Spoilers ahead for Season Four of The Traitors!
First unveiled in 2022, The Traitors has been highly regarded as a successful and revered show within the British populace. Known for its extravagant ploys and Machiavellian behaviour, the series adds many thrilling elements to classic British television, by introducing the concept of contestants winning the prize money through trust or betrayal. Quite recently, the BBC released their fourth season of The Traitors; however, following the success of The Celebrity Traitors, with an average of fifteen million viewers each episode, this new season had extremely large boots to fill: they had to supersede their famed predecessors.
Unlike the normal Traitors, The Celebrity Traitors allowed the audience to witness how the dynamic can change when the game is played with people they previously know and trust, immediately adding a whole new level of deceptiveness to this already misleading game. With the likes of those such as Cat Burns, Charlotte Church, and Stephen Fry, we saw our favourite British personalities in a way that had never been seen before. Those who had never even watched The Traitors were tuning in to watch this season, purely for the familiar faces that we all know and love. So, it raises the question, after the truly incredible success of The Celebrity Traitors, could this new season share the same sentiment?
From my perspective, the season as a whole fell a bit short. In previous seasons, we typically witness the growth of the faithful, but unfortunately, it seemed in this one, none of them brought any depth to the table. We seemingly lacked a true connection and a personal relationship with any of the contestants. Whilst it was definitely an enthralling season to consume, and I appreciated all of the players, I did not find myself rooting for the faithful as a whole, particularly due to their lack of conviction in their beliefs, as well as their inability to communicate and reach a shared consensus.
In the first episode, the audience was introduced to a range of contestants from Fiona with her bubbly personality, to James and his awkward but lovable jokes, and Sam with his slightly arrogant disposition. However, the faithful showcased a lack of teamwork and ironically enough, had too much faith in each other. The season is definitely far from perfect, as whilst they did manage to vote out two traitors quite early on in the season, they ultimately failed at winning the game due to their undying loyalty to each other. This personal weakness led to the traitors securing the win.
Despite this, there were still many phenomenal moments within this season: the traitor versus traitor fight between Rachel and Fiona, and even more memorable, Stephenâs reaction to it all; Harrietâs outburst at the breakfast table; Faraaz and his pout during one of the tasks; Matthew asking the traitors to recruit him; and even James stealing the shield for himself. It was truly a season with twists and turns at every avenue, as it introduced the concept of a secret traitor (however, this quickly fell short as it was revealed early on in episode four), some faithfuls were allowed to ask questions face-to-face to the traitors, and one faithful gained the ability to have a double vote. Adding to the deceptiveness of the game, multiple relationships between the contestants were also revealed, such as mother and daughter duo, Judy and Roxy, as well as a romance between Ross and Ellie.
Similar to Harryâs win in season two, I truly believe that this finale of The Traitors was a spectacular masterclass of deceitfulness and subterfuge. The traitors, Stephen and Rachel, formed strong connections, not just between each other, but also with their âopponentsâ, allowing them to secure the win of ÂŁ95,750, splitting it between them for ÂŁ47,875 each. Stephen, unfortunately, came under heat multiple times throughout the season, but due to his gregarious nature, he survived right to the very end. Rachel, known for her quite cutthroat methods and described by many as slightly manipulative, did not hesitate to cut off her fellow traitors, Fiona and Hugo, in order to ensure victory. Typically referred to as a âBonnie and Clydeâ duo, however, their unshakeable faith in each other only strengthened the British nationâs love for them to secure the win.
After the truly tense and heart-pounding shield-in-the-box moment between James and Rachel, the last episode eventually revealed our final five: Jack, who seemingly only gained screentime in the last two episodes, Jade, the âtraitorousâ faithful, Faraaz, the âit-boyâ of the season, Stephen, âthe wolf in sheepâs clothingâ, and Rachel, possibly the best traitor to date. Post-breakfast, whispers floated around the castle about who everyone was suspicious of, and Stephenâs indecisiveness about whether to trust Rachel or not was increasingly raising tensions in the minds of the audience.
In the final moments of the episode, Jade, due to her defensiveness, was quickly voted out, with Faraaz following shortly after, making the whole nation laugh when he realised who the traitors were only after his departure. We were finally left with the final three: Jack, Stephen and Rachel. Stephen, despite his anxiousness throughout the whole episode, finally flipped the board around, revealing the name of Jack, to which I, like many others, exhaled a sigh of relief.
Many have stated on social media that Stephen should have betrayed his fellow traitor and that Rachel was undeserving of the money due to her merciless behaviour. However, I can firmly say that purely due to Stephenâs morality, Rachelâs ruthless gameplay, and above all, their firm trust in each other, it most definitely solidified the idea that Stephen and Rachel were absolutely worthy of their win. Their shared loyalty from the start of the game immediately highlighted that to me, and I am sure was also in the minds of many others, that nobody else was more deserving of being the first-ever traitor duo to win together. As Winkleman emotionally stated whilst on the verge of tears, âtwo traitors, but totally faithful to each otherâ, and this certainly rings true.
Whilst other seasons of The Traitors have been more enjoyable to experience as a whole, this season is still extremely entertaining and immersive to watch. I luckily got the chance to watch the finale on the big screen at Belgrave, and sharing that moment with others who love the show as much as I do was such a thrilling experience. So, if you ever get the chance to do so, I would highly recommend that you do the same.
Editor: Grace Lees