‘The Traitors’ 2×05 review: “A Killer Move”

Bird calls, betrayals, and bad moves were on the menu for The Traitors. “A Killer Move” continued the baffling strategy and momentum set forth by the Faithfuls in another tense round. The Faithfuls are throwing everything against the wall, but nothing seems to stick. However, it’s also become clear that personal opinions and disliking someone have clouded the judgments of the players. Instead of focusing on what is, they’re using how they feel about each other as confirmation biases to search for a Traitor. It is messy gameplay at its most tragic.

Seriously, did Janelle give any real sign of her being a Traitor? If there’s one thing anyone who has watched an episode of Big Brother can tell you, it’s that Janelle values loyalty and being a competition threat. Right from the season premiere, she prioritized her safety and sought out the shields first before helping the team; she did this on more than one occasion that it wasn’t even suspicious. Janelle will always go for the win, and she’ll play every game stronger and more competitive than the last. Plus, she threw out many names and pushed the narrative to seek out Traitors — that alone would make the target bigger on her back. Janelle, just like many of the current players, was easily an obvious Faithful. This decision felt like when the group (and Janelle) turned on Larsa, who was also clearly a Faithful.

We can’t hold it against Dan, Parvati, or Phaedra for leaning the votes toward her. They needed to protect Dan as Traitors and keep the targets off themselves, so they gotta do what they gotta do. However, for players like Kevin, CT, Sandra, and Shereé, it felt like a reactionary move to go after Janelle. She rubbed them the wrong way and they, in turn, spun anything she did or said as “confirmation” that she was a Traitor. The Faithfuls are not in a position to keep wasting roundtables and vote petty because they want to get out someone they find annoying. Plus, Kevin had such a terrible read! Everything he kept pointing out about Janelle leading every wrong vote proved that she was too public in her strategizing.

Though, I don’t want to make Janelle too much of an innocent victim here. She played her part in her getting herself eliminated too. For instance, throwing the targets toward CT and Sandra seemed reactionary when she was put on the spot during the roundtable. If you’re going to publicly accuse someone, you need to have some solid evidence of your suspicion to back you up. She should’ve stuck to her guns and doubled down on why Dan was the Traitor; that would’ve furthered her case and won more votes for her cause. And what about the shield-hunting? That’s just her personality, and some players wanted her gone.

On the other side of the roundtable, Dan’s performance has been a shaky time. Do you think he’ll survive to the end or get the boot soon? Janelle successfully getting eliminated was more of a win for the Faithfuls than it was for Dan — he merely benefitted from the group siding with him and telling him what she said. When the group confronted him, he looked shaken and didn’t know who to throw out. Dan has bogged himself down too much in the stress of being a Traitor and playing under the radar.

Dan during his time on The Traitors so far has been surprising because he’s playing a very quiet and cautious game. It’s been so safe to the point that he’s stopping himself from doing anything that could make him a target. Dan’s days are numbered, and now with Janelle revealing she was a Faithful, it should be crystal clear to everyone that Dan is a Traitor. Plus, with his baffling move to target Bergie (who has a shield) during the night kill, he’ll be ending his time on The Traitors by flaming out instead of a flame of glory. We’ll have to wait and see how it turns out.

When it came to the challenge, it was a random choice. The game is similar to the ones played on The Traitors U.K., but in execution, it felt more like campy fun than a serious challenge. The one interesting element that stood out was the clear separation between those who competed for a shield and those stuck inside the manor. I liked Peter and Janelle’s plan to keep the identities of those who won the shields a secret because it offered protection to everyone from the outside. Also, it raises the suspicions within the Traitors of how they should target the Faithfuls during the night. The Traitors should consider more of these strategic plays in the future.

“A Killer Move” toed the fine balance of campiness and strategy. A tense roundtable ended in a facepalm outcome, but it was captivating to watch from start to finish. The Traitors dealt more with the threat of themselves than anything the Faithfuls could muster with their gameplay. And a surprising move from the underdogs could throw a wrench into the Traitors’ game. This round provided an interesting series of events that could either lead to the first game-shaking move or it will continue the momentum going forward.

The Traitors airs new episodes on Thursdays on Peacock.

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Images courtesy of Peacock