Big Brother Players Aren’t Built for The Traitors

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One delightful aspect of the American adaptation of “The Traitors” is observing well-known figures from the reality TV world gather in a competition that combines strategy and deceit (including the famous “mehrduhr”). This includes Housewives, Bachelor participants, assorted royals, drag queens, WWE wrestlers, and more. Notably, there are also Gamers, alums of social-strategy games like “Survivor,” “Big Brother,” and “The Challenge,” all proficient in the various tactics of eliminating opponents through voting. The first season was won by “Survivor” legend and fan favorite Cirie Fields; the second season was won by “Challenge” legend and popular figure CT Tamburello (also Trishelle Cannatella). Additionally, the series has been inundated with “Big Brother” legends: former winners, acknowledged strategic geniuses, the best to have ever played. However, over the course of three seasons, the “Big Brother” legends have struggled and struggled significantly, both in the game overall but especially when assigned the role of a Traitor.

In this season of “The Traitors,” we have Danielle Reyes, a notable figure from “Big Brother 3” who skillfully controlled her original season from start to near finish, losing only because the players she eliminated went home and held grudges against her. Known for her manipulative strategies, Danielle was even praised by fellow “Big Brother” alum as the best player never to win a title, a sentiment echoed in the “BB” fan community. However, this time around, Danielle’s gameplay is far from impressive. She’s making overt, attention-grabbing moves, pushing potential allies away, and putting on dramatic performances that are more fitting for a community center than a reality TV show. Even Tom Sandoval, who is not known for his intelligence, has noticed her poor play.

As a dedicated cinema enthusiast, I’ve been pondering over an intriguing question: Why do the strategic masters from Big Brother consistently falter on The Traitors? It seems these cunning minds are stumbling particularly hard in their role as Traitor. One might be tempted to say that Big Brother is a game for the intellectually unsophisticated, and thus, the ruler of the Mountain of Dum-Dums remains a Dum-Dum. However, a casual TV viewer who glances at Big Brother will see players in unitards competing in challenges reminiscent of Family Double Dare, only to lose their dignity on a slippery wiener.

But converse with individuals who follow a broad spectrum of competitive reality shows—the genuine hard-core gaming aficionados (my compliments)—and many will argue that Big Brother is the pinnacle, the purest form of a social-strategy game. Strip away all the bells and whistles and Zingbots, and you’re left with a competition about fostering enough positive relationships with your fellow players to shield yourself from elimination. It’s both simple and complex, and the players who excel at it often exhibit the precision of master chess players, thinking multiple steps ahead of their opponents.

So why does this all seem to unravel in the Scottish Highlands? Perhaps these players are finding that the strategies that work well in a confined house with limited resources don’t translate as effectively in an open, expansive environment like the Scottish Highlands. Or maybe the pressure and challenges of The Traitors have a unique way of exposing weaknesses that weren’t apparent within the Big Brother house. Regardless, it’s fascinating to observe how these strategic masters adapt (or fail to adapt) to new environments and challenges.

As a fervent observer of these captivating reality games, I must say that Big Brother and The Traitors are like night and day, each offering unique challenges and strategies. While Big Brother is a lengthy, intricate dance that unfolds over the course of three months in real-time, The Traitors is a whirlwind affair, typically filmed within three weeks. In Big Brother, success demands the careful cultivation of long-term alliances and the strategic control of information over extended periods, with ample downtime to craft intricate, multi-day or even week-long strategies. Conversely, The Traitors offers no such luxury, as its fast-paced nature leaves little room for the patient, elaborate strategies that Big Brother’s players savor.

In the third season’s fifth episode, Danielle swore vengeance against Boston Rob for his treachery towards her loyal partner, Bob the Drag Queen. However, in private conversations, she acknowledged the need to be patient and wait for the ideal moment to retaliate against Rob. Essentially, she’s playing a waiting game. But instead of joining Carolyn Wiger in her (somewhat unclear) intentions to target Rob, Danielle chose to focus on eliminating Carolyn. Her reasoning was that by getting rid of Carolyn and bringing in someone easier to manipulate, she could more confidently take a shot at Rob later. This is the logic of Big Brother. However, the game might be over by the time Danielle can accuse Carolyn of suspicious behavior, convince the large group of Faithfuls to vote her out, win over a potential new Traitor (if one even emerges), persuade this new ally to target Rob, and then rally the Faithfuls once again to eliminate Rob. The game of The Traitors doesn’t work like that. Instead, it can be as simple as Chrishell noticing an odd vibe from Nikki during a car ride, sharing it with Boston Rob in a casual conversation, and Nikki being expelled just hours later. Despite the messy nature of Boston Rob’s move to undermine Bob the Drag Queen’s game, he did so swiftly and decisively. That’s how you play The Traitors.

In a manner reminiscent of a college football coach’s analysis, it can be argued that former contestants from the show Big Brother might lack the experience compared to their counterparts from shows like Survivor and The Challenge. This is particularly true when considering the number of all-star seasons each series has produced. For instance, a player like Boston Rob from Survivor has participated in six seasons: his debut season, his first all-star season where he came second to his spouse Amber; the Heroes vs. Villains season where he lost to Russell Hantz; a subsequent season where he and Hantz were paired with newcomers (this was the season he won); one season where he and Sandra Diaz-Twine were cast as mentors; and finally the all-winners 40th season. Similarly, Cirie from Survivor emerged victorious in the first U.S. Traitors season after competing on Survivor four times. Unlike both Big Brother and Survivor, The Challenge allows players like CT and Wes Bergmann to return for numerous seasons, cultivating relationships, rivalries, and resumes that span decades.

To put it simply, the strategists behind Big Brother haven’t been challenged to improve or venture out of their familiar strategies because players like Cody and Danielle have primarily relied on replicating successful strategies from past seasons. For instance, Cody won his second season by essentially mirroring the game plan of Derrick, the winner of his first season. Similarly, Danielle’s strategic moves were predictable in her second appearance (2006’s Big Brother All-Stars) due to her past strategies being well-known. Her subsequent performances in Big Brother: Reindeer Games and as a castmate on Traitors didn’t fare much better. This is the root of her conflict with Britney Haynes from Traitors.

Dan Gheesling’s strategy during the show “Traitors” was disastrous, largely because he relied heavily on a single approach: keeping a very low profile and only making dramatic moves to betray his closest allies. However, on “The Traitors,” Dan’s reluctance to collaborate with other players (which is essential for gameplay) made him stand out as a potential Traitor within a few episodes. His known flair for drama from “Big Brother” made his last-minute attempts to betray fellow Traitors Phaedra and Parvati appear both obvious and pitiful. In contrast, players like Wes and Boston Rob have shown the ability to adapt their strategies to different situations, demonstrating greater agility on “The Traitors.

Danielle’s chances of changing the course of her game seem slim now. She’s managed to upset Derrick, Dolores, and Rob due to her strange approach during the urn-smashing challenge in the most recent episode. If she chooses to eliminate Carolyn at the next elimination round, it could lead to a major backlash against her. It seems like Danielle is heading down the same path as Dan Gheesling, who became disgraced after his time on Big Brother. Could Derrick or even Britney Haynes, who’s been relatively absent so far this season, step in and save Big Brother’s image on The Traitors? The odds are against them, but as Julie Chen-Moonves often reminds us, the unexpected is always a possibility.

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2025-01-30 19:54