Beware of the Straightors: The Traitors bros vs. the women and gays

Meet Rob, from Boston.

"Boston" Rob Mariano, who competed five times on Survivor and won a season, is one of the most polarizing cast members in reality TV history.

By default, Boston Rob's gameplay relies on groupthink, mob-esque alliances that he must be in charge of. He is not one to forgive or forget traitors who turn against him in a game, but he is known for claiming credit for "moves" or ideas that he did not originate.

Andy Herren, who won Big Brother 15 and became the first-ever out gay person to win the show, has been outspoken about Boston Rob (and "bro" archetypes like him) in reality competitions.

"I hate the bro archetype!" Herren tells Out. "We eliminated all the bros immediately on my season of Big Brother, and it wasn't by accident! These men usually only find others exactly like themselves interesting."

The BB15 winner adds, "Losing Dorinda [Medley] and gaining three men who only love working with other men in episode 1 of The Traitors was very frustrating. And spare me on Rob being a 'strategic mastermind.' His strategy on Survivor: Winners at War [all-winners season] was 'nobody is allowed to talk strategy.'"

"I think these men have done well in the past because there were always a lot of them in any given cast. When it's one gay man against seven bros, the bros will usually win out," Andy says. "But this is changing! Casts are getting more diverse, and competitions are becoming more equitable. The 'reign of the bro' is seemingly coming to an end."

Meet Derrick, the mastermind.

Derrick Levasseur entered Big Brother 16 with a huge secret that was only revealed at the grand finale: He was a cop.

Over the course of BB16, Derrick was in charge of several dominant alliances that had different configurations — from the Bomb Squad to Team America to The Detonators — but his only real allegiance was to the final-two pact between him and Cody Calafiore, which was nicknamed as The Hitman.

"Take Big Brother 16, for example: any woman with an opinion was eliminated immediately," Herren notes. "These players are always boring, but what really irks me is that the shows they're on think they are interesting."

Every single season after Big Brother 16 copied the exact same structure set up by Derrick: a group of six people gets together, stays loyal to each other, uses other players to help them vote as a majority, and disposes of outsiders when necessary to honor their secret final-two pacts.

When asked if he thinks that The Traitors season 3 will follow the same blueprint, Herren feels optimistic.

"I honestly don't think the bros will steamroll their way to the end on The Traitors. As we saw with Dan [Gheesling] last season, usual bro tricks are sniffed out quickly by a lot of the other players. Like Boston Rob being disappointed that none of the Traitors were straight men. And Derrick giving a shield to a straight man he didn't know, when he had two female Big Brother connections to give it to. Not shocking in either instance, I'm sad to report."

These strategies — which have bothered a significant portion of reality TV fans for over 20 years — seems to be in full effect in season 3 of The Traitors. However, Herren believes there are several players on the show savvy enough to outplay Derrick, Boston Rob, and Wes.

The Big Brother winner explains, "Britney [Haynes], Danielle [Reyes], Chrishell [Stause], Nikki [Garcia], Carolyn [Wiger], etc. are all savvy and smart. I don't think Boston Rob or Derrick will outsmart them. They thrive when they have their army of bros, and they don't have that this time."

"I also selfishly hope they don't do well because I have always been a vocal Boston Rob and Derrick hater," Herren concludes. "They're both overrated. Sorry!"

Meet Tom, who's confused.

A group of Bravo fans who despise Tom Sandoval following his "Scandoval" drama from Vanderpump Rules aren't buying this Traitors presentation of someone who is constantly lost and confused — and almost seems purposely "10 steps behind" in the game at all times. On the other hand, Tom doesn't come from a reality competition series, so his general confusion could be totally legitimate.

If players like Derrick, Wes, and Boston Rob end up trusting that Tom is actually confused, this naïveté will serve them well by taking Tom as far as possible with the knowledge that he's an easy competitor to beat. Now, if Tom turns out to pull a stunt toward the end, and do a "reveal" that he's actually downplaying his strategic abilities this whole time (à la Jun Song on Big Brother 4 and Ian Terry on Big Brother 14), that would certainly make the Scandoval drama look like child's play.

Meet Dylan, the cutie.

The Traitors fans are absolutely obsessed with Dylan Efron — previously just known as Zac Efron's brother, but who now is very much standing on his own and becoming a reality TV superstar. Within the dynamics of a dominant alliance, Dylan occupies a similar role to Dr. Will Kirby on BB2, Cody Calafiore on BB16, and Tyler Crispen on BB20: the gays and the girls have a crush, the other guys are infatuated, and the producers lean all the way in.

Dylan is a dangerous player for the Straightors to take to the end given that he's charming and actually smart. However, as seen in episode 4, Dylan's tentative plan to oust Bob the Drag Queen was exploited by Boston Rob, who used Dylan's suspicions to further his own ends. Boston Rob, in particular, as a Traitor, knows Dylan's radar is too accurate, which could place a target on Dylan in the very near future.

Meet Wes, the defector.

It's already been established that Wes Bergmann is onto Boston Rob — which could culminate in a very exciting clash of two reality TV titans. With that said, we've seen Wes in as many as 20 seasons/spinoffs of The Challenge having all the competitive skills and strategic insights to do well…and then he just doesn't. Wes has won three of the 20 seasons he's competed in, often making it to the grand finale and falling short by just a little bit.

It would be wise for Wes to secretly make his way out of the Straightors alliance and expose Boston Rob's game to the Faithfuls, but it's unclear if he'd be able to pull that off. Furthermore, it's hard to believe that Derrick would play along with Wes instead of picking a more easier person to beat in the finale.

Meet Sam, Britney's ex.

Sam Asghari, the actor and model who was married to Britney Spears for two years, is competing on The Traitors season 3 and is blindly following the fellow straight men who are giving him instructions. Sam is the perfect person for a player like Wes, Derrick, and/or Boston Rob to take to the end. But he can also be used as a shield if any of the Straightors ever needs to turn on him to defend themselves.

This is also a pretty common archetype in these dominant alliances formed by men: from Corey Brooks on Big Brother 18 to Brett Robinson on Big Brother 20.

Sam is there, on TV, looking great!

The Traitors season 3 streams Thursdays on Peacock.