Unfortunately for Victor, a fruitful theory isn’t keeping the banishment away on NBC’s The Traitors: New Blood. “It’s Like Fighting Two Pigs Under a Blanket” was another low point for the Faithfuls, a major bump in their road to victory. But they’re not the only ones feeling the pressure – the Traitors continue to crumble under their sloppy mistakes. The fire is raging in front of us, but we can’t tell yet who will survive once the chaos ends. In the meantime, “It’s Like Fighting Two Pigs Under a Blanket” is a round of peak drama and equally messy gameplay.
The golden retriever leaves.
Joe, Tomica, and Katie made the right call by murdering Mark. As the numbers dwindle, the Traitors need to eliminate any players who are deemed as “100% Faithful.” They only take up space and reduce the chances of avoiding banishment. Just look to The Traitors Season 3! Those Traitors kept their Faithful friends, misread the situation, and lost. Since then, the Traitors learned that a Faithful ally can be their biggest downfall. And as loyal and fun as Mark could be, the group would never vote him out. He needed to go!
However, Katie needs to get her head back into the “Fake Faithful” game. The Breakfast portion is the perfect time to use subterfuge, strategize, and manipulate the others, you need to make them feel you’re worried. Katie’s extroverted and happy-go-lucky vibe worked in the earlier rounds, but the game is nearly half over now. The pressure should be getting to her; instead, she’s living her best life.
Ben called it out perfectly that she didn’t seem worried, and from the episode footage, she didn’t. If someone like Victor had been murdered, there’s a slight chance the group may have been playful and making jokes. But Mark is a well-liked and lovable Faithful; no one wanted to see him go because everyone loved him. Breakfast wasn’t the time to make lighthearted remarks. This could be the first step in Katie’s downfall.
Cutthroat in the cornfield.
The scarecrow challenge is an interesting game because it involves earning money and cutthroat strategy. More importantly, it exposes your cards to the rest of the Castle. Understandably, the players would be using their black heart markers to eliminate the physically fit players. If someone has a chance to win a power because they collected the most money, the best way to ensure you have a better chance is to knock them out.
Victor, Morgan, Wyatt, and Katie are fast runners; they had collected a lot of money bags as is. Don’t get me wrong, being frustrated at the elimination is completely understandable, but none of the cuts were baseless decisions. For instance, Victor kept pushing Tomica’s elimination because he thinks she’s a Traitors. In turn, Victor got eliminated because he’s one of the strongest and fastest players. Both decisions would’ve worked, but he was on the short end of the stick.
Speaking of Victor vs. Tomica, their feud is hilariously entertaining to watch. They’re both coming after each other, but they’re stuck in a trapped cycle of accusations and obvious outcomes. It’s a mutually assured destruction if either gets banished or murdered. Though, Victor did get the upper-hand when she said Katie was suspicious; it exposed her to a new target, one that could be her undoing. Now, if Joe or Katie get banished, it will seal her fate as proof positive too.
A new power rises.
The “Pardon” power is so clever. So many times, the Faithfuls have wished they could turn back the clock and prevent a vote from banishing a player. The Pardon power feels like a hidden immunity idol on Survivor, a last-chance move to throw the Castle into chaos. Victor would be an interesting person for the winner to save. There’s a lot of suspicion on him, and the group did just vote him out, but his passion for the fruit theory is so strong. It’s giving head-strong Faithful energy in every instance. Hopefully, this power returns (sparingly) in the future; it could cause lots of fun after a very explosive round table.
Similar to the previous two round tables, “It’s Like Fighting Two Pigs Under a Blanket” had a clear target in Victor. This banishment is a case of the group being frustrated with Victor’s relentless campaigning, and in turn, they’re attributing it as Traitor behavior. Many previous round tables have crumbled because Faithfuls can’t separate their personal feelings from gameplay intuition. For whatever reason, the rest of the Castle is dismissing hearing any part of the theory. And from an objective perspective, Victor’s determined and anxious behavior is screaming “Faithful,” not a Traitor.
The Faithfuls are slowly becoming a self-imploding group. Regardless of disregarding Victor, they’ve got their minds too stuck in the sand, only choosing their own viewpoints. Six people received votes during “It’s Like Fighting Two Pigs Under a Blanket” – that’s a lot! No one is on the same page with one another. Plus, they’re openly shutting down theories instead of keeping their minds opens. Everyone is too focused on being right with their intuition instead of looking around at the possibilities.
The outcome.
“It’s Like Fighting Two Pigs Under a Blanket” is a fun yet frustrating round for The Traitors: New Blood. The Faithfuls are nowhere near getting a Traitor out, choosing instead to cut themselves off from exploring opportunities. The Traitors, on the other hand, are being backed into a corner by a theory they can’t squash without some blowback. It’s the result of a bad moves and bad gameplay that has led them to here… with plenty of fiery results to come down the pipeline.
The Traitors: New Blood airs new episodes on Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC.
Images courtesy of NBC/Peacock.
REVIEW RATING
-
The Traitors: New Blood Season 5 Episode 7 - 7/10
7/10
Justin is a fun-loving geek living in downtown Toronto, Canada. He’s an avid TV buff, movie fan, and gamer. He’s written for publications like Entertainment Weekly’s The Community, Virgin, TV Fanatic, FANDOM, The Young Folks, and his blog, City Boy Geekiness.
