The Traitors #9 - 'why am I still here?'

[witchycat2]

Just two episodes to go until we find out who will be victorious - the traitors or the faithfuls.

Will Alexander save the faithfuls?

Will Charlotte lead Freddie like a lamb to the slaughter?

Who will feel Leanne's wrath tonight?

Will Frankie cry at the banishment?

Not long until we find out!

She's very Regina George

I wanted to reply to @TankTankTank's question on the previous thread:

I wonder if they have mental health coaches behind the scenes.

The credits list a clinical psychologist and a psychotherapist. My guess would be that the clinical psychologist was involved in candidate selection and the psychotherapist will be on site. (The two jobs often overlap in real life, since "psychotherapist" is not a protected title in the UK.) I imagine that "It's only a game" features quite heavily in the discussions. The producers of all reality shows have had to be careful since some terrible incidents during and after filming.

The nice thing about The Traitors for me is that most of the players seem to have been chosen for something other than their potential to create conflict due to narcissism, which seems to be the principal requirement for being a participant on some other shows. Obviously you won't get many extreme introverts putting themselves forward for any show of this kind, but most of this bunch seem reasonably emotionally stable.

Leanne should not win by being a bully and by virtue of the others being frightened of her. She’s had no strategy and has not come across as particularly astute.

I hope they've gone for someone else otherwise Freddie will definitely manage to cast a doubt on Charlotte before leaving so then the faithfuls will win and I don't really like any of them (apart from Alexander)

I would prefer Charlotte and Freddie to jointly win

It’s the first series I’ve ever watched and I’m loving it! Charlotte works in the same building as DH ( not his team).
I did see a funny TikTok re them all saying “yourself” instead of “you”.
I don’t think Freddie is any match for Charlotte (he just looks baffled). Can’t wait for tonight.

I really like Alexander but not sure if he will stay in much longer.

Although I don't think Freddie is savvy enough to take on Charlotte in a game of strategy.
I suspect they will attempt to kill leanne tonight-pointing the finger at Freddie and Alexander.

I sort of want Charlotte to win because she has played a blinder.

There was so much in that stare, betrayal, bewilderment, sadness and maybe even a grudging admiration.

I bet Alexander would be good at Strictly 😉

I think he should try Survivor. He would do well with his team spirit and smarts.

I agree. A big part of the enjoyment is being able to discuss it on here and with other people at work, etc. It is how all TV used to be of course, when we had to wait to watch things!

I'm not one of his admirers but I thought he was so cute when Minah announced she was a traitor, and he just exclaimed "I was so, so worried!" - bless him!

And he was genuinely mortified at missing the 'H' off her name 😂

I've watched back and the crazed smile Charlotte has when she suggests murdering Leanne is actually quite scary. She looks almost unhinged!

It's interesting that Leanne hasn't really shown much fitness and strength given her job (well I assume she would have). I know she was carrying those statues alone at one point, but I would've expected someone to comment on how fit she was during the challenges.

I haven't had time to read the whole thread but I think Freddie may win by accident. He was the one who spotted Minah yesterday and any idiot could see he wasn't doing it as a malicious traitor on traitor ousting. So actually of anyone, right now he look the MOST faithful of all of them. They likely won't even contemplate that a recruitment may have happened (unless Claudia tells them) so of everyone he should be safest. Alexander may go tonight because they're all so caught up in themselves that they haven't really got to grips with what happened at the card game and the fact that only a very stupid traitor would have put themselves forward for it. Again, Alexander looks and acts very faithful. He questions everything (which is something traitors don't do- they do a Charlotte/Minah and avoid answering questions).

But that is the game. Minah and Linda tried to do exactly the same with Anna.
I don't understand the Charlotte hate. Minah voted against Armani and Linda and enjoyed killing people too but everyone loved her.
The nature of the game is that everyone plays for themselves.

I think some former participant (can't remember who) also said there was one support person per two contestants -- I think that person referenced 'getting us snacks or water if we needed them', but I imagine they're also just keeping an eye on their welfare in general. Maybe ask them if they want some time out to talk to the therapist or something if they're visibly agitated or freaking out.

Which I suppose has to be carefully managed too, as you can't have people at the round table saying 'Oh, Freddie kept going to his support person in floods all morning and disappearing to see the shrink, so it's obvious he got recruited last night and is having a breakdown!' But I wonder if observing how much support people need at a given point may feed into suspicions in a way that simply doesn't show up on screen, unless it's handled in a concealed way.

I do think it must be very odd towards the end of the game for only Alexander, Francesca, Leanne and Jake to not know who the traitors are, out of the couple of hundred people on set! I know Claudia said somewhere she was petrified of identifying the traitors by inadvertently glancing at them at the round table, so she circulates looking carefully above everyone's heads, but you can imagine everyone on set, whether they're the psychotherapist or the camera crew, having to be continually on their guard about not accidentally giving the game away!

The only person who really seems to have noticed that was Fozia during the 'cage' task, and I think it was more her focus and determination she noticed, rather than her fitness. Maybe she's been very carefully under-performing. I certainly thought that she'd betray herself in the statues task by spring up the hill with two on her head, but certainly the edit didn't make her look as if she was completely out of everyone else's league, even though she was obvious fit and strong.

I know exactly how it's going to end if Leanne was murdered last night.
Her and Jake will be the last two.
They are both so obviously faithful (if Leanne is murdered) that they'd be crazy to leave anyone else in. Doesn't matter who goes tonight (although better for those two if it's a faithful) because they'll just keep eliminating in the final until only those two left.
I think Charlotte was stupid to make Leanne such an obvious faithful as when people trust Leanne she'll be the only one you want to be in the final two with.

Why poor Minah though, I am sure she would have don't exactly the same. Didn't Minah start the chat against Armani and she voted both Armani and Linda out. Charlotte understandably didn't trust her
They are both good players.

I’m another one who’s not keen on Charlotte and still willing Alexander to win, somehow!

I think it’s the fact that Minah voted for the other traitors as she really didn’t have any choice. She probably would have preferred them to stay in.

The minute Charlotte became a traitor she decided to take down Minah and started suggesting her name. She was instrumental in Minah leaving. I don’t think Minah was instrumental in the others leaving. But the fact is - that makes Charlotte a better, more ruthless player. I still don’t want her to win though.

I do think it must be very odd towards the end of the game for only Alexander, Francesca, Leanne and Jake to not know who the traitors are, out of the couple of hundred people on set!

I was initially surprised to learn that apparently everyone on set knows who the traitors are. But thinking about it, it makes sense. Some people need to know (e.g., whoever films and drives the traitors at night), so the producers may have decided that everyone should know, to avoid creating a split in the production team. This way they only have to keep the secret from the players rather than each other.

I also assume that there is a "No romance or you're out" rule for the players. In fact I think they all do an amazing job of keeping the production together. When Minah saw Charlotte's vote last night, it must have been so tempting to say something or display a look that made it clear Charlotte was the a traitor.

What happens if there is a tie in the banishment vote? This is my first season and I haven't seen any ties yet, but I presume they can happen.

I’m sometimes worried I hate Leanne because I envy her figure and hair but then she starts with the “I’m fuming 😤” stuff and I’m like nope. Not jealousy, she really is that irritating.