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Don’t Come for the Housewives, Honey

The Traitors’ oversimplified gamers-vs.-non-gamers divide overlooks what the best Bravo stars to ever do it are capable of on an individual level.

So caught up in their fear of a clique and the oversimplified binary between competitive and noncompetitive reality shows, The Traitors gamers fail to understand the subtle strategy and critical thinking mandatory for a long-term Real Housewives career. It’s wild to watch Phaedra reduced to her Traitors on-camera persona, especially by someone like Dan, a supposedly powerful gamer who oafs around doing a consistent “aw shucks” bit while Parvati damn near thwacks him in the noggin with a poisonous goblet. These women excel at looking someone dead in the eyes, ignoring a literal binder of receipts and hours of footage, and convincing the accuser, the audience, and God himself that “I never said that.” It’s a commitment to the bit, a refusal to back down, a willingness to build a multi-season arc on a single conviction.

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