After seemingly playing an incredible game so far, it seems like Joe and Tomica are on the verge of elimination. If their stock dropped last week because there was a hint of suspicion on them, they are full on bathing in the spotlight now. While they were able to murder a Faithful and get another one voted out, the turret trio seem to be in a less than ideal situation. However, new names were floated at the round table, giving them a semblance of wiggle room to move forward with.
During the episode, we said goodbye to Niyyah (who I ranked as the third most likely to win last week — oops) and Michael (who I had ranked as 9th).
Here's how I've ranked the players in order of least to most likely to win this game.
14. Victor Vollbrechthausen (Last Week: 16)
While it clearly is such a bad idea to kill him tonight, after clocking two Traitors, Victor can't be long for this world. Luckily for him, when he dies, he'll have proven to have played one of the most correct games in Traitors history, clocking 66% of the Traitors during a murder-in-plain-sight. Too bad he'll have to see it from the afterlife.
13. Joe Vanella (Last Week: 12)
Victor's biggest mistake was gunning for Tomica before he went for Joe. Tomica was able to fend off the suspicion because people believed she would have never killed Niyyah. That's true — she wouldn't! It's because Joe did it. While Tomica might get banished before Joe does, as soon as she goes, he'll be next to follow after he so vocally defended her about the fruit. It's too bad, because before he picked up that apple, I likely would have Joe in the top 3 most likely to win.
12. Tomica Adams (Last Week: 11)
If Tomica never touched a piece of fruit again in her life, I wouldn't blame her. Most impressive for her is that she managed to navigate her way out of the bullseye, all while not voting for Michael on the way out. Her social game has kept her alive. If anybody can defy my power rankings here and go onto win the game despite being so low placed, it's Tomica. Unfortunately, it's a long, uphill battle from here on out.
11. Jay Vinnedge (Last Week: 16)
I'll give Jay some credit for continuing to not be voted out. He's quieted himself in a way that has taken the heat off of him, but eventually he'll get looked at again and will get banished. The best case scenario I can see for him is being eliminated towards the end of the game where alignments are not revealed as I believe the Faithful will simply have to eliminate the world where he might be a Traitor in order to feel like they have any shot of winning the game.
10. Wyatt Gillespie (Last Week: 4)
It's a giant drop down in the list for Wyatt, who Abby called out for being suspicious this week. Once your name has been thrown out at the round table, it becomes very, very hard to come back from that. While he defended himself tonight, it's bad news for him whether Abby lives or dies. If she stays alive, she'll call him out. If she dies, it will look like he murdered her.
9. Katie Fites (Last Week: 13)
While Katie has seemed to survive the suspicion being thrown her way, once Jay is eliminated, I think eyes will return to the tiny Traitor. At this point in the game, I view her odds of winning depend entirely on the next Faithful who gets recruited as a Traitor. Some fresh blood in the turret could be just what Katie needs to survive.
8. Abby Lee (Last Week: 7)
I've moved her down just slightly on the list for a few reasons. Victor and her chatted about their ideas, and she steered the conversation away from Tomica and Joe towards Wyatt. Whenever information is revealed about any of those people, Abby is going to get looked at for trying to protect a Traitor or gun for a Faithful, and that doesn't bode well for her.
7. Kriste Lewis (Last Week: 14)
Kriste seems like the most vocal non-Victor Faithful at the moment. While that can be a good thing to winning the game, it also means she will come under threat of being considered for a murder. She seems quite confident, too, which sometimes can lead the Faithful to second guess whether they are being led to the slaughter.
6. Abbey Benjamin (Last Week: 10)
Her change in placement this week seems moreso because there are people playing worse games than her, rather than her doing a lot to move herself up. Abbey still feels like a really great turret murder, but there are other options who might seem juicier at the moment.
5. Clyde Moser (Last Week: 8)
The Dolls got caught up in their own bluff/double bluff/triple bluff situation this week when they started to think that their ally Michael could make for a great Traitor, so they sent him home. He revealed himself as a Faithful, which might make them relieved but also wracked with guilt for having voted him out of the game. The one positive of having eliminated him publicly is whether people will think Clyde would have done that if he was a Traitor.
4. Ben McDonnell (Last Week: 1)
For similar reasons to Clyde, I have moved Ben down the list. He got caught up in wondering whether Michael was deceiving him that they voted out one of their best Faithfuls. It also showed that The Dolls are willing to play a more cutthroat game after voting out their friend, potentially raising his threat level to both the Traitors and the Faithful.
3. Morgan Cook (Last Week: 6)
I will correct what I said last week and think Morgan showed some strategic thought this week that could lead her to being either a Faithful who survives to the end, or as a recruited Traitor. While there are two other people I have ranked higher, I think their only shots at winning the game are by remaining a Faithful. Meanwhile, the Traitors get the option to recruit someone, I think their best bet would be Morgan.
2. Mark Zgoda (Last Week: 5)
I love this sweet, innocent bimbo catching grapes from a Traitor. He feels like the epitome of someone who wins the game as a Faithful, even if they aren't 100% sure of they found themselves there.
1. Shane Beatty (Last Week: 2)
Shane doesn't seem to be driving the votes a particular way, but he was the first person to speak up at the Round Table this week. That signals to me that he is a leader. With the Traitors being so low on my list, I have a person who I think is the most Faithful of the Faithful the highest on my list.
