After AJ confronted Alex Nation, revealed he knew she was a Traitor and pitched himself as a future recruit, viewers were left with one very obvious question: was this genius, madness, or the kind of genius that only works until Kirby Bentley walks into the room?
Alvin Quah has now weighed in, and his answer is basically: clever move, wrong Traitor to convince.
AJ's Plan Was Big, Bold And Deeply Risky
In a Chattr interview, Alvin broke down AJ's plan after watching the episode play out. The move started when AJ realised Alex and Alvin were both Traitors, then privately told Alex he knew her secret.
Instead of immediately exposing her, AJ floated a much bigger idea. He wanted Alex to work with him from inside the Turret, help get Alvin out, potentially move against Kirby and eventually recruit AJ as a Traitor.
Subtle? Absolutely not. Entertaining? Unfortunately for everyone's blood pressure, yes.
Alvin told Chattr he thought it was "brilliant gameplay by AJ", and also described the pitch as "very, very gutsy". Which feels about right for a plan that involved telling a Traitor you know their secret, then asking for a promotion.
Alvin Thinks Kirby Was The Problem
The snag, in Alvin's view, was Kirby.
Alvin said he did not think Kirby would recruit AJ, arguing she would be too strategic to fall for that kind of pressure. His read was that AJ chose Alex because she was the Traitor he believed he could reach, while Kirby would have been a much harder sell.
That turns the whole thing into a deliciously messy endgame debate. If AJ needed Kirby gone before he could become a Traitor, he was not just pitching a recruitment. He was trying to reorder the power structure from the outside while still technically playing as a Faithful.
No wonder the plan felt so thrilling and so doomed at the same time.
The Fan Debate Is Still Alive
The fun of this particular move is that it can be read two ways.
On one hand, AJ identified the Traitors, got inside Alex's head and helped create the conditions for Alvin's exit. On the other, he placed himself squarely in the danger zone with Kirby still in play, which is not exactly where you want to be when murder is an actual game mechanic.
Alvin's verdict gives fans a tidy new frame for the argument. Maybe AJ was several steps ahead, but maybe Kirby was the one step he could not move.
Either way, The Traitors Australia has managed to turn one private conversation into an entire strategy seminar, and frankly, that is why we keep showing up.
