‘The Traitors’ 3×05 review: “All This Murderous Power”

A little taste of blood has left the Faithfuls and Traitors spinning. “All This Murderous Power” is true to its name – the players are unsure where to turn next with their votes on The Traitors. Traitors are turning on Traitors, and Faithfuls are turning against friends. It’s an all-out heartbreaking bloodbath, but the messiness keeps on coming. The Traitors Season 3 is shaping up to be a different game than like ever before… both in good and bad ways.

Tension in the tower

Part of the damage came from Boston Rob turning against Bob the Drag Queen in the previous round table. Since then, it was like a powder keg erupted in the Traitors turret. Carolyn has been spot-on in her assessment on the other Traitors and Boston Rob. Even if Bob called out the new players, Boston Rob didn’t need to turn on him this early; it was all speculation. The group required unity and to be listening to each other. Boston Rob only wanted to flex his ego and take control of the turret. It’s a shame no one is listening to Carolyn; she has good reads, and another murder vote on the Real Housewives (Robyn) only deflected suspicions away from other targets. Why would anyone ever suspect Dolores or a Bravo person (Ciara, Tom) of being a Traitor? The kills have been too deliberate on those groups of players.

We speculated in the previous review that Boston Rob’s powerplay would come back to haunt him. Already, we’re seeing this karma come to fruition through Wes’ theory and Derrick’s suspicions. These two are strong gameplayers who can look through the shadiness of their fellow players. They know Boston Rob and his gameplay style; his turning on a Traitor so directly flashed too many red flags and seemed right up his alley. Boston Rob might get eliminated in the next 1-2 episodes; the editing foreshadows the gameplayers putting the pieces together.

Riddle me this, riddle me that

When it comes to challenges, the simplest concepts translate into the most exciting. The riddle game in the chapel was easy to understand and caused plenty of drama. With the inclusion of the shield twist, the challenge added a layer of gameplay that made you think about your next move. The optimal strategy is to wait until the second half of questions. This ensures you stay in the game and receive a shield. Though, these players still messed things up with just eight questions.

“What is Danielle doing?” will be a sentence you’ll be asking yourself a lot during the episode. We’ll get to her baffling decisions in the post-game round soon enough, but the challenge basically spelled out she was a Traitor. Why did she place both Dolores AND Derrick in the shield spots?! It made no sense as a Faithful; non-Traitors would prioritize protecting their safety first. All of the players, from Britney to Chrishell, were giving her baffling looks whenever she didn’t save herself. Or when she cried due to regret.

She could’ve made a case for why she protected Dolores. As the only member left of the Real Housewives, she could’ve spun it as a move to build bridges and make a statement to stop the Bravo killings. Plus if she had removed Tom’s picture instead of Derrick’s in the first win, it would’ve looked less suspicious since Derrick is her friend. But when she placed Derrick’s picture instead of hers in the second win, Danielle lost all reasonable doubt. This move falls in the same blunder as the most recent season of The Traitors U.K.: it was an involuntary action she forgot she was playing a part. Danielle was too focused on playing the short-term that she forgot about the larger ruse (e.g., a Traitor playing the role of a Faithful).

Hunt for a new Traitor

Her errors carried over into the post-game when she turned against Carolyn so abruptly. Did anyone else get major ‘Dan trying to eliminate Phaedra’ vibes from The Traitors Season 2? No one had been suspecting Carolyn, but now Danielle has an epiphany. Know what this reminds us of: Boston Rob turning the vote on Bob the Drag Queen. If the group had believed her and voted out Carolyn, the same suspicions that Boston Rob is now facing would fall on Danielle too. It’s too deliberate and confident for an early move.

However, the biggest question is wondering why Danielle won’t work with Carolyn as fellow Traitors. Both betrayed by Boston Rob and both upset over the lack of control in the turret. Danielle is hedging too many bets on being able to eliminate Carolyn, and then recruiting a new Traitor would work with her to eliminate Boston Rob. What’s not to stop them from teaming up with Rob and eliminating her? Now, Carolyn knows that Danielle can’t be trusted and is plotting her demise, not Boston Rob. Danielle, in her pursuit of finding an unshakeable ally (like in Big Brother 3 vs. Big Brother All-Stars), created a bigger long-term problem than putting in the work in the short term.

Coffins and conspiracies

The roundtable is the long-awaited consequences of the coffin twist. The Faithfuls had been so dead-set on one of the coffin survivors being a Traitor that someone needed to be voted out. It didn’t matter if it was Ciara or Nikki – someone had to go for the group to move on mentally. Between the two, I agreed that Nikki made the most sense; she could act during her time in the WWE, and she wasn’t as defensive as Ciara was in clearing her name. Ciara was very adamant that she wasn’t a Traitor. Plus, with both Gabby and Chrishell surviving this long, the argument could be made that a Traitor was protecting the Bambis alliance. It’s heartbreaking to see friends turn against each other, like Gabby and Chrishell voting out Nikki, but it’s all part of the game.

Though, the Faithfuls need to stop falling into traps. The Traitors is a show of mind games and espionage; it’s a good theory that both Ciara and Nikki were framed. The players need to think critically about who’s acting like Traitors, specifically in recent decisions by Boston Rob and Danielle. Plus, the nightly kills reveal a lot about where the Traitors could fall in the show universes (e.g., not in Bravo).

“All This Murderous Power” is a tale of two betrayals: one of the Traitors turning on their own, and another of friends turning on friends. Even with the schemes, it’s a round of social games and pieces on the chessboard. We’ll have to see how these moves unfold in the coming weeks. The Traitors loves to foreshadow chaos and carnage – it’s the excitement that keeps us coming back for more.

The Traitors airs new episodes on Thursdays on Peacock.