The Traitors finale review: Tears, ruthless deception and edge-of-your-seat drama in the best series yet

After all, it was certainly fitting that a show focused on deception and manipulation was won by one of the smartest Machiavellian contestants we’ve ever seen and one of his sidekicks who he could easily backstab at the last minute if he wanted.

Rachel Duffy, 43, a communications manager from Newry, Northern Ireland, played the textbook game of being a traitor from the first week.

When it came to the finale, the only question on everyone’s lips was whether he would commit the ultimate betrayal and turn his back on his treacherous friend Stephen Libby.

He promised her that if they both made it to the end, he would watch her back and share the spoils with her – but could such an accomplished liar be trusted?

He was sweaty, flushed, shivering and trembling; Even security consultant Stephen, 32, looked like he was waiting to be thrown under the bus by Rachel.

For the past four weeks, the mother of three had been flying under the radar, befriending the show’s “loyalists” and expertly convincing them that she was one of the good guys.

Stephen, Rachel, James Baker, Faraaz Noor, Jade Scott and Jack Butler went head-to-head to become the winner of the fourth series of the BBC One show (LR Faraaz, Rachel, Stephen, Jade and Jack).

He held his head when suspected, killed those who threatened him, and slandered the innocent.

Then last night, when she had the chance to get rid of Stephen and walked away with the £95,750 reward on her own, she showed she wasn’t such a bad guy after all and stuck with him.

It was 85 minutes of thrilling drama that gave us one of the most exciting Traitors finales we’ve ever experienced.

I wasn’t the only one worried when series four started earlier this month.

The celebrity edition won by comedian Alan Carr was so sensational that it was hard to see how the civilian version, arriving just eight weeks later, could live up to the drama and excitement.

Things got off to a shaky start when the producers, presumably in an attempt to keep things fresh, messed with the format by introducing a completely unnecessary and confusing ‘hidden traitor’ twist that added nothing of real value and was over in the blink of an eye.

There’s also the show’s weird obsession with the contestant’s ‘secret’ relationships (a mother and daughter, a boyfriend and girlfriend), which make no difference to the outcome and no one really cares about anyway.

It took the early release of two traitors before things really picked up. Lawyer Hugo Lodge and officer Fiona Hughes suffered bad cases of ‘protagonist syndrome’ as they took up the screen, overdid the drama and came up short.

The final round table led to the exile of the loyal Jade, and Ardross Castle was reduced to tears after her friend Stephen voted for her.

Then came the ‘endgame’, where the remaining four had to decide whether to trust each other. However, they did not do so and the next person to be fired was Sadiq Faraaz.

That left only Rachel, Stephen and Jack (who appeared unnamed in the series until last week) standing around the fireplace.

Once they were out of the way, things started to culminate in the exciting finale.

On Thursday night, it looked like Rachel’s game might be over; the episode ends on a cliffhanger in which he and gardener James Baker risk exile; their fate would be determined by their ‘lucky chest’; two wooden boxes, one containing a protective shield.

As the finale began, we saw Rachel pick the shielded box and continue to fight while the hapless James recovered.

“I’m on the ropes, but I’m not going down without a fight,” Rachel said last night.

Our five finalists were personal trainer Jack Butler, auditor Faraaz Noor, PhD student Jade Scott and their traitorous friends Rachel and Stephen.

The final round table led to the exile of the loyal Jade, and Ardross Castle was reduced to tears after her friend Stephen voted for her.

Then came the ‘endgame’, where the remaining four had to decide whether to trust each other. They didn’t. The next person to be fired was the loyalist Faraaz.

That left only Rachel, Stephen, and Jack, who remained unnamed in the series until last week, standing around the fire pit.

Villains Rachel and Stephen voted for Jack and were overwhelmed with emotion when presenter Claudia Winkleman announced they had won the vote, each taking home a huge prize of £47,875.

Although Jack has repeatedly said he ‘showed’ a winner, if he did it would be an underwhelming result as he was a fairly anonymous contestant until last week.

Rachel and Stephen’s victory will cause division, with many viewers supporting the faithful but let’s be honest, they were a pretty desperate bunch.

It was both frustrating and entertaining to hear the traitors constantly question why they were keeping themselves in the competition; but they never once mentioned that it was just because they suck at the game and pose absolutely no threat.

Stephen, the best-dressed man we’ve ever seen, would never have won on his own. She’s had her fair share of awards thanks to Rachel and she’s definitely in for a big job as make-up stylist on This Morning.

Meanwhile, kudos to ice queen Rachel, who previously admitted to undergoing FBI training as part of her pre-show preparations, claiming it gave her the expertise she needed as a loyalist to weed out traitors.

None of his fellow contestants were smart enough to realize that this actually equipped him with skills that could pull the wool over his eyes.