The Traitors - Seasons 1-3

“The Traitors delivers catty drama with above-average diversity. But scratch just beneath the surface, and you’ll find familiar stories of discrimination.”

Title: The Traitors (U.S. version)
Episodes Reviewed: Seasons 1-3
Creators: Stephen Lambert 👨🏼🇬🇧 and Sam Rees-Jones 👨🏼🇬🇧

Reviewed by Li 👩🏻🇺🇸

—SPOILERS AHEAD—

Technical: 2.5/5

What began as De Verraders, a Dutch reality show that aired in the Netherlands in 2021, The Traitors quickly exploded into an international franchise with more than 15 spin-offs from Israel to Russia, Spain, Sweden, and beyond. Landing in the United States on Peacock in 2023, the Mafia-like game involves truth-telling Faithfuls who try to identify and “banish” conspiring Traitors for prize money.

Hosted by Alan Cumming in a Scottish castle against sweeping hills and gothic grandeur, the simple premise of rooting out Traitors among a group of twenty-some contestants thrives on deception, backstabbing, and manipulation—all delivered with campy flair. But if you're not already invested in reality TV culture, you might find yourself feeling ho-hum about the cast of personalities you’ve never met before.

The show works on its own, but it’s likely best when names like Phaedra Parks (The Real Housewives of Atlanta) or Sandra Diaz-Twine (Survivor) inspire oohs and ahhs rather than shrugs. Established personas and preexisting beefs fuel the drama in The Traitors, but without that context, episodes devolve into a confusing tangle of names and cliques, each vying for attention. It quickly becomes a chore to follow along with the twists and turns of The Traitors’ manufactured drama when you have no skin in the game.

Gender: 4/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? YES

The game’s contestants, including finalists and winners, sit comfortably near gender parity. During physical tasks (which increase the final prize pot), strength and speed do become more salient and tilt a slight advantage towards male competitors. But ultimate success requires strategic thinking. It’s attributes like charm, connections, and the ability to hold a poker face that determine how far you’ll go, and subterfuge knows no gender.

That said, the series doesn't do much to challenge gender norms. Contestants primarily stick to expected patterns of "femininity" and "masculinity.” A few exceptions—queer host Alan Cumming, nonbinary finalist Andie Vanacore, and trans competitor Peppermint—do play with gender presentation in interesting ways. In an over-the-top wedding-themed episode, Cumming dons an incredible gown, and competitors couple up in a variety of ways, including same-sex partnerships. But across the first few seasons, Cumming takes on the lion’s share of gender subversion, rather than it being baked into the show’s culture.

Race: 4/5

The Traitors assembles a racially diverse group of contestants and gives them meaningful agency. Black women like Cirie Fields and Phaedra, Iranian American MJ Javid, Puerto Rican Sandra, multiracial Latina Gabby Windey, and Korean American Kevin Kreider have all made deep runs or claimed victory.

But like the show’s approach to gender, producers also avoid onscreen discussions around racial identity. While it's refreshing to see contestants of color succeed without their race becoming their entire storyline, there's a level of arms-length distance in the confessional interviews and edited footage that makes the show’s colorblindness feel intentional rather than organic.

LGBTQ: 4.5/5

Helped in large part by Cumming’s showstopping outfits and campy dialogue, plus the inclusion of LGBTQ fan favorites, The Traitors neatly establishes itself as a queer-friendly show. While the majority of contestants are straight, memorable queer personalities include The Bachelorette alum Gabby; Lord Ivar Mountbatten, the first member of the British royalty to have a same-sex wedding; nonbinary finalist Andie; and graduates of RuPaul’s Drag Race (Peppermint, Bob the Drag Queen). Furthermore, the show's camp factor and focus on performance creates a natural alignment with queer expression.

That being said, there’s certainly room for improvement. Between Seasons 2 and 3, Cumming noted: "I feel like we could do better in terms of queer representation. … I think it's a very diverse cast but not in terms of LGBTQ+." Peppermint echoes this sentiment in the Season 2 reunion episode, saying, “It kind of eerily reminded me of a high school experience where I was the only out LGBTQ person at the time.”

Season 3 did up its game, bringing on at least five out contestants among a group of 23 and getting a queer woman of color all the way to the final stage. We can only hope this ramps up further in Season 4.

Deduction for Disability: -0.50

Across the first three seasons’ 65 contestants, one one openly discusses disability—Season 3’s Bob Harper, who has a heart condition and was shown winded and getting help from his teammates during a task that required heavy lifting. Considering that more than a quarter of American adults have a disability, there’s an apparent reluctance to discuss disabled narratives in The Traitors.

Mediaversity Grade: B- 3.63/5

If you already follow these reality TV stars from past franchises, The Traitors delivers catty drama with above-average diversity. But meaningful inclusion is not the end game. Sure, contestants are gender-balanced and racially diverse, and LGBTQ representation has increased over time. And even though the show noticeably lacks disabled competitors, the finalists and winners in Seasons 1-3 do include women, people of color, and queer people.

But scratch just beneath the surface, and you’ll find familiar stories of discrimination. Peppermint reveals her experience: "With no proof, people have to rely on the biases that they bring into the game, which end up targeting who's most different from the group. And in those situations, people like me don't really fare that well.”

Writer Drew Burnett Gregory considers, “Why do we trust people? Why do we like people? Why do we dislike people? Identity and bigotry will almost always play a role even if people are in denial or point to other excuses.”

These facts of life aren’t anywhere to be found on screen in The Traitors’ main episodes. Producers rarely give competitors the airtime to reflect more deeply on why certain individuals stay on for multiple episodes, while others are kicked out right away. It’s simply outside the scope of this series, which prefers to keep things light, deceptive, and ridiculous.

Like The Traitors? Try these other reality shows.

*The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip - Season 3*

Grade: BLiJune 9, 2025Great for: LGBTQ