If You Are A Reality TV Fan, You NEED To Be Watching "The Traitors"
Hello fans of reality TV! Hello television bingers! Hello strategy gamers! I have arrived (like a cloaked messenger in the night) to deliver your new favorite reality television sensation: The Traitors!
I'm a reality TV expert. Here are my credentials.
The Traitors, which is based on a Dutch show, is basically just a large game of Mafia (also known as Werewolf and similar to Among Us) which puts 20 contestants in a Scottish castle and has them duke it out for $250,000.
Technically, the prize pot starts at $0, and they add money to it as they go along, but we'll get to that later.
First, let's talk about the cast. Twenty people. Ten are reality TV stars. Ten are normies who are honestly mostly duds, but they don't matter. Let me introduce our famous players, though.
I think if they do a second season, they should cast all reality TV stars because they are just better TV.
First up, we've got two Survivor alumni, beginning with the great Cirie Fields.
Cirie was a force of nature on four seasons of Survivor, playing in Panama, Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains, and Game Changers. Although she's never won, she's got close three times and is widely known as the best player never to win. I'm CERTAIN we will see her return for a fifth season before long.
The other Survivor alum is Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick.
She's a bit more of a deep cut as she hasn't played Survivor since 2010 when she competed with Cirie (briefly) on Heroes vs. Villains. She did have strong showings on both Palau and Guatemala, though, and was fun to watch here.
Moving over to Survivor's sister show on CBS, Big Brother, we have Cody Calafiore.
Cody came in second on Big Brother 16, after making the boneheaded move to take Derrick to the finale with him over Victoria. He then returned for Big Brother 22 which he won unanimously.
There is no higher Big Brother royalty, however, than Rachel Reilly.
She competed in back to back seasons on Big Brother 12 and 13, winning the later season. She also competed on three seasons of The Amazing Race, becoming a fan favorite there as well. We're all just waiting for the Rachel x Survivor cross-over event.
While we're talking about Big Brother, we might as well discuss Brandi Glanville, a reality TV legend who appeared on Celebrity Big Brother 1.
She, of course, got her start on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills before pivoting to competition shows like Celebrity Apprentice and Celebrity Big Brother UK. She also recently appeared on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.
Another Celebrity Big Brother alum is Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte.
He competed on the second season of the series, proving to be a likable, if air-headed, contestant.
Pivoting into the world of Bravolebrities, we have Kyle Cooke from Summer House.
He's one of the OG cast members and has appeared on every season of the show.
There's also one Bachelor nation star: Arie Luyendyk Jr.
The race car driver was the runner up on Season 8 of The Bachelorette with Emily Maynard before becoming The Bachelor on Season 22 (where he chose the wrong girl and then ended up marrying the runner-up).
And last, but not least, we have THE QUEEN HERSELF Kate Chastain from Below Deck.
She was the "Chief Stew" on the show from Seasons 2 through 7, and is brimming with incredible quips.
As I said, there are 10 other contestants, but they don't matter. Someone who does matter, however, is Alan Cumming, who serves as an incredible host of the show.
Cumming, who you may know as Floop, creeps around the castle in an array of incredible outfits, saying wonderfully ominous remarks and forcing the contestants into all kinds of uncomfortable spots.
But back to the game! So, 20 contestants arrive at the castle, and Cumming informs them that a few of them will be "Traitors" while the rest will be "Faithfuls."
Traitors = bad. Faithfuls = good.
If the Faithfuls can eliminate all the Traitors by the end of the game, they'll split the money. If, however, a Traitor can make it to the end, they'll take home the entire prize pot and leave the Faithfuls with nothing.
Cumming then mysteriously informs the Traitors who they are, also revealing it to the audience, so we can watch their dastardly actions.
Each night, the Traitors get together and select one Faithful to murder.
This is just like in the game Mafia, where the Mafia murder a townsperson.
In an always fun bit, the contestants arrive in the breakfast room each morning a few at a time, before it is revealed which contestant was murdered, and therefore, not eligible to eat the continental breakfast.
Very little eating is done at this breakfast for the most part.
The contestants who survived are always giddy, and it's fun to watch the Traitors try to pretend that they are also surprised by who is alive and who isn't.
Since they killed the person during the night.
Then, Alan comes and X's the portrait of the dead person, and informs the remaining players about the day's "mission."
Big Clue energy.
The missions, which are the least exciting part of the show, allow the cast members to earn money which will go to the prize pot at the end.
They also supposedly give the cast members an opportunity to flesh out who might be the Traitors, but since both groups want to earn money for the pot, this doesn't really help much.
The missions are a VIBE, though, and include ringing creepy church bells...
Spinning on a creepy old Ferris Wheel...
Getting buried alive...
And in my favorite mission of the season, rolling large barrels through the countryside for miles.
After the mission, the cast returns to the mansion to strategize about who they think the Traitors might be and prep for the "Round Table."
These sets are so lush.
Then, everyone files in for the Round Table, which is honestly the best part of each episode. The group all speculate on who they think the Traitors are before voting to "banish" a Traitor. Once banished, the contestant reveals if they are a Traitor or a Faithful.
The Round Table discussions get HEATED with people shouting at each other, sobbing, and guilt tripping.
Usually, the group votes out a Faithful, which is cathartic for the viewers because everyone is sooooooooo self righteous, and usually, they are wrong.
But it's incredible to watch, and then, directly after the banishment, the Traitors go off to decide who to murder next.
The 10-episode series is a MUST WATCH if you love strategy-based reality TV, and also a MUST WATCH if you want to see Alan wear some of the best outfits ever assembled.
Look at this SUIT!
And this middle-part/broach combo.
And this beret!
TL;DR The Traitors is my reality TV obsession. I need everyone to watch it, and I need there to be a second season without any normies. It's available to stream only on Peacock.
