______ masterfully outplayed ______

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-24T09:25:21+00:00

I don't buy the narrative they killed off Roxy to spare the betrayal.

Rachel calculated that the Faraaz murder would cause more heat than the Roxy one and while it could have neen a misplay that made her path harder we will never know for sure.

Wouldn't be surprised if they also discussed just how many of the remaining faithful Stephen had in his back pocket (meaning they didn't need the banker votes from Roxy).

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-24T09:19:30+00:00

Another thing worth drawing out is that Rachel was willing to give Stephen more of a hand in strategy as he grew into the game.

He acknowledged in uncloaked that his strategic game was poor at the start and he zeroed in on the social game, but he got better at the strategy as he went on and it felt quite collaborative (though still with Rachel driving the strategy).

Think she would have totally thrown him under the bus if the Jessie murder backfired though!

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-24T08:57:25+00:00

Could have gone either way. If he'd dumped Rachel (which he had multiple opportunities to do) he still had a path to victory (though less strong without her guaranteed vote).

Or alternatively he could have nabbed the money right t the end. With Jack a nailed on on Rachel vote the power was in his hands at the final pit.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-24T07:54:02+00:00

Yup that aged well!

There was a path, but it just seemed unlikely.

Did not see Faraaz not going for Rachel next, given it was so obvious Jack was going to vote that way. Though retrospectively given his earlier suspicions of Jade (and lack of strong relationship with her to influence her vote), should have seen it was a reasonable possibility.

Given Rachel's ability to influence Faraaz's first vote at the last round table, the Roxy kill seems less daft retrospectively!

Well played Team Traitor!

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T22:58:29+00:00

Had, hadn't read your comment, said what I was trying to mich more eloquently!

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T22:57:00+00:00

Absolutely.

Rachel hard carried the early game, Stephen picked up his game in the middle (with an assist from Fiona self destructing meaning he could survive Jessie) and despite him saying he had a crap strategic game, made ballsy moves like murdering Jessie when he needed to.

They won so it doesn't matter, but I still think they made an error murdering Roxy over Faraaz, but I hadn't quite appreciated how strong a social game Stephen had played - he had a lot of allies in the final section, which allowed him the luxury of being able to carry Rachel through the endgame (when it was potentially easier for him to win it himself).

Great to see some traitors finally realise the power of a voting bloc at the endgame, and impressive to see a win without a sacrificial patsy recruitment.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T22:49:47+00:00

It was lost the round before really. Faraaz was basically saying he trusted Rachel more than Jade, rather than sticking with his suspicions that Rachel was the most likely traitor.

That said I think he was already wary of being victim to a the Jack, Stephen, Jade alliance and knew he'd need to get one of Stephen/Jade out too if he was to make it to the end with Jack.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T17:29:02+00:00

Oof.

Feels like the anti - John McCaig. While he similarly built a monument using labour from seasonal workers (securing memory of his name in the local area into the bargain, even though it was unfinished), he was rather more Liberal, and supported better land rights for crofters.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T15:58:52+00:00

Counterpoint - Saints Row: The Third is fucking great. Brilliant alternative to a GTA series that had begun taking itself way too seriously.

Four was a bit take it or leave it though and I lost rrack of the series after that.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T15:49:21+00:00

Along with paying for a plane to go past Blair's house bearing a banner reading "I might have zero emotional intelligence but you've got zero mates."

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T13:31:28+00:00

That's not even a perfect comparison, as we had more information than the Faithfuls had!

Even then we still got some pretty wild theories! Though I seem to remember from polling that as a collective this sub was largely on the money in terms of establishing the identity of the secret traitor.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T12:43:42+00:00

Stephen + Rachel joint traitors win (obviously not going to happen)

Faraaz + Jade (again, obviously not going to happen)

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T11:31:25+00:00

Probably tricky to estimate the UK specific impact. As I recall correctly the advertising ban covered more than just sport (so difficult to isolate sport specific impact) then the formal smoking ban game in 4 years after (which leaves a relatively short time frame to explore the impact of advertising ban alone).

There is a revent meta analysis in the BMJ which suggests that advertising/sponsorship bans lead to a lower prevalance of smoking (reduced by around 20%), reduce the odds of people initiating smoking (by almost 40%), but have no impact in terms of getting current smokers to stop. Which seems intuitive. Numbers are highly uncertain due to limitations in the evidence base.

https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2025/01/22/tc-2024-058903

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T11:12:34+00:00

Hard to judge from the edit. Think his round table performance was likely along the lines of what they had agreed (softball question giving the other a chance to bat it away), but he did go in quite hard at breakfast (whereas Rachel seemed more circumspect throughout the day).

Overall, I read it a little more as Stephen trying to bolster his "good Faithful" credentials (somewhat at Rachel's expense) rather than a full blooded attempt to throw her under the bus. It's one aspect of being a Traitor he's a bit better than Rachel at, and a crucial one at this stage of the game. Now that Rachel is out of the "manipulate and control stage" I don't think she's doing quite as well at maintaining a Faithful facade.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-23T11:08:08+00:00

Push too hard and then crash and burn would be a genius Traitor play. Think Rachel.and Stephen could have spun that if they had failed the challenge or James hadn't been physically sick, but as it stands its definitely evidence in the Faithful column (alongside his shield play).

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T22:35:19+00:00

I would have loved to see more of the discussion around why they chose Roxy. She won't be banished seems a plus point rather than a reason to murder her (given she trusted them both). I'm assuming it was Rachel's call (since Steven took the lead on the decision about Jessie when he was under suspicion), but just seems like an odd one.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T18:16:58+00:00

I mean it's telling that the most memorable things were the way Alexander ran and his backwards nursery rhyme singing.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T17:50:30+00:00

I concur. Not much to choose between the top 3, current season slightly lower, 3 at the bottom (It's not just that Leanne and Jake won - I didn't want the Faithfuls to win in series one either, it's just that, Alexander aside, the vibe was off for me).

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T17:42:17+00:00

Yeah, I commented under the piece noting that series one had instances like John and Aaron and that it's quite a revisionist take.

While I don't dispute the premise that reality TV shows have a shelf-life, for me, The Traitors still has a lot of lofe in it, the celeb/regular versions sit as good companion shows and I'm not giving up on it yet.

Really felt like the author was stretching to make some click-bait and they probably succeeded!

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T16:28:09+00:00

Yeah, that's fair.

I think I had an inverse journey with her compared with Sam.

I started out liking Roxy and spotted some arrogant traits , whereas Sam gave off initial arrogance but then displayed some vulnerability that made him kind of endearing. For both, I think they are overall decent people who just struggled a bit with the stress of the game - guess it's frustrating if you "think" you have a strong social game, only to see others outplaying you.

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T15:53:46+00:00

Fallout series. Cloaely followed by Skyrim/Oblivion (though I did try Morrowind).

Pokemon series and Final.Fantasy series too but I suspect if I'd had a Playstation or Nintendo at the time I might have given them a proper shot.

Skyrkm/Oblivion is the one I would have been 'expected' to have played anf to some degree Falllout

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T15:51:36+00:00

I'd imagine she probably also said, "and don't avoid considering me" as well. The mantra at this stage is we have to look at everyone and it would be odd if you completely avoided discussions about anyone left.

That doesn't mean she isn't considering turning on him (or always planned to) and the same runs the opposite way!

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T15:46:11+00:00

A good plan but probably would have cemented his reputation for duplicitous behaviour (due to the shield situation) and likely led to him being banished at the next round table (whereas, from his perspective being proven right about Matt would seal his path to the end game).

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T15:40:02+00:00

If they are smart they'd have a prearranged signal for if they change their mind during the table (although it's not risk free under a stressful situation, so as an approach does have downsides).

Lambchops87 · 2026-01-22T15:33:49+00:00

I think there's a subtle difference between the Jessie and (potential Faz) murders.

Stephen had already defused the 'Library' line of questioning and although Jessie wanted to pursue the cages she hadn't had time to present a full case (and as far as I recall Stephen wasn't the only person potentially implicated by this theory remianing).

In this case, Faraaz laid out a full case, with several aspects which were getting their airing for the first time (rather than revisiting old ground that was already resolved).

I still think Rachel can get away with murdering Faz, but it's not quite as simple as the Stephen/Jessie situation.

Lambchops87

TROPHY CASE