The Traitors, Peacock’s surprise hit reality show, follows a group of players that move into a castle to compete for a large cash prize. The Traitors murder the Faithful at night, trying to get the Faithful to turn on one another during their daily banishments, as the Traitors must get to the end and remain unidentified to win the money. It’s all about the mind games, but there’s a physical component as well with the missions where the players must succeed to build the money in their prize pot. Only at the end will they have the full $250,000. The US version brought together a mix of reality stars and regular folk to compete for the prize, becoming surprisingly entertaining and compelling with one player, in particular, running the game from start to finish.
However, after watching the UK version — and despite my love for the US version — there are several reasons why The Traitors UK is far superior to the US version. Truthfully, there are several reasons why the UK version is better. There are better twists, more impactful and emotional banishments (both for the audience and to the game itself), and — sorry! — a better host in Claudia Winkleman. Watching you-know-who work to win the game in the US was masterful, truly, but ultimately not as fun to watch as the absolute chaos of the UK version where there was no frontrunner throughout basically the entire game. But, there are two major differences that made the UK version stand out.
The Inclusion of Reality Stars on ‘The Traitors’ US
The addition of reality stars, while a great way to grab attention and start the series off on a strong note, changes the essence of the game. The dynamics between the players with reality stars in the mix were drastically different from a group of strangers coming in to play in the UK version. It automatically changed the game for the reality stars, whether positive or negative, as we saw consistently throughout the first season. For instance, Rachel Reilly and Cody Calafiore knew each other from Big Brother, and Rachel confessed to knowing Cody was a traitor early on because she could see how differently he was acting. Likewise, Cirie Fields had Stephenie LaGrossa completely fooled because of their outside relationship. Knowing the others gave the reality stars, but particularly the Traitors, an unfair advantage, and caused the downfall of others because of their blind trust in people from the outside world.
Including reality stars also gave the regular folk playing the game a major disadvantage, as it’s not like they came in with any previous relationships. They also knew many of the reality stars from watching them on television, causing them to have preconceived notions about whom to trust and who to keep an eye on, as Anjelica Conti admits in the reunion episode regarding her hatred for Arie Luyendyk Jr. after his season of The Bachelor. The regular players were outliers as the reality stars played the game with each other. On the UK version, there were 22 players with no prior knowledge of each other — outside of one surprise twist — that caused even more stress to the players as they had to create relationships while questioning everything about one another. They had no preconceived notion of how others should act or react to things, allowing for very messy and thrilling gameplay as they brutally turned on one another. Likewise, the reality stars were better equipped to deal with the pressure and stress of the game after their own time on their respective shows, which made for less entertaining and emotional television on the US version. There were so many tears on the UK version, as the pressure continuously got to the players. Both Traitors and Faithful alike struggled, wholeheartedly, at playing the game and managing their complex emotions about the situation.
The Money Missions Actually Mattered
On the UK version of The Traitors, the missions to build the prize pot actually mattered. In the end, the players had lost money throughout the missions, meaning their prize pot was not the full £120,000. Losing the mission had consequences, which therefore impacted the banishments. On the US version, the players ended up with the full amount from rounding up their winnings and getting the chance to “earn back” the money they had lost. Meaning, the missions weren’t really worth watching as they didn’t change the game (much). Kate Chastain throwing one of the missions — literally — had no impact on the game, which should not be the case. The murders and banishments are obviously the most thrilling part of the show, but it means more in the scope of the game when the players actually have to succeed at the missions to earn the money and the threat of the prize pot not being full can easily ring true.
Overall, while the US version of the show is indeed great fun to watch, the UK version just perfectly captures what this game should be. The dynamics are more realistic without pre-existing relationships, and the behavior is ridiculously messy and relatable for the given situation. Including reality stars changed the game on levels that cannot truly be accounted for but that are so obvious when watching the two other versions of the show that do not. If it was all or nothing, meaning a cast of only reality stars, that would be something else entirely as they would all be on an equal playing field. Unfortunately, splitting it down the middle stacks the odds against the regular players, which simply isn’t any fun to watch. Additionally, another thing that made the UK version better was the genuine fun the players were having, even when they lost, and not holding grudges toward the Traitors at any moment — praising them, instead, for their fantastic gameplay. Everyone was a great sport, which was clearly not the case in the US version. (And, just a note that if you want to see someone play an even more masterful game than the winner of the US version, watch the Australian one. That person is in a league of their own.)
Every episode of The Traitors (the US, UK, and Australian versions) is now streaming on Peacock.
