Ranking Every English Speaking Traitors Player: 80-61
And we're back again with another part of this crazy project! I want to apologise quickly and say I'm sorry this took a while to come out. I haven't been too well recently so I took some time to recover.
Just my normal warning to be nice, don't make personal attacks and keep it show focused only. I do reference some out of show stuff here but it's mostlty just for context. Let's go!
80: Derrick (US3): So I quite liked Derrick. I’m generally a bit critical of US3 and its late additions but Derrick was by far the best of the three. He did clock on to the fact that Boston Rob was a Traitor while being significantly less infuriating compared to Wes but ultimately he was viewed as being a big threat and BR needed to take a bit of a risk in order to have any chance of surviving so he was murdered. Derrick gets bonus points for being the only member of the cage trio that didn’t let being a late addition go to his head!
79: Jason (NZ2): Jase was good! He was good fun and I loved the Pacific Ring of Fire alliance generally, it’s among thje most effective social alliances in traitors history and Jase was one of the key members. He had it fully figured out by the last episode but sadly it was too little too late and he was banished just before the big reveal. Gameplay wise, he probably shouldn’t be up this high but I really liked him and NZ2 has one of the most interesting group dynamics in traitors history so everyone naturally gets a bit of a boost.
78: Tom (US3): I must preface this by saying I have no idea who Tom is outside of the show. He’s apparently controversial but unlike Rappaport (who I know is genuinely awful) I have no idea what Tom has done because I don’t generally watch US reality TV and I’m not American, my list is based on the show only! Anyway, I found Tom very entertaining and because his gameplay was so unpredictable, he managed to get away with not being murdered for a long time. The dolls mission was a highlight!
77: Kristen (US4): In a season as drama filled as US4, I think people like Kristen add a lot to the season. Pretty good at the game and just managed to stay pretty steady. From the statistics side, she was very good as she voted for 3 out of the 4 original traitors and also became suspicious of Eric who was recruited as a traitor. She also made some good alliances with the likes of Mark and Eric and overall, I would easily take someone a bit more low-key compared to the ahem much more challenging personalities we got in US4.
76: Brittany (NZ2): One of the best players objectively from NZ2 and it’s a shame she didn’t make it a bit further. She heavily campaigned for 2 traitors with those being Jackie and Whitney and stands out for being one of the only players from NZ2 who openly wanted to play the game as a faithful. However, there is such a thing in this show as going too hard to early, and Brit was definitely a victim of that. Perhaps not to the extent of say Brodie from NZ1 but definitely seen as a threat so was murdered very quickly. A fairly short run but a good one!
75: Leroy (CA1): On a statistical level, John Cena is one of CA1’s best players. He voted for all four traitors and the endgame pretty much came down to him vs Mike. One thing I don’t think is talked about enough is people who can get through the game pretty easily because they’re good at missions and John Cena is definitely an example of that. So surely he should rank higher? Well, I just don’t find him that interesting until the last few episodes. It isn’t until it becomes clear that the endgame is going to be between him and Mike with Gurleen more allied with Leroy but possibly changeable that I think he becomes more interesting. Him and Gurleen were pretty much ride or die up to that point but somehow Mike actually managed to swing her vote. I don’t think Leroy could have done anymore, Mike just played well.
74: Ivar (US3): A very underrated winner. We often talk about how to play an ideal wallflower faithful game, and to find it? Look no further than Ivar. Ivar played an incredibly quiet game largely focused on being in the background and building up a few very stable alliances. He voted for all 5 traitors and statistically is one of the best winners of all time. However, because of his gameplay style, he’s about as interesting as watching paint dry until the last episode where I actually quite enjoyed watching him in the helicopter mission. I’m also not counting out of show stuff but being involved with Cambridge Analytica isn’t a great look.
73: Eric (US4): A really fun player who added a lot to the season. A voting record of 4 before being recruited makes him have one of the highest hit rates in the US version and he had a fairly solid run as a traitor too. You will learn as we go up this list that there’s a certain winning traitor that I’m not necessarily a huge fan of so it’s a shame Eric couldn’t share the prize money. Hell, I thought Eric did really well to survive until the F3 considerig he had heat on him for almost the entire time he was a traitor, he did more than enough to share the win and I would love to have seen him take it. But hey, that’s the game!
72: James (UK4): Pure chaos and I absolutely loved it. I often talk about how I’m not huge on super drama heavy players but James brought chaos without detracting from the atmosphere which was good. James really wasn’t great at the game at all, he largely survived as long as he did because he always had some level of suspicion on him and ultimately confused everyone a lot. However, he was grwat fun and has some all time iconic moments such as his legendary ‘Tigger needs to run’ comment.
71: Frankie (UK3): Similar in vein to Leroy, Frankie is one of those players who doesn’t really become too relevant in terms of gameplay until the final few episodes, but she does have a lot of stuff going for her even before that. She acted as a genuine support for Freddie when it just seemed that he was getting heat from every angle and she from the chess mission onward where she got very underestimated, she started to get a lot more screen time. It’s a shame she didn’t work with Alexander a bit more to clear him in the eyes of Jake and Leanne because I think a four faithful win was actually on the cards here (especially if they'd revealed roles). Ughhh, I hated the seer so much, it ruined what could have been one of the best endings in traitors history.
70: Sandra (US2): I liked Sandra a lot considering I had no idea who she was before watching. I think using Parvati as a traitor angel was a really good strategy and it almost got her to the end. She voted for all four traitors and overall was just pretty good at the game. I haven’t really watched Survivor but Sandra features in the only non UK season available to watch in the UK so maybe I’ll have to give it a shot. However, I do prefer Parvati (we’ll get to her at some point).
69: Nick (UKC): It’s a shame Nick is now mostly known for switching on Joe and effectively losing the season for the faithfuls, because apart from that he actually played a very good game. He made a really good alliance with Joe M and it’s a shame he turned on him as they would have made arguably the strongest winning faithfuls ever (David would have dragged down the average though.) Watchability wise, he just came across as a really nice guy and overall, he was just a joy to have on the season, even if he bungled the endgame to a titanic proportion.
68: Cat (NZ2): I liked Cat for the most part and she added a lot to NZ2. She has one of the strongest voting records we’ve seen from NZ and once she clocked onto the fact that Noel wasn’t a traitor, she was fantastic. I do agree with most that getting a bit personal with Mark was her low point but as much as I love Mark (as you will come to see) I can understand how he would frustrate people. Aside from that, she made a lot of really strong alliances and was near perfect in the second half of her run.
67: Kevin (CA1): Wow, we’re already on our last CA1 faithful. Kevin was quite easily the strongest faithful of the season. He pretty much led the charge in getting Mel B banished and also had suspicions on both Mike and Kuzie due to being part of his alliance (as well as Leroy). Kevin’s downfall was the fact that he just got a bit too passionate. It definitely seemed to rub people the wrong way a little bit and throwing out everyone in his alliance in one go wasn’t a great look. However, he played a very good game overall and it’s a shame he didn’t go further.
66: Anna (NZ1): Definitely the weaker of the two NZ1 winners but Anna was still pretty good. She was very popular amongst the group and created a lot of good alliances. She also has a voting record of 5 which is phenomenally good for a winning faithful and was very likeable on top of that. She was incredibly perceptive and the first person to notice that Robbie winked at Dan when she was getting banished. In addition, she was not easily swayed in the slightest and always stuck to her guns. Good player but the weaker of the two NZ1 winners.
65: Cagla (CA3): Cagla had a pretty rough ride! They were constantly having to fend off Lisette and in addition to this they were recruited fairly late into the game. They remind me a lot of UK2 Andrew where they weren’t necessarily a standout faithful or traitor but they were pretty good at both. I’m glad they weren’t a traitor from the beginning because I think secret relationships are better when they’re both faithful. I liked Cagla overall (and as for post show, if you know, you know).
64: Colin (NZ1): A really fun player to have around. Very entertaining and constantly able to sniff through BS. He voted for 3 traitors in 7 episodes which was pretty good. I’m so glad Brooke recruited him just for the fun of it as it really helped to spice up the last part of the season. He also came up with the Darth Vanda nickname so that was fun! Also gets bonus points for his taste in fashion, wow he looked incredible every single episode!
63: Luke (AU2): Maybe this is controversially low but outside of allying with Annabel and being onto both remaining traitors, he doesn’t do a ton for me. The fact he was onto all 3 traitors does give him a lot of points but if I’m being honest, he doesn’t do a ton for me in terms of watchability and I find he tends to get overshadowed by Annabel. I did like Luke and he was a good player but I think he can get a little overrated.
62: Ron (US4): Had a really unreasonably hard time. It’s a shame after suspecting Porsha for slipping up (which she did) he never really was trusted again. Still he voted for both Donna and Lisa. If the BTS stuff with the likes of Dorinda is true, then wow he had it rough and I’m shocked he still stayed so positive. I’m honestly shocked he lasted to the halfway point, he had a lot of votes at every round table post Donna’s banishment. It’s a real shame, lovely guy who made a very understandable mistake and then paid an unreasonable price for it.
61: Cat (UKC): A good traitor who played a much more quiet game compared to Jonathan and Alan. If she was on another season I think she may have been found out sooner for perhaps being too quiet but that’s besides the point. Cat had some very amusing moments especially with Alan. The highlight is easily when she was trying to tell him in a nice way to shut up when discussing the murder in plain sight. Apart from that, she was just a very solid traitor all around and stayed undercover for a good majority of the game!