‘The Traitors’ 3×09 review: “A Silent Assassin”

The Traitor war is over. After many fights and betrayals, we finally have a winner in the battle of Danielle vs. Carolyn on “A Silent Assassin”. Peacock’s The Traitors Season 3 has had a few rivalries that spanned the season, like Tom vs. Dolores, Tom vs. Chrishelle, and Boston Rob vs. Bob the Drag Queen to name a few. The Danielle vs. Carolyn war captured the true essence of how disorganized the Traitors turret was during the third season. Even though Danielle started the war, we were unsure of who would be the last one left standing. “A Silent Assassin” delivered an emotion-filled conclusion for a roller-coaster of a journey.

Death meets at the tower

The beginning of the end can be traced back to Carolyn’s last murder as a Traitor. The Traitors hasn’t shied away from how heated and disastrous the turret meetings have been; the tension has felt palpable. The issue is that neither Carolyn nor Danielle can ever truly trust one another again. Danielle caused the war by making the bad decision of trying to banish Carolyn, which she can’t ever take back. However, Carolyn refused to forgive Danielle; she was always on guard. While I agree that Traitors should be cautious, there has to be a level of trust to make their game work. Their last chat in the turret was bad! Danielle shut down after Carolyn disagreed with her ideas, and Carolyn distrusted everything Danielle brought to the table. This relationship was never going to work again

As I discussed in last episode’s review, Carolyn made the right call to push to murder instead of recruiting. The numbers in the mansion were still too high to justify having a Traitor join the group, especially with the Faithfuls searching for a female Traitor. But it’s the reality that Danielle would’ve immediately turned on Carolyn had they recruited Britney. Danielle wanted the group to quell their fears and there was no way she’d sacrifice her best friend (Britney) in the game to do that. Regardless of what Danielle said to the camera or to Carolyn, she would’ve sacrificed Carolyn to have her and Britney survive the banishment.

When it came to the murder, choosing Sam was a decent choice. Sam was an obvious Faithful because no one suspected him and his actions aligned with what a Faithful would typically do. Plus, he started understanding the game more and started vocalizing his theories/strategies. Though, the perfect target for murder should’ve been Dylan. If we ignore the outcome of recent events, Dylan still stands out too much as an obvious Faithful. Dylan was cleared of suspicion immediately about Bob the Drag Queen’s banishment; there was no way he was a Traitor after pushing that vote. While both Danielle and Carolyn acknowledged that Dylan trusted them, the best option would’ve been to kill him to divert attention. To the Faithfuls, why would they kill Dylan if he trusted them so much?

The chessboard tells all

The challenge on “A Silent Assassin” was perfection. A chess theme? Amazing. The return of Kate and Parvati as guest stars? Bring it on like gold. However, the true stand out was the inclusion of the Traitors’ vote. Having the players try to figure out how the Traitors voted in each category was a brilliant approach to this game. The Faithfuls rarely get any information from the Traitors; this challenge allowed them to get into the mindsets of the unknown villains and see how they viewed the game. The Traitors should consider bringing elements like this to future seasons.

Dylan was right on the money about how to play this game: sit back and watch how the other pitched the votes. For instance, Tom aligned with his typical style of inflating his position and pushing himself in multiple categories. He’s a messy player, but it is tied back to how he has played the game. However, on the opposite side, Carolyn speaking up and pushing specific votes drew too much attention.

Why try to lead the group to the right answer when they’ve already decided elsewhere? Carolyn didn’t need to step in as much as she did. Danielle stepped into her full puppet master energy by standing back and letting Carolyn dig her grave. These errors were all caused by Carolyn; she overplayed her hand and made herself too much of a suspect. Unfortunately, this was one of the leading reasons why she got banished.

And then there was one

Carolyn’s elimination was a combination of errors, and “A Silent Assassin” just happened to have most of them all in a short amount of time. For instance, Carolyn was the one who pushed Danielle’s name the hardest to be banished at the next round table. Sure, players like Dylan and Ivar brought it up to her first, but Carolyn took the opportunity and ran with it. After promising Danielle that they would move forward together, you can’t blame Danielle for turning the vote back on her. Carolyn started the latest wave of trying to banish a Traitor – unfortunately, it blew back onto her.

“A Silent Assassin” might be one of the most emotionally heated round tables to happen on The Traitors. All of the frustrations and all of the anger built up to this moment. You could tell tensions had finally boiled over; Carolyn was so mad at Danielle for the broken trust. However, Danielle played the round table smarter. She had stronger control over her debates, she presented evidence in a direct manner, and she went in for the kill with confidence and conviction.

An offer you can’t resist

I don’t agree with Danielle using Carolyn’s personality and mannerisms to paint her as a Traitor; it got a little personal as these are elements that Carolyn can’t actively control. This is where I believe it has sealed Danielle’s future game. The level of debates and attacks between Carolyn and Danielle got very heated, to the point of it feeling beyond the round table. Gabby called it out perfectly that it was reminiscent of Boston Rob vs. Bob the Drag Queen. This fight was too big to ignore the memories.

And with Britney undoubtedly agreeing to Danielle’s offer, she’ll finally get what she wanted: Britney in the Traitors turret. The problem, however, is that it won’t solve the greater issue at hand. The Faithfuls will know another Traitor was still in the game before the recruitment. Danielle’s work to get Carolyn out may have been too costly to her own game. It won’t be surprising if next week’s round table ends Danielle’s time soon.

“A Silent Assassin” was an explosive round that captured the fury of two sides going to war. The Traitors Season 3 delivered a fitting conclusion to one of the season’s biggest fights. It’s heartbreaking to lose Carolyn, especially since she had been doing so amazingly well for more of the season. But this round goes to show that the game can change quickly and that every move comes with a big consequence. The Traitors Season 3 is so deliciously fun!

The Traitors airs new episodes on Thursdays on Peacock.