The Veterans Became the Majority. How Did the Rookies Fail?

Coming into Spies, Lies & Allies, the veterans were the minority. It was a 15/19 split, giving the rookies the advantage. This had never really happened before, and the rookies has the power to control the game.

Behind the scenes, a veteran alliance has already begun. There was a handshake agreement that the veterans would stick together until there were no more rookies to pick off. This plan worked, and the rookies have lost their majority. How could they have gone wrong?

Well, there are many reasons the rookies have failed so quickly.

1. They’re Not on the Same Page

When Michaela wrote out a list, she was on to something. All of the rookies had individual votes at the first deliberation. They had the power to target a veteran, but they chose not to. Some of the rookies were smart enough to understand what was going on, and Michaela put a target on Tori. Clearly, she wasn’t blind to the fact that the rookies could have voted in a veteran. They just wanted to play a safe game rather than take the first shot.

2. They Turned On Each Other

It was a matter of moments before the rookies started to point the finger at one another. When Michaela was singled out for making a list, she tried to redirect attention toward Michele. We also see this mentality in episode three when Tacha & Jeremiah tried to deflect attention onto Corey & Michele. They never tried focusing on a single veteran team, rather they were shortsighted and just wanted to get to the next mission.

2. They Listen to Their Partners

Almost every veteran is paired with a rookie. The only exceptions are Amanda and Kyle. Likely, this is intentional. When veterans have a rookie partner, they will try to persuade their partner to vote the same way. In reality, Spies, Lies and Allies is a single-player game. The veterans will drop the rookies as soon as they need too, but the rookies keep returning to veterans.

4. They Won’t Put Themselves on the Line

Logan, Esther, and Ed have all been in the Agency. However, they tend to do what their partner wants. Ester is the only person that even alluded to the fact that she casts her own votes in The Lair, but she didn’t vote differently than Fessy. The rookies don’t want to put a target on their back, but every rookie has a target by default. Whether they go into the Lair on week 1 or week 8, they will need to see an elimination before the final.

5. Everyone Thinks They’re Different

In episode 3, we saw Gabo talk about the luck of having Nany as a partner. She gets to the end without needing to put in a lot of work. Likely, other rookies share this mentality. They want to get to the end by following their partner’s coattails. If the rookies wanted to take control, they needed to jeopardize their comfortable spots. Clearly Gabo would rather stay in the house and party, so the status quo isn’t going to change. He might make it to the midway point, but veterans call the show. In the end he’ll have the same fate as everyone else.