The Psychology Of...The Traitors UK S3E7-9

The Death Game Welcome to the psychology of the Traitors. I'm your host, Doctor Kevin Hoshard, and with me my fellow treacherous psychologists. Speaker 2 I'm Doctor Clear Wright. Speaker 3 And I'm Professor Lisa Ricci. Speaker 1 And Episode 7 kicks off and we're back with the death game. This is the last hand and the cards are on the table, face down. It doesn't seem to be a game of recognising your opponent's micro expressions and so on in order to steal the right card from them. Here is just seems to be a kind of a traitor's version of Russian Roulette. You need to pick up the The Sun card and ultimately Leon finds it and we say goodbye to Fawzia. Our traitors arrive and Han Fawzia her death warrant in person. There's a few quips back and forth. Speaker 2 But Fozia's reaction is is very different to to Leon's. Speaker 1 Yeah, absolutely, I think. Speaker 2 Leon when, when he wins, when he wins the game, the first, the first thing he says to Fozia is I promise you, I'm a faithful. So even in that crucial moment, it was that identity of being a faithful that mattered to him. Rather than celebrating the win or crowing about it, he just said, I promise you I'm a faithful. Speaker 3 I do like Fazes comment when she discovers it's Linda and she says I know it was you and you're not going to last and then you go you. Speaker 2 Better get a good night over it, yeah? Speaker 1 So some heat heated exchange. Now we we see at the breakfast we see a little bit of a chat. The sisterhood Linda and Mina are having a chat and interestingly, Mina actually broaches to Linda that she may have to protect herself. Speaker 2 Yeah, so, so they do have a chat. And I think Mina says to Linda, oh, you know, if the heat really comes on, I'm, if the heat really comes on to you, Linda, I'm not going to defend you because it will look suspicious because we haven't spoken that much in public. And Linda kind of caves immediately, doesn't she? We're not caves. But she complies with this, with this. She says, oh, if it comes to it, just vote for me. It's fine. And then we can. Speaker 1 See, we we can see that there's roles, definite roles within the. Speaker 2 Traders, Mina's, Mina's head trader and Linda is at this point, maybe yes, at this point. And then there's an aside to the camera where Mina says she's very matter of fact. And she says, I think the odds for Linda are 5050. So it looks like Linda is willing to sacrifice herself for the kind of traitor group. But then later on, when Mina is talking about deciding on who to recruit, she does seem to have a rather selective memory because she says that she only wants to choose a female because this, you know, she says the sisterhood means something. And then she she says, completely without irony, the sisterhood works because there's no backstabbing. The sisterhood means something. It works 'cause there's no backstabbing. But she, Meena did vote to banish Armani in episode 3, and then she also votes to banish Linda. So these ideas of sisterhood seem to be quite elastic to her. Yeah. But yeah. And then she, you know, later on, she, she recruits Charlotte because she says, I think she says she describes Charlotte as one of the strongest women I've ever met. And it contributes this whole kind of narrative of, of the sisterhood. And I'm wondering if there's an, an, some element of self presentation here. Mean is almost kind of, you know, framing and developing a narrative that fits around her own sense of self. But that might conflict with the actual truth in that she did banish both her fellow traitors or vote to banish them. So but I'm I think we're going to revisit this idea of sisterhood a bit later, aren't we? But I thought that was very interesting. Speaker 3 I think there's a couple of things in this episode that I I think are interesting. There's this assumption that one of the the either Alexander or Fozia must be a traitor. There's that assumption and that kind of continues on. And one of them must be, I thought the card game was interesting quite a lot on social media about people not feeling happy that the final decision was made by just pure champs. And there is some discussion within the gaming community, you know, gamers like strategy and the traitors is really supposed to be about trying to have some kind of strategy. So that's not gone down well, but it was decided like that. I think that's quite an interesting, just a little interesting aside, really, yeah. Speaker 2 Although in some ways it reflects real life, because in real life there's always an element of chance this is true. Speaker 3 This is true, but I guess it's also that, as we've said all the way through, haven't we? There's lots of cognitive dissonance going on about sort of decisions that are made, but then they don't seem to have a logical reason behind them. Yeah, yeah. I also thought that one of the interesting things here is that Anna recalls Mina asking her to hold her drink, and she thinks that means that Mina must, because she's remembering back to the previous series where they had the poisoned chalice. And so she's like trying to get people to remember, Did anybody give you a drink? Speaker 2 Everybody gets on board with that immediately, don't they? Speaker 1 They just assume, yes, she defended that very well. She she, she approached it head on. Speaker 3 Yeah, yes. Speaker 2 But because it wasn't true, it was easy. It was easy for her to defend because that actually wasn't the the mechanism by which they were they were selected. Speaker 3 And really going into the round table, Alexander is at a real disadvantage here. The heat is really on Alexander at this round table and and I think the round table is really, really interesting. The Round Table We'll, we'll get to the round table in just a second, but so we're still at breakfast. Claudia walks in, the other players haven't appeared yet, and this is when she explains that they have to essentially return to the scene of the crime, solving some riddles so that they can find the coffins. Anna, Alexander and Leon are recovered. The players seem suspicious straight away, and this might be because Claudia says there may be a traitor amongst them because traitors could be selected into the death game. Speaker 2 Although logically I was wondering about this because why would a traitor elect to play in a game which is by which is pure chance and they've got no control over the outcome? Speaker 3 But did they know that? Because I've been thinking about that. Because because they didn't know, essentially they got asked to choose four people, didn't they? One of whom would get murdered. But but the rules of how that would happen were not particularly clear, I don't think. But yeah, I think it's really interesting. And I think one of the things is whether when Alex comes out of his coffin, Alexander, sorry, comes out of his coffin, he's judged to be too calm. The Suspects Yes, and in. Speaker 1 Contrast to Leon, he's invisibly upset. Speaker 2 And and Anna, who's you can see her physically. Speaker 1 Shaking actually just I in the last episode I kept calling Alexander Andrew, so that's my bad. I I just realised, but yeah, just just talking about them coming out of the coffin. So Claudia mentioned there could be a traitor amongst them. And one of the things that I noticed was they all seem to start having suspicion about Leon now, understandably he was upset. He was trapped in a coffin after all. I think would all be a bit upset. But when he came out, Claudia also said that there could be a traitor amongst them. And it got me thinking that this essentially is bit of a pairing that happened where essentially we tend to think we tend to learn that events that occurred together are related. And you know that that's basically that that's classical conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning. So the the closer in proximity to events are, we tend to pair them together. And I think inadvertently Claudia may have not only had she put in that seat of doubt in their minds, but because that was repeated when Leon came out, that pairing occurred. And so now the suspicion grows and grows. Speaker 3 And I think I want to return to that in the next episode because I think that narrative of it must be one of those 4. Is is continues through. Can we can we talk about the Round table? Because it just was fascinating. I think Alexander earlier says I've got a really tricky hand. There's a lot of suspicion on me. And he manages that round table so well. Leanne asked him why he's been so patronizing. Speaker 2 She gets, she gets very emotional, very angry and, and and takes any comments from Alexander very personally when he's actually trying to be very sensible. Speaker 3 And, and actually quite logical because he says, what's your argument that the traitors tried to kill you rather than that he tried to recruit? But I was thinking about this and there's a lot of psychology of conflict resolution. And of course he is, that's what he does for a job. And I think he brings that there's lots of theories around how do people manage conflict well. And one of those strategies is assertive communication, which includes respect and confidence. And he displays is that, but also being able to calmly express your disagreement. And he does that really well. He almost takes the heat out of that situation really quickly. Speaker 2 Leanne interprets that as patronising. Speaker 3 Yes, which is really interesting. But the other thing that I think is that there are different styles and he's certainly not combative. He's not he, he's more collaborative in in in how he approaches it. But there's also psychology around minority influence. So if you're not in a position where you've got lots of people on your side, how do you influence? And I think going into this table, he is in a minority position there. But actually one of the, the things that psychology teaches us is that consistency of messaging is really important. And, and if you listen to what he says, there's a consistency and a logic in what he says and he almost diffuses the situation. You can see the skills that he brings in from his work life, he takes into that round table. And I and I think he he manages that situation really well. I also love Jake's reaction to Linda going. Speaker 1 Yeah, he was ecstatic, wasn't he? He'd been on the money since day one. So, you know, it's, it's really quite, I mean, finally it pays off. The one thing as well about Alexander and Leanne, it, it got me thinking that I think a lot of it is the perception of the the language that's coming that is coming across. Alexander keeps asking something that is actually quite, it's pointed, you know, it's, it's, it's a very good question, but he's doing it really politely. And if you think about the styles of communication, he's very formal and very polite most of the time. Speaker 2 And this is probably something that he needs in his professional life. Speaker 3 That's right. Yeah. That's that's where I think this has come through. Speaker 1 Yeah, in, in comparison to Leanne, who's much more, you know, down to earth colloquial in in her speaking style. Speaker 2 I think she she describes it later on as I got a bit sassy got. Speaker 1 Yeah, Sassy so and, and there is some, you know, some indication that when people are overly formal, it can be picked up as you know, it just it's perceived as being belittling or. Speaker 2 Patronising or maybe passive aggressive? Speaker 1 Exactly. Passive aggressive too. Speaker 3 But he does save himself. Speaker 2 Yeah. Speaker 3 Linda goes and then we end with Charlotte. Charlotte’s response Yes, So yeah. And is she going to accept? Well, so we go straight into Episode 8 and of course she was going to accept. I don't know why people had doubts because. Speaker 3 She's not going to accept or die, isn't it? You're not. Speaker 2 Going to get that far into the game and then kind of throw yourself. Speaker 3 There's a difference between the earlier recruitment where you can choose to accept or not. This is not that. Speaker 1 But do you remember in Episode 1 when Claudia has interviews with all of them? Yeah, Charlotte actually said, oh, I'd love to be a traitor. She was very clear she really wanted to to be a traitor. And she she went into the faithful room really well. But her her first pick, she wants to be a traitor. Speaker 3 I also like Mina's speech to Charlotte. I mean, we've talked lots in this podcast about language, haven't we? How language is is active, not passive. And she does her speech that says you are smart and you would have been on to me. So that's kind of her pitch too. I mean, we know that Charlotte's going to say yes anyway, but she does use use that language to frame that really well. Speaker 2 Yeah. And then once, once Charlotte accepts and they go, they go straight into the conclave, don't they? And immediately I'm going to go back to this idea of sisterhood because Mina really stresses this, the the idea of a sisterhood. And she says to Charlotte, oh, you're now part of the sisterhood. So she's immediately trying to build that group, group identity based on gender. And I'm not sure that Charlotte really accepts this. So when we think about Charlotte in this, in her new role as a traitor, we've already mentioned cognitive dissonance in relation to some other things. So cognitive dissonance is the kind of psychological discomfort that occurs when somebody's actions and their beliefs are inconsistent. So maybe your belief about yourself and your behaviour or whatever. And so it's, you know, it gives, it means you have some trouble reconciling your actions with your sense of self. And Charlotte makes a really interesting comment. She says it's much easier at the round table being a faithful because you're not knowingly voting for a faithful. And she said that she couldn't vote for Alex because it would be crushing. So I think her comment of dissonance comes in part from swapping groups. You know, at the breakfast table in this episode, she says that just after that, she says that she's finding it difficult being a traitor because she feels guilty. So you know, this switching of roles has has made her feel guilty about her her behaviour now. Speaker 3 It comes back to some of what we've been saying, isn't it about this in Group? You know, you've been part of one in Group, now you're part of another in Group, but actually you're loyal to. It's not so easy. Speaker 2 Yeah, well, she's, she's been a faithful for, for for a long time now. So her feelings about the faithfuls are very different to meaners because because Charlotte has been a traitor from the beginning. She doesn't identify herself as a traitor. She's clearly identified herself as a faithful. She's formed that group identity, and she's formed those bonds with the faithfuls. So she's now a traitor, but it's not by choice. She had no choice. She wasn't seduced. She was recruited. So she doesn't seem to have this idea of sisterhood in the same way that that Mina does. So I think Mina thinks I've got this group, the sisterhood. She thinks of it really positively. If I invite Charlotte in, she will be part of the sisterhood. But Charlotte does not see herself as part of that group. And actually, at some point in the episode, Freddie says to Charlotte, I think it's Mina. And then Charlotte says later, I'm not going to tell Mina about people's suspicions about her because I want something up my sleeve. So she's having these moral dilemmas about the faithfuls, like voting for Alex. She won't vote to banish him, but she doesn't have these moral dilemmas around keeping secrets from Mina and potentially betraying her later on. So she kind of still identifies almost as a faithful. She seems to be more loyal to Alex than Mina almost now. Speaker 1 Did you think that she was crafty right from the start? Because I did. And here, Charlotte. Yeah. Yeah, Charlotte say. Speaker 2 She went under. I didn't really notice that much. Speaker 1 As soon as I get to the turret and she really she relishes the first murder. Yep. But did you notice how immediately she went with Anna? She no longer serves a purpose, but Mina doesn't pick up. Anna's the only one that's flagged Mina. And actually we see this happen in the next episode again. So Charlotte is really pushing every single person that votes for Mina and Mina seems to not detect it at all. So Charlotte, right from the start, I, it just speaks to how adaptable and quick she is on her feet because yeah, unless it's just pure coincidence, but I, I don't think so. I think she we talked. Speaker 3 Straight away. Speaker 1 Previous. Speaker 3 Episodes, didn't we about that, the adaptability being key to survival. And it's interesting because when Anna's murdered, she correctly says, I think it's meaner. Yeah. So actually she and of course she can't make any difference. And then we get the mission, which is the dolls. And this reminds me of the bird mission which we had in the last series and. Speaker 1 Yeah, the famous bird call that we're unfortunately not recorded that. Speaker 3 You did, both of you, and then we didn't record it, which is very sad. And we've got the dolls in the woods. Speaker 1 So, yeah, so this is the the creepy doll mission. So the players have to they're split into teams. One stays in the castle, the the other, the other team goes into the woods and they find a shed full of dolls that are saying either creepy sentences like I know where you sleep. Yeah, I don't like you. It's really strange things. Or some of them speak nursery rhymes backwards and the players have to learn the nursery rhyme backward. Yeah. Then shout it down the phone to the team in the castle. Yeah. We then have to learn it, run to a gramophone, speak it, and then play it in reverse to try and guess the tune. Yeah. Speaker 2 I think the thing about this mission, the most outstanding thing, is that they got any of them. Speaker 3 I think the most outstanding thing is that Alexander breaks Claudia because she has to go off and have a laugh, doesn't she, when he comes out with one of her things. Yeah. But I think what's interesting as well is there's a point at which obviously they have to, they go out and there's a shield. So they have to decide. Only the players going to the wood could possibly get a shield, which is interesting. But there's a point after, I don't know if it's in the mission. I think it's after where, where Alex says Linda hasn't thrown a traitor under the bus and Joe immediately catches onto that and says, how does he know? How does he know? And he thinks he's made a major mistake. And, and I think it comes back, Kevin, to some of what you were saying earlier about there's a tie in here, isn't there, with Claudia giving some information. This, this narrative that, that it's got to be one of these four players. There's there's different narratives that are running through. And I think we're seeing lots of cognitive bias in decision making. So we see some anchoring, so relying too heavily on the first piece of information. So now Joe's got a piece of information and he holds on to it. And then we see confirmation bias. So then you're seeking out information that supports what you think. So then we start to see people saying, oh, well, you know, I think they looked a bit suspicious there. And then this kind of prospect, they were choosing among options which are actually based on bias judgements. And I think we see a lot of that in both. Fozia or Alexandra must have been a traitor, then Claudia feeds well, the traitor could have been one of the four. And then we see going with that. And part of that is, as we've said before, there's very little information to go on, but they have. Speaker 2 To punch at every straw of information. Speaker 3 And then there's that kind of confirmation bias of sticking to what you think is right and and then focusing on information that supports that. Speaker 2 I think in relation to what, to what Alex says, you know, if you look at Linda's voting pattern, you can identify. But I think what he says is actually, it does sound very suspicious. And I think we've, we've talked a lot about, you know, players relying on emotion versus logic. And actually, logically, that is a very suspicious thing for him to say. And it's it's weird because in this episode, if you were using logic, it wouldn't work out for you very well because logically you would think, OK, he has slipped up here and he has said something that a traitor who knows who the traitors are would say. But actually it is just a simple error. And he, you know, he's a faithful. Speaker 1 Did did you see how Joe immediately runs to Jake and Leanne and this is him essentially building that that, you know, that voting body. So yeah, block so that they can and he pushes the narrative. And I thought it was really interesting that he was saying it and he was ecstatic. And it was almost like when Jake had seen, you know, the head turn from Linda. Speaker 2 Because because it looks like a like a like a useful, a really useful hue to loot to use. Speaker 3 I think it's interesting, isn't it? Because the round table here is quite difficult. It's a different kind of round table. I think there's one people are trying to be a bit more measured. There's not so emotion, there's much emotion at this round table. But but I think it is really interesting in terms of how it plays out. And I think it does go back to some of the theories that people have had as they've gone and, and this piece of information that Joe thinks he's got kind of shapes where the vote goes and Alex ends up leaving. Speaker 1 Yep, Alex is banished. Yeah. Well, OK, so that's that's kind of the end, but. Episode 9 It is, although there's one really important point before we go on to 9, which is that Charlotte says at some point we have to give them blood and it's not going to be me. Speaker 1 Yes, and again, Charlotte is pushing for people that are on to Mina. Yeah. And we see this as as the episode starts for episode 9, they have. They've murdered Lisa. Goodness not. Speaker 3 You. You're still not me. I'm OK. Speaker 1 But as she was enjoying another tipple in bed, there she is murdered. So the, the players notice when they come in for breakfast that the, the table is getting smaller and Mina seems really oblivious to Charlotte's duplicitous ways, you know, and, and she keeps on really dropping her name. You see this in instances like they're playing badminton and they're doing this countdown, you know, oh, tell me your suspicions. And she just drops Mina's name like it's nothing. And then, you know, switches. So she, she's, she's really working to, to betray the traitor. Now. The mission in this episode is all about running statues up a hill, yes. Speaker 3 A lot of hard work. Speaker 1 Lots of it's physically demanding and the statues are in two parts, so you have a heavy body that you really you can only take as a pair and slightly lighter heads you can carry on your own. But these the heads here, they have the names of the players on them. And so they have to take these statues, they have to create five complete statues on these plinth. And one of the plinth has a shield. Alexander really takes a leadership role here. And he instead of letting them argue and wasting time, he says, let's at least get the bodies up. And I thought that again, that shows that kind of his his mentality and and the way he takes charge of situations. He did it quite subtly. He wasn't overly forceful. He just, he just made an argument, you know, we're wasting time. We need to get going. We can choose later. He kind of. Speaker 2 Led from the front, didn't he? He did. He headed off with with carrying the the heavy statue and and people just followed him. Speaker 3 Absolutely. It's interesting, isn't it? Because there's this this time limit on this task, isn't there? So they've got to finish these statues to win the money, and they don't. Speaker 2 Get anything unless they. Speaker 3 Don't get anything. It's very, very cleverly put together. And so they get to this point where they have to then decide whose head is going on the statue to, to give them a shield. And Freddie reminds them that he got on the platoon at a previous mission. And we see we talked in the last episode about that sort of reciprocation transactional stuff. Yeah. So. And he's reminding them, just like Fozia did in the cage. Don't forget what I did for you. Yeah. Speaker 2 And he's, I, I, I voluntarily gave up the possibility of getting a shield in order for everybody else to progress. And so he does remind them of. Speaker 1 Did you did you notice how Joe felt really slighted when Leon eventually voted for Freddie and and he kept on saying well I didn't get a shield and I thought you seem to have forgotten that you had immunity in the Ring of Fire. Interesting, isn't? Speaker 3 It it's interesting. Speaker 2 Selective. Speaker 3 I also like the fact that Leanne carried her own head up and that kind of, and then that leads to some disgruntlement after, doesn't it? But it's really interesting because in that final moment they've got to make a decision, haven't they, about who gets it and they default to a vote. Because voting we see as a democratic way of making decisions, Psychology, decision making, there's different ways that you can make it. But culturally we, we see voting one person, one vote. And so there's something here about our, our actions and our behaviour are in part derived from the culture that we're in. So here, when we've got to make a decision, voting is something that we're used to doing and we see it as a democratic process and therefore we accept the outcome whether we like it or not. We might moan about it a bit, but we see it as a democratic model. And and so we see that enacted here where people go, OK, have a vote and and that's what happens. And Leanne is very cross afterwards that people might have thought she was selfish. Speaker 1 Which she was, but you know. Speaker 2 She didn't yes, she, she was the first person to head up there. She just got her own head and took it up there, didn't she? And then? Speaker 1 Yeah, and she she she'd been pretending to be, you know, she was done playing her fitness for so long. And then she's like, oh, well, yes, I need that shield. So let's go. Let's look that big weight all the way up the hill. Yeah. So we get to the wrong table. We see that essentially. Now, I'd already mentioned that, you know, that the preparing, the mentioning that there's a traitor and Leon coming out of the grave. The Traitor And also what we've seen throughout this episode is Leon has pointed out to several people that Leon is acting differently. And this seems to really kind of seal the deal. They all kind of run up against them and eventually he is banished. I don't. Do you have any thoughts on on? Speaker 3 The I think, I think what's really interesting is from a kind of social constructionist point of view. So that's kind of like, yeah, how, how do we construct? How do we think about things? We have a view that people's behaviour is much more consistent than it actually is. And so we have this kind of illusion of consistency where we think. So we say things like Clears not herself today because we think we have a pattern of how somebody behaves. And I think that plays into the traitors quite a lot because we expect that people's be. So as soon as somebody looks to not be being consistent, we assume that that means that they're a traitor. And it comes from the idea that we are much more consistent in our behaviour than we think we are. Speaker 2 And even though Leon does provide a very reasonable explanation for why his behaviour has changed, he said, you know, when I was in that coffin, I was really thinking about what I'm here for. I'm here for my family. I want to win. I can't trust anybody. And so when I came out, my behaviour changed because I'm really at the forefront of my mind is I'm thinking I'm not trusting anybody. Speaker 3 He also says, doesn't he, somebody put me in there. But so it's made him question everything. It is logical, but it's not seen to be in that way. So they have the round table. Alex Alexander is again consistent and calm and logical. Mina is very quiet round that round table and that's picked up on. Speaker 2 Yeah, it's the first. Speaker 3 Time. Lots of names are mentioned at the round table. Speaker 1 Yeah, it once again it's, it's, it's a little bit more like it was in earlier episodes where it's more more spread. Now it's, it's an emotional round table because they recognise how strong Leon was in in the group. And when he leaves, you know, you see the the mood drops and then Claudia comes in and tells him, oh, well, you're going to have a dinner party. Yeah. Speaker 2 Yeah. And I think the dinner party is really interesting in terms of they all said, oh, I'm too flat, or several of them said I'm too flat. I don't really want to go. I don't feel like having a dinner party. But once they actually get there, it seems to be a very, very positive experience for all of them. And I think we've, we've talked previously about how immersive this experience is, that the whole game, they're very immersed in it. It's very hard to remember that it's a game. There's a lot of emotions involved. They feel everything. They're really immersed in it. But I think the dinner party slightly bursts that immersion bubble because they all start talking about their, their outside lives and their lives outside the castle. And they almost seem to forget that they are two groups. They're they're faithfuls and traitors when all the players bond as people who have lives outside. So for once they're not talking about what's going on in the castle. I think Mina even says later on to the camera says it was a relief not to be talking about gameplay all the. Speaker 3 Time Alexander says we were like regular human beings talking we needed it what I thought was interesting is they almost at that dinner party they're almost one group of survivors we're the people that got this far because they say that don't we here's to the last however many yeah. And so I think you're right that that kind of the, the, the group divisions, yeah, are sort of, you know, they're, they're now becoming one group, which is gonna make things complex psychologically. Yeah. But also you're right that there's something about taking them out of that immersive experience and. Speaker 2 And I think, 'cause, 'cause they're talking about what they want the money for, yes, aren't they? So they're all talking about what they want, what they want the money for. And I think that strengthens the bonds between all the individuals because it's it becomes more personal instead of just being in focused on the process of the game. The negativity kind of goes the dinner party because they're all talking about why they want the money and they're reasons that everybody else at the table can understand why. So it's almost like you can forgive somebody for being a traitor because everybody wants money for reasons that all the others I mean. Speaker 3 Appreciating is interesting, isn't it? Because he says if teaching doesn't work out, I'll open a boozer and you can come. But not if you're a traitor. And then obviously we, we come to the end, don't we? And we see Charlotte, we do. Doesn't trust MENA, but MENA trusts Charlotte. Speaker 2 Yeah, and I think this is, you know, as I've, I've said previously in this episode, this this kind of mean as it's almost like mean as first major miscalculation here, isn't it? Is that she doesn't appreciate how much Charlotte has identified as a faithful and that now she can't just switch groups to become a a traitor. So she's just playing as an individual for herself. She's not playing for the pair of them. Speaker 3 In previous series, and indeed in this series, well they will have watched previous series while they'll have seen traitors turn on other traitors. So Charlotte's probably using that as her from social learning from that as her road map. So she may be thinking that Mina's not going to support her either. She doesn't know that when Mina talks about the sisterhood, she's she's. Speaker 1 Telling her the truth, yeah. Speaker 2 Well, Mina does say to camera, doesn't she? That initially she just wanted to be the final traitor left, but since working with Charlotte, she wants them both to get to the final and split the money. Whereas we know that Charlotte's already plotting against her, already sowing seeds about her as suspicious, and she's talking to other players and raising Mina's name. Speaker 3 I mean, even on the way here, I I overheard a group of students saying Wednesday is the best day of the week, and I'm pretty sure that Charlotte's gonna throw Mina under the bus. Mina. Speaker 2 Again, has made another miscalculation here because in the conclave, when they're talking about how they think they can make it to the end, Nina says to Charlotte, I just want to make it to the end and share the money with you. And Nina does not seem to notice Charlotte's facial expression because Charlotte's facial expression should have told Nina to be very, very careful because she pulls a kind of grimace. She slightly bites her her lower lip and looks down. So it's a a kind of anxious face and not an agreement face. It's definitely not a face that's agreeing and Mina should really have spotted that. It was a very, very strong facial expression to pull. And also, Charlotte doesn't agree with her. She doesn't say anything. She doesn't say yes. She doesn't look positive. She looks very hesitant. And it looks like Mina's missing this important behaviour. You know, Mina even says to camera, doesn't she? As a traitor, it's really hard to trust traitors, but I can trust Charlotte. So she, it seems like she's got a big blind spot here for Charlotte, whereas Charlotte is being, you know, 100% clear eyed. Speaker 3 And then there's a really good end, isn't there, Kevin? The End So I'm going to speculate here. And so if you watch the episode really carefully, at one point there is a shot the camera just does a close up of a book. Speaker 3 Called the seer. Speaker 1 Called the Seer, Yes, and if you know about the game of werewolves, there is a particular player known as the Seer that has a special ability. They wake up during the night and they can identify a werewolf. Speaker 3 They can ask a question about is this person a werewolf or not. So effectively, is this person a traitor or not? So we think the clue is there that that's could be the special power that the person has given. Speaker 1 That could be a big twist in terms of the gameplay. But, and this is this is the thing that I was thinking about. If this power comes into play, if it's someone like Joe, who what we've seen is he's able to rally the troops, he has the social capital to influence. If it's someone like him and he can get he has that nugget of information, then that will be a very powerful thing. But if the player that gets the power is on the outside is not as central to the group and doesn't sway as much. Speaker 2 Alexander Maybe there are already suspicions around. Speaker 1 Because he's Yeah. So that could be a double edged sword. They could think, oh this is a tactic by a trader so. Speaker 3 We have to wait and see. We have to. Speaker 1 Wait and see and it's going to be a very exciting week with the last three episodes. I'm really looking forward to the final. Do we have any predictions? Speaker 2 I'm going to predict that it could be Charlotte, I think. Speaker 1 Khalia's going with Charlotte. Speaker 3 I last time you were both right and I was wrong, so I also think it could be Charlotte. I think if it's a faithful, I'm going to say Alexander. I know there's heat on him, but I've got some faith in his skills. But I was terribly wrong last time, so I'm probably going to be wrong this time, Kevin. Speaker 1 I know a lot can change in this game from 1 episode to the next. True. So I am hoping that Mina picks up on Charlotte's deception because I'm going to be Team Mina. Speaker 3 OK. Speaker 1 All right, well, that's it. Join us next week for the finale. I've been your host, Doctor Kevin Hoschard. Speaker 2 I'm Doctor Clear Wright. Speaker 3 I'm Professor Lisa Oakley, and that was the psychology of the traitors.