Once again, Alan Cumming and his collection of capes and tartans have assembled a band of merry C-list celebrities in a Highland castle, where they are participating in a lavishly produced parlor game of murder and betrayal: “The Traitors.” We became hooked in season 2, and season 3 brought in some of our dream cast members — Chrishell Stause, Gabby Windey, Dorinda Medley — alongside legendary contestants from strategy shows like “Survivor” and “Big Brother,” a motley crew of one-off stars from shows like “Summer House” and “The Biggest Loser,” and people who are one degree of separation from actual fame. But it also brought in a heavy dose of sexism, a palpable undercurrent of boys-rule-girls-drool, that we didn’t expect after watching season 2.

The show premiered this week with a three-episode drop, which gets us properly into the drama. We see the selection of our Traitors, the first two murders, and the first two banishments, and we get to know our new cast as well. “Bachelorette” Gabby, in between dropping A-plus quips in her talking head interviews, forms a hot-girl alliance with Nikki Garcia and Chrishell. The Housewives stick together, perhaps tot their detriment. Sam Asghari refuses to tell anyone whether Britney Spears, his ex-wife, watches Bravo, and everyone immediately loses interest in him. Wells Adams, softened from years of slinging margaritas on “Paradise,” immediately becomes a paranoid wreck. Not-famous brother Dylan Efron emerges as an unlikely detective. Tom Sandoval, shocking nobody, is uniquely terrible at reading people, while also coming off as a self-serving worm. And the gamers swagger around, flaunting their strategic bonafides and sizing each other up.

But the show is also, currently, sizing up as a battle of the sexes — a dynamic that falls into place mere minutes into the first challenge. The cast has to row a Viking ship across the loch, leaving behind two contestants at each of up to five pontoons containing money for the prize fund and fuel to complete the challenge. After the journey, they must return to shore and light a circle on fire; anyone within the circle gets a shield and is safe from murder. The men immediately, instinctively, seem to decide that the women must sacrifice themselves, since they are all inherently weaker than any of the men on board, and less able to complete the rowing challenge. The female contestants are instructed and pressure to leave the boat in favor of the stronger men. Once they leave, however, they’re also treated with suspicion — because only a Traitor would be willing to give up a shield. It’s a double bind that attaches almost entirely to the women, while the men ruthlessly protect their own survival (with few and notable exceptions).

Was this intentional game design? A symptom of society’s accelerating embrace of reactionary gender politics? Probably both! But this challenge wasn’t the only element of the game thus far that has structurally disadvantaged female contestants. We dug in to our thoughts on how gender has played into the season so far, as well as the Traitors’ strategy thus far, what each cast member is bringing to the table, and more. Hope you enjoy! xo

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