Older women usually do well on The Traitors because they’re underestimated. Fiona should have used that to get to the final
Hands up who thought the Secret Traitor twist was a letdown. Yep, me too – the reveal of Fiona as the woman in the red hood was a non-event in Wednesday’s episode. We had all guessed it was either her or the worst detective on TV, Amanda, who had been secretly pulling the strings anyway.
But then came the most chaotic episode of The Traitors we’ve ever seen, in which the not-secret-anymore Traitor Fiona turned on original Traitor Rachel spectacularly in public – and as we saw in tonight’s roundtable, ultimately stupid – fashion.
Her fate was sealed as soon as she told an incredulous Rachel that she thought she was lying about having been told by Amanda that she was a former police detective.
For the life of me I can’t understand why she would do such a thing. Rachel’s declaration that they should all trust Amanda’s very wrong judgement that Sam and Jade were Traitors gave the real Traitors a clean slate. And Fiona’s assessment that Amanda would have told her about her secret job because “half my family are coppers” smacked of jealousy rather than clever gameplay.
We might be halfway through the game, but it was utter madness to gun for another Traitor in such a brazen way – particularly one so popular and trusted. No wonder her play backfired, with her grand proclamation in the kitchen only drawing more attention to her. At last night’s roundtable, Rachel went up against her nemesis Fiona with full force –- my hand shot to my open jaw when she told her: “When you tell lies, you are a liar!” That gob-smacking Round Table showdown is sure to go down in Traitors history.
Fiona wasn’t a very good Traitor – she was far too comfortable and thought she was above suspicion. In trying to predict how the game would go and anticipating being thrown under the bus by Rachel (which, by Rachel’s own admission, would have happened eventually), Fiona played her hand far too early and with far too much flair. She was an absolute gift for producers and made for fantastic television – but everything that made her brilliant to watch was exactly what led to her banishment.
On her exit, Fiona said she wanted to go on The Traitors to “prove that women of a certain age should be listened to”. But perhaps that was her downfall.
Older women have traditionally fared well exactly because they were underestimated. Remember 70-year-old retired opera singer Linda of series three fame? She was one of the worst Traitors of all time (she literally looked at Claudia as she addressed the Traitors), but her status as a bit of a ditsy older woman protected her from suspicion and kept her safe for an astounding seven episodes.
That’s how Fiona started this year’s game, hoping she would come across as too “dotty” to possibly be able to play the game, and too sweet and maternal to possibly deceive anyone. “I literally worship her; like, she is my mum,” said Reece just a few episodes ago. But she soon got carried away, and her Machiavellian meddling became impossible to ignore. Still, she was certainly “listened to” – and if the Faithful have their wits about them, they would interpret this as a signal to banish Rachel next.
Fiona’s departure has already gifted us a dramatic cliffhanger: had she not written her own death warrant, Matthew – our first treacherous Faithful – would never know that there was a potential recruitment on the horizon. He would never have risked asking the remaining Traitors to bring him on board if there wasn’t an opening in the turret. And so we move onto the next chapter in this series.
The Traitors is a fast-moving game and by this time next week, Fiona’s dramatic exit will fade into a distant memory. Nevertheless, she certainly made her mark; her antics this week have flipped this series of The Traitors upside-down and inside out. In the words of Claudia Winkleman: “What a woman.”
The Traitors continues on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One
