The Traitors U.K.—or just The Traitors over here—was a smash hit for the BBC when the first season debuted in 2022. Since then, it’s just become better and better. (Who else remembers the country’s collective gasp at the words “But Ross is” in season 2?) Season 3 has been a masterpiece of lies, backstabbing, great outfits, and gleeful fake murder from the moment it started, and I’m going to miss it so, so much. It has singlehandedly redeemed a difficult January.
Major spoilers ahead for The Traitors U.K. season 3.
This season gave us two of the best Traitors to ever play the game in Minah and Charlotte. Frankly, for most of the show, I was rooting for Minah to win. She seemed like the perfect Traitor, breezing through the game with barely any suspicion falling on her—but alas, she had one fatal flaw. She was simply too trusting of Charlotte, the Traitor she had recruited and formed a sisterhood of sorts with.
Minah never believed in a million years that Charlotte would stab her in the back, but stab her in the back she did. Charlotte delivered the fatal blow to Minah in the form of a deciding banishment vote, and that was that. Charlotte received some fan backlash because Minah was a favorite of many, but even her detractors had to admit she’d played the game incredibly well. Even the Welsh accent she faked, seemingly a pointless thing to do, worked out well for her!
After Minah exited, Charlotte recruited Freddie, a sweet summer child who made a terrible Traitor and was voted out almost immediately. That left Charlotte, former British diplomat and all-around dreamboat Alexander, interior designer Frankie, project manager Jake, and ex-soldier Leanne. Leanne was decidedly not a fan favorite going into the finale, as people found her mean-girl attitude very grating. Alexander on the other hand was everyone’s baby girl.
In the penultimate episode, Frankie was granted a brand new game mechanic and became a Seer, the one person allowed to know for certain if a person was a Traitor or a Faithful. Unfortunately, that proved to be her undoing. She picked Charlotte to learn the identity of, not knowing Charlotte was the last Traitor left, and Charlotte straight away lied about the encounter to make it look like Frankie was the traitorous one. A bold play (Charlotte got so manipulative at this point that it turned a good few viewers against her) but it didn’t work out. Charlotte was voted out of the game, and her fake Welsh accent was no more.
That left the fab four of Alexander, Leanne, Frankie, and Jake. I was rooting for Alexander to win, as were all the members of his rapidly expanding fan club, but sadly I did not get my wish. Alexander was magnanimous about being unfairly voted out while I (internally) screamed at the screen. Frankie was banished after that because Leanne and Jake were too paranoid. Result: Leanne and Jake went home with everything.
Opinion is currently a bit divided as to the finale. Leanne was one of the most disliked contestants, and many people resent that she won. Others didn’t like the Seer mechanic being introduced in the first place, claiming Charlotte would easily have won without it. But I personally think the season was a blast from start to finish. I loved it all. Charlotte’s backstab, Freddie’s panicked Minah lie, Frankie’s gorgeous red dress, everything that came out of Claudia Winkleman’s mouth? All ICONIC. Best game show on TV!
Published: Jan 25, 2025 07:45 am