CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews The Traitors: No banishments. No murders. No players eliminated before they can even step over the castle threshold… has the world’s most devious game show lost its killer streak?
FIVE STARS
There is no exile. There is no murder. No player is eliminated before crossing the goal threshold. Have the traitors lost their killer streak?
For all its gothic camp, the format seemed outdated when Claudia Winkleman returned with a new series of the world’s most beguiling game show… like Dracula without the dentures.
But this series has become a national addiction since its launch in 2022, because its looks have always been deceiving. Traitors always put their knife in, but never in the same place twice.
This time we had advance warning. In a trailer released on Christmas Day, Claudia teased us with a glimpse of a red cape.
What could this mean? Another sprinkle of genius sprinkled on the show, that’s it.
We’ve become accustomed to the way Lady Winkleman chooses her traitors. First, resplendent in purple velvet, she interviewed the players one by one while drinking by the fireplace in the castle library.
With Claudia Winkleman returning with a new series of The Traitors, the format’s influence seemed to be gone, despite the gothic camp… like Dracula without the dentures.
This series has become a national addiction since its launch in 2022 because looks have always been deceiving
This year, all but one expressed enthusiasm for using the dagger. They seem like a psychotic bunch; they’re a marked contrast to the pleasantness of last fall’s famous cast.
He gathered all 22 contestants at a round table and blindfolded them as usual, then slowly walked around the room and selected the three assassins.
But here’s the thing… a fourth traitor has also been chosen and we have no idea who he is.
In all the previous series, we knew the identity of the hooded villains and had spied on their machinations.
However, for the first time, viewers join the game and try to determine who is lying.
The moment when a traitor swears hypocrisy and deceit to Claudia is always the highlight of the opening episode.
This time, to keep us from guessing which player was the secret traitor, he turned to the camera and spoke directly to us, holding out his red cloak.
For a moment I wondered if it was Quisling himself. After all, red is her color, especially for fingerless leather gloves. But this would definitely be a change too far, as he cannot be eliminated as the host.
In a trailer released on ChristmasDay, Claudia teased us with a red cape.
This year, all but one expressed enthusiasm for using the dagger. They seem like a psychotic bunch, a marked contrast to the suaveness of last fall’s famous cast
This leaves us in a disappointing guessing frenzy. Of course, we only see what the filmmakers want us to see… and it’s impossible to know whether they’re hinting or misdirecting.
Take Fiona, a local government official from Swansea and one of the oldest cast members at 62… are we encouraged to doubt her?
On the way to the first of the competition missions, one of the other players remarked that he was sure that all his fellow passengers were ‘loyalists’ and not traitors. The camera cuts to Fiona, who is licking her lips happily.
In addition, he started acting deliberately stupid, pretending that he didn’t understand the rules of the challenge, even though he was literally burned on a giant wooden sign.
And it wasn’t all that complicated; players had to retrieve coffins from the lake and lower them into open graves to add cash to their prize fund.
Each tombstone had the name of a player. This was so funny and scary that there was nothing worse than the ghost train at the amusement park.
We’re used to the way Claudia chooses her traitors, but this year there was a brand new development.
While none of the actors are famous, they’re not all complete unknowns either. Harriet Tyce, 52, is a crime novelist whose bestselling book Blood Orange opens with a solo sex romp too twisted even for Traitors.
A couple discovered they knew each other. Netty, a 42-year-old kindergarten teacher, and Ross, a 37-year-old personal trainer, claimed that they had not met for years but recognized each other immediately.
Is it a coincidence that surprises even the producers? Call me a cynic, but I doubt it.
The two players, a mother and daughter who revealed their connection to us in the closing minutes, are related.
Roxy, a 32-year-old recruiter who now lives in Amsterdam, was adopted by child liaison officer Judy when she was five.
They both have Doncaster accents, but that’s unlikely to give them away. The bigger problem is that Judy fell victim to the first wave of irrational whispers among the faithful. We’ve seen this before: A herd mentality comes into play, where people are attacked and exiled for no reason. They cannot trust their friends to save them. There is no such thing as loyalty, even among the faithful.
Of course, we only see what the filmmakers want us to see… and it’s impossible to know whether they’re hinting or misdirecting.
Account manager Sam, 34, boasted: ‘I’m a great liar and I’ll throw anyone under the bus.’
What a treacherous feature, but still a strange enough feature to be proud of. But he wasn’t the only one to congratulate himself on his unreliability.
Rachel, 42, from Northern Ireland, who was chosen as the traitor, said: ‘There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to win.’
Bearded lawyer Hugo, 52, who was also chosen as the traitor, described himself as a ‘psychopathic teddy bear’ and boasted: ‘There are hugs in my name, but if you get too close there’ll be a dagger in your back.’
You don’t need witchcraft to know that things will soon get worse.
