The Traitors is magic precisely because of its relatability. It holds a mirror up to us all, letting us imagine the sweaty, shivering messes that we would all be if forced to lie to our new best mates, repeatedly, on national television. And the BBC mega-hit, which has become one of our most-watched and adored pieces of appointment viewing since it launched in 2022, always features a cast of people who feel like a genuine cross-section of the population. Unlike the glut of polished, influencer-led reality shows, contestants come from a wide range of backgrounds and feel like real people. But with a castle full of familiar characters, we naturally see familiar social dynamics too. And some of these are unsettling.
During this season, which is now in its second week, we have watched a Black woman, Judy, get banished first. Her crime? That she stopped being as playful and bantering once the game commenced. Her final declaration of innocence felt apt: “I am just me.” Netty, also a Black woman, was the first murdered contestant – and Ross, a Black man, was high on the suspect list from day one and has now been banished, too. This pattern has cropped up so reliably throughout the show’s seasons that it is now bleakly predictable.
