lightheartedly)!

I wouldn't have but part of it is I would never have been able to face Rachel or Jack afterwards and that wouldn't be worth 50k to me.

YABU- He should have taken the money, 50k is alot and its a game about lying.

YANBU- No he made a promise. It was good he kept his integrity.

Also, there is a lot in the editing. We are discussing Stephen because he was shown last. He was last to declare (due to editing) on the last three votes.
We would be having a different discussion if they had revealed Rachel's slate last.

No because Jack was always going to vote for Rachel. In those final three, Jack was guaranteed to get nothing, Stephen was guaranteed to get something, and it was up to Stephen whether Rachel got anything - either vote with Jack, or don’t.

I don’t think they edit the order the the slates are revealed, I think production check the slates and choose the order based on that.

I think it would have probably stopped me, especially as it's on national tv!

In the end Stephen is a traitor so Jack was never going to get that money at the end (and didn't deserve it really!) because of the rules of the game. But I would have felt it was bad karma to then steal 50k off someone else who could have won it with me. I much preferred this ending to season 2! I think if it was just Stephen at the end it would have left a bitter taste in the mouth.

Well I wouldn't go on a reality tv show for love nor money! But the title was "If you had been Stephen"

He seems to have a very strong personal brand and I think he will go far! Being seen as nice (and I am sure he actually is nice) by the general public is crucial to that.

Being a Traitor requires you to decieve the Faithful, but there's no requirement to throw your fellow Traitors under the bus. That's a choice, not as some are claiming "the point of the game". In previous series Traitors have chosen to play as individuals but it was interesting watching Rachel and Stephen approach the game a bit differently.
Ultimately, I think Stephen's decision to keep his promise was partly in recognition of the fact that he most likely wouldn't have survived that long without Rachel. She had his back when he was vulnerable due to the thing with Ross in the Library, and the thing with the cages. They both needed each other at different points in the game. Maybe he also didn't want to deal with the social media hate that would inevitably come from turning on Rachel and letting Jack think he'd won the game with a fellow Faithful!

I would have acted like Stephen. I’m glad he stuck to his promise. I think I wouldn’t have lived with myself especially given Rachel’s story of wanting to help her sick mother. Stephen seemed to have a good job and didn’t seem desperate for the cash. Also I think the public perception of Stephen would have gone down.

I loved that they both kept to their promise to NOT stab each other in the back.
I like to think that's how the majority of people would act...but somehow I doubt it.

I like to think I'd have had the sense to stiff Rachel and take the winnings for myself. That said, I don't know how much I'd be tied to the strategy played throughout the game and sort of conditioned towards the sense/ fairness in sharing. I don't think she really helped keep him in the game but I did feel she meant it that she wouldn't write his name down. He could have got rid of her much sooner if he'd been more ruthless.

I absolutely think Rachel would have sold Stephen down the river if she'd been in the same position.

It was a good bit of tension to the final. We knew he'd won but was he going to win alone or share.

I wish him all the best. I hope that choosing to opt for a caring sharing "faithful traitor" persona he will get more future TV appearances. Harry (season 2 winner) and Wilf (?) (who didn't even win season 1 right?) Have been characterised as villans. Molly as a gullible victim.

Rachel and Stephen have come out with reputations intact as having integrity.

I could see him as a future light entertainment fashion guru / makeover King.

I would have shared it I think. As I would feel bad, and also you have to take care of your public reputation.

If he took all the money, he would not look good. The traitors has a large audience.

I hated seeing Jade get so upset. She really was a pawn in someone else's game. I never thought she stood a chance of getting to the end and winning.

Jack was only there because he was so nondescript. At least faraaz had some smarts. I'd have enjoyed it if faraaz and Jack had stuck to a strategy and won against the traitors.

I was saying that they absolutely must do, every single time the final vote is the decider - that’s not by chance.

I thought Stephen would do what he did as I’m pretty sure he talked about being brought up religious - lying to the faithful as part of the game is one thing but outright betraying your friend that you’ve made a promise to… I just thought something deep down would be like “no pal you’d be off to hell for this”. 😆

I can still remember Molly that was brutal.

I honestly don't know what I would do. I would like all the money, but my guilty conscience might kick in.

I don’t think they edit the order the the slates are revealed, I think production check the slates and choose the order based on that.
Sorry, that's what I meant. The producers organise who is the last to reveal at the time, not edit it afterwards.

No I think that the producers edit it/

Me neither.

I would have done the same as him.

For pp saying he could have taken all the money and wouldn’t have had to see the others again that’s not true.

They get invited to various media appearances and opportunities along with other contestants, and it’s probably written into their contract to attend these. So yeah he would have had to face Rachel.

And even it’s not obligatory it will surely be a benefit of them to attend to help continue to grow their fanbase/maximimse future opportunities.

Secondly, Stephen will have had his own conscience to contend with and the mirror to look into at the end of this - which is probably what swayed him the most.

I get it’s a game that involves lying and he lied all along, since he is a traitor but doing it this way showed integrity within the boundaries of the game.

By the game natures of course no-one especially traitors can be completely honest, but his decision did show some loyalty among thieves so to speak and teamwork!

It will benefit his public profile in the longterm and may lead to opportunities where he gets more than the 50K he “lost”

I didn’t think Jack deserved it anyway, he seems a popular guy but not sure if he actually played the game that well. I think Stephen and Rachel played a smart game, So I was pleased at the result.

They don't need to edit it if they choose the correct order at the time. They can see over the contestants' shoulders and know what is on the slates. They then choose the order of revealing and feed that instruction to Claudia, via a earphone hidden under her carefully tousled hair.

I would have voted Rachel and taken all the money, mainly because I would’ve been worried she was going to double cross me and had set Jack up to vote for me, but I’m glad he didn’t, he’ll probably make more than £40k in TV appearances anyway.

I really hope that I would have made the same decision as Stephen. It was a huge amount of money so it would have been tempting to keep it all but I think of myself as a person of integrity. If I did vote off Rachel, I would feel very ashamed of myself and wouldn't be able to look my friends and family in the face.

Lying to a faithful that you're also a faithful is fair enough, that's what's expected in the game. But shafting your team mate when you've had a pact not to write each other's names and you've supported each other and had each other's backs throughout the game is completely different.

He’s going to probably get other £ opportunities now for being the ‘good’ guy so, financially, this decision might work out better for him.

I suspect he’ll make more money out of having honoured the agreement in the long term as he’s more marketable this way.

Apart from anything else, it did say that his day job was cyber security. His employer must have been looking on with interest!

When Stephen said it wasn't worth it to take all the money himself, I did wonder whether he meant in terms of guilt or in terms of reputation.

Would you give up £50k for the majority of the British public to see you as a nice guy especially if you're aim is to use the show as a springboard as a media personality? I know I would.

He can afford to pay £858 on a single outfit for the show.

He could afford to take the hit and not be then cast in the media as the biggest two faced liar in the country.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9y1747z3go

He did the right thing for him.

People in more desperate circumstances may have done differently and depending on the circumstances that may or may not be reasonable.