*Mild spoilers
As an avid fan of Peacock’s The Traitors, I was beyond excited to watch the latest season, which premiered on January 8. With a robust cast list of well-known personalities, such as Love Island’s Rob Rausch and Olympian Tara Lipinski, I had high expectations– and this season certainly delivered.
In case you’re unfamiliar, The Traitors begins by bringing together around 20-23 contestants to a castle in the Scottish Highlands. While they all enter as “faithful,” a select few are secretly chosen to be “traitors.” From there, the task of the traitors is simple: “murder” (eliminate) a faithful every night and go undetected, whereas the faithful must correctly identify and vote out a traitor each night.
What makes this season especially unique is how unhinged the contestants were. Actor Michael Rapaport quickly became one of the loudest voices in the castle, known for his incredibly short temper and confidently wrong (but very vocal) guesses about the traitors. Eventually, he was voted out of the castle even though the group generally agreed that he was not a traitor, but instead because he was a distraction.
In contrast, Colton Underwood (Michael’s “rival”) assumed a leadership role among the faithful, attempting to guide the group and rally votes based on his own suspicions. While his assertiveness helped create some structure, it also painted a target on his back, with the traitors themselves meekly trying to turn the group against him to remain out of the hot seat.
Apart from the traitor hunting, the group also participates in challenges for the group to increase the prize pot. In some of these challenges, “shields” can be won, which protect a player from being “murdered” by the traitors that night. While it sounds like something only the faithful would need, traitors attempt to win the shields to appear more trustworthy. Although they are a valuable advantage, obtaining one means taking attention away from challenges, which are already under strict time constraints. As a result, oftentimes going for a shield means losing money for the group and painting you as a threat to the group. From watching Rob jump out of a plane into a lake, to seeing a “murder in plain sight,” the challenges were high-pressure and, in my opinion, much better than past seasons.
A new addition to this season was the concept of a “secret traitor.” This twist introduced a hidden traitor who would shortlist a few contestants for the rest of the traitors to “murder.” The catch, however, was that neither the audience nor the group of traitors knew the identity of the secret traitor until they were voted out. In turn, the secret traitor was kept unaware of who the other secret traitors were, adding an extra layer of uncertainty to the game. As a viewer, I had fun trying to guess who the secret traitor was, though it was frustrating that the rest of the traitors could only choose one of the shortlisted candidates instead of their own choices.
This season also featured a significant amount of intra-traitor conflict. In my view, traitors should only work together and be “friends” only if it benefits their individual game. If two traitors form a close public alliance and one is correctly revealed to be a traitor after being voted out, it automatically draws suspicion to the other. Because of this, loyalty amongst traitors should be conditional rather than expected.
The highly dramatic finale was easily my favorite out of all other seasons. From an incredible betrayal between a traitor and a close, faithful ally to intense traitor-on-traitor drama, this season truly had it all. I was extremely happy with the winner(s), and definitely recommend watching if you have spare time!
