Betrayal takes over TV3's Mondays with 'Machiavelli's Play'

BarcelonaEver since Julius Caesar noticed knife blades penetrating his body, backstabbing has historically enjoyed a morbid interest, for all its implications of consummate betrayal. Television has often exploited this mechanism, but for TV3 it was a certain taboo, especially since it launched the game show "The Secret of the Dead" in 2005.Six by betrayalAnd some criticized the public's advocacy of deceit and lies. Twenty years later, he tried again with a provocative format:Machiavelli's move, a contest that premieres this Monday at 10:05 p.m. on both TV3 and the 3Cat platform.

Ten contestants must work together to solve a series of challenges, which may be physical or, above all, based on ingenuity. The tests can sometimes resemble those of a escape room, although it also has aspects of a great collective board game. The problem is that, before beginning their adventure, some of these participants have been secretly assigned the role of saboteurs. This means their secret mission is to try to make the team fail as much as possible, without being discovered. Since each challenge adds money to the prize pot, any amount that isn't entered due to failure goes into the hidden pot, which the saboteurs will take home.

From then on, each broadcast concludes with a round in which all contestants must present their suspicions regarding the saboteurs. Whoever is most mistaken and false will be expelled and will lose their chance to win the prize.

The staging of this new format has very obvious visual inspirations. Starting with Machiavelli, who pulls the strings from a room hidden from the contestants, hidden behind a mask. The aesthetics of that room may remind us of The Money Heist, with the professor character capable of pulling all the strings. One of the tests in the first episode, for example, includes an auction at a mansion, with various tests to find clues that will allow you to overcome the challenge. Edited using a split screen and with a countdown clock, the reference in this case is that of the series.24which, filmed in apparent real time, starred Kiefer Sutherland in the role of agent Jack Bauer.

The key to making the format work is the casting. They sought out ten people between the ages of thirty and fifty, whom the program defines as "competitive and willing to do anything to win." Among those who signed up for this adventure are, for example, a veteran corporal of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and a croupier. Through interviews with each of them, without the prying eyes of others, the viewer can begin to speculate about their motivations. Throughout each episode, several games are presented that push them to express their doubts about the other participants, or to forge alliances that may turn out to be less noble than intended.

Machiavelli's movepremieres an episode this Monday on TV3 and 3Cat and will release the remaining six episodes weekly. The format is the Catalan adaptation of the so-calledwhodunnit(who has done it), one of the television trends of the moment since Dutch television launched it in 2021. Last Wednesday Antena 3 premieredTraitorswith similar gameplay and strong audience results: 11.6% share and leader in its time slot in Spain (and 11.9% in Catalonia). A couple of years ago, the first Spanish-language version was shown on HBO Max, hosted by actor Sergio Peris-Mencheta, although on that occasion, the show featured relatively famous contestants, such as former Madrid president Cristina Cifuentes.