The Traitors Sees Two Major Alliances Break Down Over Epic Betrayals
Who ignited the fires within two alliance blocks?
This story contains spoilers for The Traitors Season 3, Episode 5
Only five episodes into Season 3 of The Traitors and the back-stabbing is already at full force!
Some will blame Boston Rob Mariano for making such a bold move against his fellow Traitor Bob the Drag Queen during the Elimination Round Table in Episode 4. The chaos that ensued in the wake of that ousting had everyone questioning their alliances, be they Faithful or Traitor.
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In particular, this week's episode was all about the fallout from Rob's move among the disgruntled Traitors in the turret and among the self-titled "Bambi" alliance of Chrishell Stause, Gabby Windey, and former professional wrestler and Bella Twin Nikki Garcia. Be it the sting of being blindsided, or the distrust of "friends," but there was a lot of messy gameplay in Episode 5 that seemed to stem from emotions rather than the best strategy.
Here's a breakdown of how things fell apart across two alliance blocks.
What happened with the Bambis?
Confirmation bias, anyone?
Once Jeremy Collins, Ciara Miller, and Nikki were put in the coffins by the Traitors in Episode 4, and it was theorized by the rest of the players that at least one of them could actually be a Traitor, the trio was doomed.
Jeremy was murdered, and the rest of the players were then split between thinking either Ciara or Nikki was a secret Traitor. Nikki and Gabby were actually pretty astute about rumblings pointed in their direction, while Ciara was desperate to get a shield in the challenge because she knew she was also on a lot of radars.
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But the clincher that sealed Nikki's fate was — to everyone's shock — Chrishell, who rode back in the same car with Nikki and read the former wrestler's large reaction at having her name come up as a Traitor as proof that she was, in fact, a Traitor. She then went to Rob to get his advice on what to do, and the theory ignited around various players.
At the Elimination Round Table, Lord Ivar Mountbatten immediately pointed at Nikki and Ciara as potential Traitors, with Chrishell offering her tearful support. In fact, it was her input that seemed to secure the majority voting against Nikki, including the other betrayal vote from Gabby.
In the end, the Bambis did Nikki dirty with their herd mentality going gonzo, especially when there was blatantly more suspicious behavior happening right under all their noses from Rob and Danielle.
Danielle aims to oust fellow Traitors Carolyn and Boston Rob
Usually, the Traitors play it cool with one another for a lot longer, as evidenced in seasons past. But Rob's notoriety coming into The Traitors combined with Bob the Drag Queen implying the newest additions to the game were likely Traitors made him play bold. In the aftermath of Bob the Drag Queen's banishment, fellow Traitors Danielle Reyes and Carolyn Wiger were livid that Rob made that kind of major play behind their backs.
Out vengeance, Danielle then spiraled into an episode's worth of messy gaming. Instead of laying low and coming after Rob in secret, as promised, she went into the challenge making herself a target by giving two shield opportunities to a bewildered Dolores Catania and Derrick Levasseur. At the same time, she also made a decision to not trust Carolyn because of her eccentric game behavior.
The end result was Danielle trying to put together an alliance of players who would help her blindside and banish Carolyn out of the game. And that was based on her confident assumption that producers would be adding a new Traitor in the wake of Bob the Drag Queen's exit — and that she would be able to sway that new Traitor's decisions in her favor.
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Meanwhile, Rob and Carolyn were separately working to stay off player radars to ensure a peaceful Elimination Round Table for their own games. Still wary of one another, the two didn't connect to form a plan against Danielle. However, now all bets are off because Dylan Efron shared with Carolyn that Danielle was floating her name as a possible Traitor. Are we about to see Carolyn get into the game more forcefully? Could Danielle's back-channel aspersions incite an unholy alliance between former Survivors Rob and Carolyn against her? Crazier things have happened.
New episodes of The Traitors Season 3 premiere on Peacock on Thursdays at 9/8c, with the season finale and reunion premiering on March 6.
All episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream right now on Peacock.
