So farewell then Linda, you’ve been a fantastic Traitor from that very first giveaway head-turn in episode one. Not because you are any good at the game because, let’s face it, you haven’t really had a clue what’s been going on. But because you’ve been hugely, and brilliantly, entertaining.
While some of the Traitors, like Paul last year, clearly spent ages thinking about their gameplay, their tactics and their strategy, Linda looked like she’d never given it a single thought until rocking up on the BBC1 gameshow. She seemed genuinely surprised to be there, despite having watched the previous two series and, you know, filled in the application forms.
I think the main appeal of the cheerful pensioner was how happy she was to let Minah do all the heavy-lifting when it came to being a Traitor, which suited them both just fine and gave us lots of laughs. “Absolutely!” she’d reply to every single one of Minah’s suggestions. But every now and then she’d decide to make a teeny bit more effort, and that’s what provided those choice Linda moments.
Top of the pile was theatre-gate, when she decided to sob like crazy over the murder of Livi – in which she’d participated – having only told Jake the night before that she was very good at holding her emotions in. I mean, what was she thinking?
Yet somehow, time after time, the others would be distracted by the behaviour of a fellow Faithful just enough to vote them off instead, giving Linda a stay of execution.
Clever Fozia telling Linda that she wasn’t going to last at the start of last night’s show was terrific “Get a good night’s sleep tonight because you’re going next,” she warned. And how right Fozia was.
Linda’s farewell at the Round Table was by far the most believable performance she’d put in for the whole series – clearly because it didn’t involve any actual acting. “Guys, I’ve had the most amazing time,” she said, meaning every word. “This has been the pinnacle of my life and to experience this, at my age, and get this far – I’ve had a whale of a time, so thanks for it.”
The final exchange between Linda and Minah was also very sweet, when they agreed that Minah would write her name on the slate if she had to, and Linda told her to “Go to the end baby!”
Minah did seem to genuinely miss her sidekick and has vowed to stay true to the “sisterhood” by picking another female Traitor to join her if she can.
There’s only one problem. Anna has rumbled Minah. But can she convince the others?
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