Warning: contains a banishment spoiler for The Traitors series 3, episode 7Not looking in the ugly mirror is a basic rule for maintaining self esteem. Wherever yours hangs (mines in my in-laws downstairs bathroom), that harshly lit, unnaturally magnifying surface that only ever reflects back sagging jowls, baggy pores and surprise eyelid hairs is one to avoid. Slip past it and keep up the illusion that your face is still the same one from your graduation photos instead of the melted-wax, double-chinned imposter who gurns up at you from your Facetime screen like Gollum in a toilet.Itd be straightforward if ugly mirrors only hung in caf loos and bookshop stairwells. They dont. Theres at least one in your home right now, and if its anything like mine, its playingThe Traitorson BBC One and reflecting the ugliest truth of all: man, we are clueless.The Traitorsshows that not only are we clueless, but, more unflattering than that, wethinkthat were clever. Wise is the man who knows that he knows nothing? Well, delusional is the Faithful who knows 100% that one of their fellow players is a Traitor.To recap for the holdouts who refuse Reality TV like a hunger striker refuses a sandwich (piously and without prospect of joy):The Traitorswelcomes 25 contestants to a castle in Scotland where Claudia Winkleman toys with them in fingerless gloves. Three are secretly selected as Traitors and convene each night to choose which of the remaining Faithful to murder/leave a note for saying theyve been murdered. The Faithful have to sniff out the Traitors in the nightly roundtables after which everybody votes on who to banish from the castle. The Traitors have to do whatever they can form alliances, misdirect, and sow suspicion about Faithfuls not to get caught.In the most recent episode, a Traitor was successfully banished, and the Faithful reacted like chimps in a blood frenzy. The chap whod petitioned for the Traitors removal leapt up, slapped his hands on the table and jumped around shouting I did it! I did it! Day one! Day one! Come on! Comeon! From the train! On that train!Here, its useful to know that the contestants arrive on the show via train. Crucially though, in light of the man celebrating having pinpointed a Traitor as far back as the train, is that there are no Faithfuls or Traitors on that train. The roles arent assigned until after they reach the castle. What hes celebrating is having had a random hunch early doors, and that hunch, just as randomly, turning out to have been right. Its stupid, and its also how the entire thing works.The Traitorsmay as well be named Confirmation Bias Castle because every 100%, dead-on conviction the Faithful have about whos a Traitor is a guess shored up by nonsense. Somebody blinks at the wrong time theyre a Traitor. Somebody looks down at the wrong time Traitor. Somebody is too nice, or too rude, or too loud, or too quiet, or too anything Traitor, Traitor, Traitor.Have your name mentioned at all, in fact, and youre a Traitor. The same cynical engine that keeps pumping existing-IP franchises into cinemas because we all flock to stuff weve seen and heard before, drives the Faithfuls accusations.Once a name takes hold in a group, reasons are found to stand in for evidence in a post-rationalisation free-for-all. Faithfuls suspicions go from 0 to 60 in seconds until theyre willing to stake their survival in the game on what can only ever be a stab in the dark. Bonded groups convince themselves of how right they are, and how Faithful they are. Nobody talks about guesses, only what theyknow. Theyre convinced that their groundless theories, based on nothing but social bonds and post hoc fallacy, are fact.Its striking how attached players get to their hunches. Even when new evidence presents itself, theyll ignore or deny it to suit the version of events theyve already decided on. Even after being proven wrong when a banished player reveals themselves to have been Faithful, they still nurse suspicions and try to justify their wrongness.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Its not a pretty reflection, but like that waxy-faced jowly one in the ugly mirror, its also the unfortunate truth.The Traitors pantomime of conviction based on affiliation, and guesses dressed as fact, is exactly how we all do it too. Ever read a headline and filed it mentally away, but not bothered to investigate further? Thats Livi seizing on Freddies name and choosing him as her hill to die on. Ever formed a trust attachment to somebody based solely on proximity? Thats the Faithful crossing their fingers that OG player Leon had survived the episode six game instead of latecomers Fozia and Alexander. Ever been absolutely sure of something but subsequently proved wrong, and then done it again and again and again? Thats the players almost every episode.The Traitorshas developed into ingenious television thats precision-engineered to captivate its audience. Its both a brilliant TV distraction and a high-camp laugh. In these post-expert, alternative-fact, disinformation-rife days though, its also getting harder to squint away from the unflattering reality it reflects.The Traitors series three airs at 9pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays on BBC One and iPlayer.