'The Traitors' was a big loss for the bad guys: How the 5 Traitors' strategies went awry

Spoiler alert: This post contains details from the finale of “The Traitors” Season 3 (now streaming on Peacock).

It was a cannibalistic season for the murderous Traitors, who went at each other more than they targeted Faithfuls to kill off on the competition show.

Their strategy was so individualistic, so uncompromising, that it cost the group – comprising Bob the Drag Queen, “Boston” Rob Mariano, Carolyn Wiger, Danielle Reyes and Britney Haynes – the prize pot of up to $250,000. They left the door wide open for Faithfuls Gabby Windey, Dylan Efron, Dolores Catania and Lord Ivar Mountbatten to take the bragging rights as the Season 3 winners.

Here are Season 3’s Traitors and how they were plucked off, one by one.

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Bob the Drag Queen

First to go from the murderous bunch was “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 8 winner Bob (who is non-binary and uses he/him and she/her pronouns), affectionately known to some as Bob TDQ/Tidicue. He landed on Boston Rob’s bad side with one simple comment in Episode 4 and ultimately drowned under Rob’s underhanded vote collecting tactics ahead of the roundtable.

The beginning of the end: “I did think that one of the new guys needs a head up there because we all think one of them might be a Traitor.” Rob felt this offhanded comment after the statue-building game put “the sus” on him, and he started launching an offensive against “the head of the dragon.” Rob embarked on a campaign to get Bob off the show before the drag queen could do the same to him, and this set the tone for a season full of traitor-on-traitor crimes.

How Bob the Drag Queen got banished: Bob did not do himself any favors with his overly defensive strategy at the Episode 4 roundtable. Dolores, Danielle, Chrishell, Britney, Ciara, Dylan, Carolyn, Sam, Ivar, Rob and Bob Harper voted for him after Rob managed to turn them against the drag queen.

But before his grand exit – and as he floundered in the face of Rob’s direct attacks – Bob managed to get in one low blow to fellow millennials: the cutting remark that Dylan Efron’s older brother, Zac Efron might be an actor, but “not a good one.”

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Boston Rob

His gaming prowess, banishment of a fellow Traitor and ability to wiggle out of the spotlight in multiple roundtable conversations didn’t keep Boston Rob safe for long. The “Survivor” legend was voted out of the castle in Episode 7 after he saw to the murder of his biggest threat, Derrick, which placed “the sus” on him (as Rob would say).

The beginning of the end: Going so hard for Bob the Queen earlier in the season started getting the cogs turning for some players, who wondered whether it was a case of a Traitor getting out another Traitor. Then with Derrick’s murder, Dolores accurately noted that fingers could start pointing at Rob, who replied with shockingly little conviction: “Yeah, I’m being framed.”

How Boston Rob got banished: A broken clock is right at least twice a day. Tom Sandoval believed Rob was a Traitor and could not be convinced otherwise. Though Rob tried to deflect suspicion onto Britney, the roundtable discussion did not go his way. Sam pointed out that several times, those who dared to target Rob found themselves sleeping with the fishes. Fellow Traitors Danielle and Carolyn gauged how the winds were blowing and jumped aboard the “Rob is a Traitor” train just in time. Tom, Britney, Carolyn, Ivar, Sam, Danielle and Gabby cast their votes in Rob’s direction.

Carolyn Wiger

With her offbeat antics and sincerity, Carolyn flew under the radar throughout Season 3. Then she burned out in spectacular fashion, becoming the third Traitor to fail their mission of stealing away the prize money from the Faithfuls.

The beginning of the end: Carolyn and Danielle had been at odds since Danielle started floating Carolyn’s name earlier in the season. Things between the two came to a head in Episode 9, when the Traitors were gifted the option of replenishing their membership with a new player. Danielle wanted “Big Brother” bestie Britney to join the crew, and Carolyn accurately clocked this as a possible ploy to knock her out of the running for the prize money.

The nail in the coffin, likely, was the human chess game in which she just couldn’t keep her cool. Carolyn realized too late that, as a Traitor, her aim was not to get the superlatives correct but, rather, to be as inobtrusive as possible. She put herself on the chopping block by naming herself as a player no one listens to and, well, the rest is history.

How Carolyn got banished: In a game of Danielle versus Carolyn, the Faithfuls had a 100% chance of ridding themselves of a Traitor in their midst. (Unfortunately, Tom and Dolores did not get the memo, as they confoundingly wrote each other’s names on their blackboards.) Danielle convinced Faithfuls Ivar, Britney and Dylan to get the “Survivor” alum out of the castle. And as Carolyn admits, “I wasn’t ready to fully defend myself.” Carolyn’s dear friend Dylan was the deciding vote.

Danielle Reyes

Against all odds – including eyebrow-raising antics such as her overly dramatic banishment reactions – Danielle made it to the final episode. She was a hairsbreadth away from a win when the Faithfuls finally got their act together and voted en masse to take out the “Big Brother” alumna.

The beginning of the end: It was by sheer miracle that Danielle didn’t make it on to everyone’s hit list in Episode 5, when she somehow thought it was a good idea to keep nominating players other than herself for a shield during the riddle game. Then there was the falling-to-the-ground-hyperventilating when Carolyn was banished and also Gabby’s astute observation that Carolyn’s banishment might’ve been yet another Traitor-versus-Traitor moment.

How Danielle got banished: The first of two banishments in the finale had a split vote between Ivar and Danielle. Dylan could not ignore the mountain of evidence against his friend Danielle, and he jotted down her name. Gabby also cast her vote for Danielle, and Britney – claiming she thought her “vote would not save” Danielle – did the same.

Britney Haynes

Britney had one of the show’s shorter stints as a Traitor. Despite the season beginning with an iciness between the two over Britney voting Danielle off “Big Brother Reindeer Games,” they turned into strong allies, with Danielle keeping her new friend safe from murder. But the strategy backfired as Britney contributed to Danielle’s banishment in what was either a calculated move or a fatal mistake.

The beginning of the end: Boston Rob planted the seed that Britney might be a Traitor back when she was saving his own hide in Episode 7, and he didn’t even know the prophesy would turn out to be true. Between this niggling thought in the back of some Faithfuls’ minds, as well as the fact that Danielle was so aghast at her best friend’s betrayal earlier in the final episode, the remaining contestants could not in good conscience go to the fire pit with Britney still alive and breathing.

How Britney got banished: As the finale came to a close, Britney’s offensive against Dylan did not go according to plan. Her argument that Danielle being “visibly distraught” by Dylan’s vote for her banishment meant he was stabbing a fellow Traitor in the back did not win anyone over. For once, the roundtable had a unanimous vote, and Britney was cast out – and was unable to reveal her status as she left the Faithfuls to guess whether there was another fox in the henhouse.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Traitors' Season 3: The 5 Traitors and how they were banished