‘The Traitors’ Season 4 Premiere review: A Secret Traitor shakes up the manor

Death waits for no one when The Traitors come calling. The must-watch murderous game is back for another season on Peacock; this time with 23 players vying for the grand prize. The Traitors franchise has served up plenty of juicy gameplay, like Traitor-on-Traitor betrayals to iconic roundtable retorts. The Traitors Season 4 premiere doesn’t disappoint, capturing the same murder-mystery essence we’ve come to love. Albeit, with a few surprising game moves – and players – that throws us for a loop, for both good and bad.

Heading into “Let the Cards Fall As They Will”, The Traitors Season 4, as a format, stays true to the show’s elements that make this TV’s hottest reality TV competition. Beyond a twist or two, The Traitors, at its core, is still the same show.

The eclectic cast of characters, the challenges, the paranoia, and the campy Clue quality mix together into a fascinating watch. Now that The Traitors is into its fourth season, you can tell that the show has found its rhythm. We’re beyond the growing pains. Instead, the viewers, players, and even the host, Alan Cumming, are all in on embracing what this game entails.

A secret role.

The newest element is the ‘Secret Traitor’ twist. As a concept, this twist is a great idea. Having a secret role play in the background and affecting both the Faithfuls & Traitors keeps everyone on their toes. Everyone, including viewers, are left trying to figure out who the Secret Traitor is. But the best reason is that the Secret Traitor doesn’t impact the game’s momentum. Unlike many Survivor and Big Brother twists, the Secret Traitor twist doesn’t halt the gameplay until the twist is over. Instead, it had the lightest lift that works within the game’s parameters and aids (or hinders) what the Traitors do next.

The show should bring this twist back in the future but with a few changes. For instance, the Secret Traitor shouldn’t be revealed by the end of the season premiere. Why waste our time with a one-week twist? There is plenty of potential here to keep the suspense alive for a few more weeks.

Additionally, the Secret Traitor needs to be someone who’s not glaringly obvious. We’ll get to Donna’s gameplay errors soon, but as a hidden role, she fit too easily as a Traitor archetype. Many past Traitors, including some from around the world, have been the “lovable older mom” or the “one who looks too innocent to be a Traitor” character. Earlier seasons benefited from this quality, but everyone is wiser now about the qualities to look out for.

Money or murder.

The three missions during the three-episode season premiere each had an entertaining quality to them. The standout is the coffin mission during “Let the Cards Fall As They Will”. While it, yet again, incorporates the lake, it offered a new twist on the lake mechanism. The players being the ones in control of determining is at risk of being murdered is a great element. It’s such a bold statement to drag a coffin from the lake and place it into someone’s grave, effectively marking their potential death. Whenever the Traitors make big direct attacks, it ignites plenty of drama.

Similar to the chariot mission during “The Death Conga,” The Traitors has run plenty of ‘search the woods for money bags’ missions. These tend to follow a similar path of chaotic energy. However, the inclusion of the shield and removing people from the chariots is so deliciously direct.

Everyone has the right to make any decision, so it’s baffling why Michael Rapaport was furious over Yam Yam (Survivor) playing his coin. Other players have been knocked off the chariots before that turn; he didn’t bat an eyelash at them when the previous coins were played. Rapaport has no foundation to demand anything from how Yam Yam uses his coin. This is, unfortunately, a common occurrence from Rapaport throughout the season premiere.

Paranoia claims its anger.

Actor Rapaport falls into the classification of a non-reality TV player for The Traitors. He’s played on game shows before, but his closest experience as a reality TV contestant was on The Masked Singer. Sure, The Masked Singer is a talent competition, but it’s wildly different from other shows where people have to compete or be in front of the cameras 24/7. It’s clear by the end of “Show Me Your Faces” that he is ill-prepared for what The Traitors requires and what it would bring out of him.

His defensive and combative nature sucks the energy from the room, especially during the roundtables. It’s one thing to fight for your life. It’s another to spill anger into every defense. Rapaport’s gameplay flaw is taking everything too personally. Faithfuls and Traitors are going to throw out theories and highlight their doubts, suspicions, and make accusations to further the game. The problem is that Rapaport fails to understand that he can’t control everyone.

Simply saying Yam Yam was a Traitor doesn’t mean his theory is 100% right. And, more importantly, that Yam Yam isn’t allowed to defend himself. Tiffany (Big Brother) has the right advice that Rapaport needs to cool it, listen, and choose his battles. The target is too big on his back; he needs to retreat and repair the damage. However, we’ll most likely see a world where it doesn’t matter if he’s a Faithful or a Traitor – the group will want him out. Frankly, The Traitors Season 4 might be better if he gets banished sooner rather than later.

Scheming in the Traitor’s turret.

Donna Kelce, Candiace Dillard Bassett (The Real Housewives of Potomac), Rob Rausch (Love Island), and Lisa Rinna (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) are an interesting bunch for the four Traitors. It’s an NBC/Peacock-heavy team this season, which offers a new dynamic compared to Season 3’s gamer-heavy group. The Housewives tend to shine on The Traitors, bringing both personality and gameplay into the mix. The same can be said about dating show contestants. They step up and shake the game in many interesting ways. (Looking at you, Pilot Pete and Gabby!)

Bassett, Rinna, and Rob R.’s dynamic gets more interesting as the episodes progress. They seem to be having a lot of fun, enjoying the devious tasks that came with taking on this role. But it’s their agreement to play as a team that feels like a breath of fresh air. The trio learned from last season’s chaos, choosing to trust instead of turning on one another. Their teamwork during the ‘killing in plain sight’ twist felt like a good sign; they communicated, plotted, and trusted their decision. So far, Season 4 is already on a good step with its Traitors: no one has accused or plotted an elimination … yet.

Kelce, on the other hand, fell into an easy Traitor trap. Don’t get me wrong, she couldn’t change who she was and her reality TV archetype, so that was a tough challenge she dealt with. However, you should never retreat after the Traitors’ selection. Players are looking for any clues about who to target or what looks suspicious. Being less talkative and not sharing theories is a classic detriment that has trapped many Traitors. Kelce should’ve kept getting to know people and joined in on the gameplay. Instead, her retreat provided too much of a confirmation – one that many can’t argue their way out of.

The first victims fall.

Now, let’s talk banishments and murders. Big Brother winner Ian Terry is a surprising first murder, mainly due to the Traitors going out of the gate with a gamer. Sometimes, the Traitors will choose an easy kill to cause chaos, but in this type of murder, they want to make a statement. Terry is a smart player. His success in Big Brother comes through forming connections, analyzing possibilities, and executing big moves. The Traitors made the right call by eliminating him. Terry was fully in this game – ready to hunt and uncover the identity of the Traitors to win.

Porsha Williams (The Real Housewives of Atlanta) is a big loss, especially for the entertainment factor she might’ve brought to the show. In her two episodes, Williams delivers great scenes full of messy gameplay and exciting personality. That said, it’s clear that Williams’s banishment is her fault. The constant word slip-ups only made her look guilty; she painted herself as a Traitor before anyone else could. Which, surprisingly, made it so baffling because she was a Faithful. How could she mess up saying she was a Traitor when she wasn’t one?

Though, Williams’s social game does give her a light at the end of the tunnel. If she had only gotten one more vote in her favor, like from Colton Underwood (The Bachelor) or Rinna, she would’ve survived the roundtable. Whereas Kelce retreated, Williams makes the right move to put herself forward to fight her case. Kudos to her – she was almost there.  Anyone else would’ve been sunk with that many glaring errors.

The clock strikes midnight.

Rob Cesternino’s (Survivor) death in plain sight is a heartbreaking turn of events for diehard reality TV fans. We haven’t seen Cesternino play a reality show since Survivor: All-Stars back in 2004, so his casting was a long-awaited return and hotly anticipated. It’s a shame to see him go out third after all this time. However, from a gameplay standpoint, the Traitors make a great strategic decision.

Like Terry, Cesternino is intelligent – his mind is 100% into the game. Cesternino has 15-years of experience analyzing reality TV shows on his podcast, breaking down strategy and gameplay to its core. He knows The Traitors game. For example, his intuition of guessing the ‘murder in plain sight’ was a genius play of noticing his surroundings. And his choosing not to join the conga line confirmed that he mentally prepared himself for any possibilities, including assassinations. If anyone could have pulled the clues together, it would’ve been him.

The one negative concern I have with his death on “The Death Conga” was the uncertain deadline. Rob R., Lisa, and Candiace had only the evening to murder someone, or else they would’ve failed. The trio retrieved the tarot cards, but they didn’t burn a card until AFTER the midnight bell rang and people started leaving. The rule was that they needed to complete the task in time; the clock’s ringing informed everyone that their time in the manor was up, and they needed to leave.

Regardless of who was eliminated, the fairness of the rules seems messy and grey. This could potentially be an editing error where the card was burned before the perceived deadline, and the clock sounds added for effect. However, if it’s not, it feels a tad unfair that the murder can be committed when several of the Faithfuls are forced out of the house, effectively making it easier for the Traitors to complete their mission without witnesses.

Overall.

The Traitors Season 4 starts out strong. With a cast ready to play the game, the drama gives us plenty of surprising eliminations and baffling gameplay moves. Tensions ramp up between the contestants, with several already setting the spotlight. We may have lost some big players, but the momentum is still heading in a good direction. And with a refreshing group of Traitors working together, the narrative is setting itself up for a new path.

The Traitors airs new episodes on Thursdays on Peacock.

---

Images courtesy of Peacock.