‘The Traitors’ 3×04 review: “I Will Bury You Under the Sand”

Never trust a Traitor to play an honorable game. We’re only on the fourth episode of Peacock’s The Traitors Season 3 and the group has already turned on one of their own. “I Will Bury You Under the Sand” should’ve been renamed as “No Honor Amongst Thieves” based on the players’ actions. This round is a perfect example of how quickly the tide can turn when effective strategy is put into place. Boston Rob amassed his numbers and got the job done: he got a Traitor banished! It’s a shocking move so early into the season, and one that could potentially cause huge consequences down the line.

Marked for death

The first big move of “I Will Bury You Under the Sand” came when the Traitors killed Jeremy at night. The Traitors franchise has experimented with these ‘marked for death’ twists before; they’re a great way to place suspicion on targets and integrate into the group. The shortlisted targets of Jeremy, Ciara, and Nikki were great options because all three were mostly quiet/playing in the background, and both Jeremy & Nikki had allies who strongly believed they were Faithfuls. Plus, Ciara’s no-nonsense personality makes her seem like she’s hiding a secret or pretending to be a Traitor. All three were strong targets on which suspicion could be placed.

Killing Jeremy was a riskier move, but I agreed that it paid off in the short term. Jeremy was more vocal about his Traitor suspicions and he was slowly catching onto Danielle as a big target. With Tony’s recent banishment, no one was going to vote out Jeremy due to sympathy over losing a friend. Nikki or Ciara would’ve been safer options for kills, but it wouldn’t advance the Traitors’ game; they’re too on the outskirts or in their own groups. The better play for now was to keep them alive and frame them as possible Traitors.

And this shows that Carolyn was right not to place a Traitor as one of the marked targets. Did you see how fast Derrick and the others turned their suspicions on Nikki and Ciara? If Carolyn had been marked, all eyes would’ve been on her too. Carolyn is playing one of the strongest Traitor games so far; she needs to keep being herself and in the background. The others should start listening to her – her intuition isn’t wrong, and she’s picked up on several bad moves.

Safety in number one

The totem challenge seemed easy as an idea, but its simple nature exposed the greater threats beneath the surface. These types of games bring so much to the table because they offer more to the greater story at hand and the group’s dynamic. For example, there was a huge line in the sand between the more self-involved players and the team players. Competitors like Wes and Boston Rob ensured that their statue heads got to the top of the hill before others to win a shield. No conversations, no debates over who needed a shield, no talking about who should pick up the statue bodies – only putting themselves first. This is a frustrating trend in these competition reality shows.

Don’t get me wrong, self-preservation is a must in these games. Do what you need to do; safety is everything. But let’s not pretend that we haven’t seen this type of gameplay countless times across many other shows, like The Challenge or Survivor. This was a game of strength, and the strongest men easily got their heads up the hill first to force their way into safety. Just like the boat challenge, the men once again dictated who “got safety first.” While it can be debated that even Bob H. struggled in the game, this wasn’t an overall fair and balanced challenge.

The traitor of my Traitor is my friend?

Now for the big question of “I Will Bury You Under the Sand”: did Boston Rob make the right call by turning the vote on Bob the Drag Queen? Boston Rob threw out Bob’s name because Bob said the group suspected the new guys of being a Traitor. However, I also saw this as Boston Rob using this tactic as a shield to prove his innocence; similar to when Dan failed to vote out Phaedra. He sacrificed his ally in the hopes of advancing his game. My assessment, on the other hand, is that this was a bad move that will haunt Boston Rob.

Ultimately, Boston Rob overplayed his hand. We’re only on the fourth episode of The Traitors Season 3 and he has already betrayed an ally. He’s brought himself to the forefront as a ‘Traitor hunter’ who correctly identified someone after playing for only two rounds. To make this move, you have to successfully get people on your side while avoiding suspicion for how you got there. There is a huge difference between Dylan suspecting Bob the Drag Queen vs. when Boston Rob got on board. Dylan followed his intuition, but he wasn’t fully sure; Boston Rob, however, was 100% positive and wouldn’t back down. How can you be so positive?! Overconfidence this early on is a dead giveaway.

And neither Danielle nor Carolyn wanted to vote out Bob the Drag Queen. If it wasn’t for Boston Rob securing the majority votes, they wouldn’t have eliminated an ally. This early move only proves to them that Boston Rob would betray them in a heartbeat if given the chance. If it’s not the Faithfuls putting the pieces together on their own, it’ll be Danielle and Carolyn steering the ship in that direction as revenge. Boston Rob played this too much like Survivor and ignored the large picture of this being a completely different game.

The Faithfuls score a win

Bob the Drag Queen’s elimination is more of a Dylan victory than Boston Rob. Sure, Boston Rob secured the votes, but Dylan was the first to make the case and spot all the strange behaviors that stood out. As mentioned during the season premiere review, Bob was one of the most vocal players in the game who started conversations and theories. He was too much in the forefront, and when accused, he was ready to go to scorched earth to protect himself. Bob was entertaining as hell on The Traitors, but he was too obvious as a Traitor. If it weren’t now, his days would’ve been numbered eventually.

“I Will Bury You Under the Sand” was a shining example of a successful vote from strategic and social games combined. The entire Bob vote was secured in the short time between the end of the challenge and the beginning of the roundtable. That’s not a lot of time! From there, we were treated to an explosive roundtable filled with plenty of emotions and heartbreak. While the challenge had some noticeable drawbacks to it, the overall round delivered a thrilling outcome.

The Traitors airs new episodes on Thursdays on Peacock.