[Brekkie]

The Traitors discussion largely absent from this forum but one of the best episodes of reality TV ever last night.

[all new phil]

The Traitors discussion largely absent from this forum but one of the best episodes of reality TV ever last night.

Throw every award going at it. It was incredible.

[UTVLifer]

Very strong ratings for The Traitors last night

Up 1.2 million on last series's finale - and there's still 4 episodes to go

x.com 

[Keith]

Very strong ratings for The Traitors last night

Up 1.2 million on last series's finale - and there's still 4 episodes to go

x.com 

It's arguably also a sign that linear TV isn't quite as dead as some would have you believe.

As mentioned by cityprod given the popularity of The Traitors it's slightly surprising that no channel has decided to commission a new UK series of The Mole. I dare say with the original Channel 5 series they may have been slightly ahead of their time with the format, though it did last two series.

[Brekkie]

I think ITV have what will look like a rip-off format coming up which will likely struggle to match the heights (or even lows) of The Traitors. The BBC also have Destination X, though that's basically Mystery Coach Trip.

[Flux]

Throw every award going at it. It was incredible.

See, for all its success I think the Traitors is actually quite a… mediocre show. Individual elements are great - the round table is totally gripping TV, the missions are (mostly) large scale and visually strong, and the setting is fantastic. But the attempt to fully “gel” all those elements is missing: the missions are almost always irrelevant to the “main” traitor narrative, Claudia’s role swings from supporting the faithful to berating them, and - lets face it - for all the talk of working out who the Traitors are, there’s very little for the faithful to actually go on. When the elements are connected (for example the funeral march Mission - which was directly linked to something the Traitors had done, and forced the Traitors to lie in front of everyone) it totally shines. Unfortunately, that’s quite rare.

I also feel they’ve missed a lot of tricks with internal branding. Prime example: why are they called “murders”? No one dies, and the “murder” terminology itself has been watered down a lot in this second season with Traitors discussing “killing off” faithful, or even Claudia just announcing faithful have “gone”. A “murder” could have been given unique branding (e.g. to “otracise” or “eliminate”) which could have made that terminology synonymous with the format in the same way an “eviction”, for example, is so engrained and clear in Big Brother. Keeping the “murder” aspect just shines a light on the fact it’s been developed from a parlour game!

I’m not saying it’s a bad show - far from it - and it deserves the praise for the central narrative and casting, but for me many aspects of the “world” they’ve created feel unconnected and a little sloppy. As a programme maker, that frustrates me as it could have so easily been a brilliant and tight format. As it stands I often find my mind drifting for the bulk of the show and engaging again for the always watchable round table.

[dbone]

I also feel they’ve missed a lot of tricks with internal branding. Prime example: why are they called “murders”? No one dies, and the “murder” terminology itself has been watered down a lot in this second season with Traitors discussing “killing off” faithful, or even Claudia just announcing faithful have “gone

As it stands I often find my mind drifting for the bulk of the show and engaging again for the always watchable round table.

I think that is because the show is really all about the banishment (where they do have a show specific word) with its round table preamble. The missions and murders in reality are secondary - whilst they fill the pot of cash and therefore give some jeopardy (missions) and clues (murder) but I don't think they are at the core or are the parts that elevates the show to the heights its reached.

[Johnr]

I think the missions in The Traitors are more of a chance for the contestants to have a bit of a mental break from the pressure of trying to work out who the Traitors are, they seem designed so the prize money is there but they'll always have a decent pot by the end of it all

Surprised that Glenn Hugill has never tried The Mole on ITV via his Possessed production company, although once you've seen the Belgian version the rest lack quite a bit!

[Flux]

I think that is because the show is really all about the banishment (where they do have a show specific word) with its round table preamble. The missions and murders in reality are secondary - whilst they fill the pot of cash and therefore give some jeopardy (missions) and clues (murder) but I don't think they are at the core or are the parts that elevates the show to the heights its reached.

Oh, I totally agree - but I think that’s exactly my issue with it. They feel secondary - as if producers made little effort to make the missions and murders as relevant, coherent and ingrained as they could be in the show’s format. I just personally think it could have been EVEN stronger if the whole thing tied together better - as was evidenced with the funeral mission, which was relevant, tense and directly linked to the core banishment, and therefore elevated the whole episode IMO.

[Brekkie]

I do think the traitors having to leave a bit more of a trail for each murder could be interesting. You don't want to overcomplicate it - the drama there is at the breakfast table.

Was interesting watching the US episode earlier also doing the poisoning/funeral twist. Just highlighted how all the stars just aligned for the UK version to lift that episode on Wednesday from good to absolutely excellent.


Whilst we're on the reality TV arc do we know if Race Across the World Series 4 has been filmed yet? Would expect that on air in the Spring.