The Traitors (American TV Series)
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''The Traitors'' is an American reality television series, that is based on the Dutch series ''
De Verraders ''De Verraders'' (Dutch for: ''The Traitors'') is a Dutch television show broadcast by RTL 4 which premiered in 2021. The format of the show is similar to the party game ''Mafia'' and it takes place at and around Castle Erenstein in Kerkrade, Net ...
''. It is hosted by Scottish actor Alan Cumming. The first season was released on
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
on January 12, 2023. In February 2023, the series was renewed for a second season. Following the premise of other versions of ''De Verraders'', the show features a group of contestants participating in a game similar to the party game
Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
- in which a small group of contestants become the titular "Traitors", and must work together to eliminate the other contestants order to win a grand prize, while the remaining contestants become "Faithfuls" and are tasked to discover and banish the Traitors by voting them out, in order to win the grand prize.


Format

Twenty contestants arrive at a castle in the
Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...
with hopes of winning a share of the $250,000 prize. The players are referred to as the "Faithful" but among them are the "Traitors" – a group of contestants selected by the host, whose goal is to eliminate the Faithfuls and claim the prize for themselves. Should the Faithful contestants eliminate all the Traitors, they will share the prize fund, but if any Traitors make it to the end, they steal the money. Each night, the Traitors come together and decide upon one Faithful contestant to "murder" – and that person will leave the game immediately. The remaining Faithful contestants will not know who has been eliminated until the following day when that person does not enter the Castle for breakfast. The group then take part in a mission to add money to the prize fund. Some challenges will also offer an opportunity for players to visit the Armory - during which one player will randomly and secretly be awarded the Shield. The Shield gives the player immunity from being murdered, but not from the Banishment Vote at The Round Table. An attempted murder on the shield holder will result in no player being eliminated by Murder. At the end of each day, the players participate in a Round Table, where they discuss who to vote out before individually voting for a player to be banished. Players cast their votes privately before revealing their votes in turn to everyone once all votes are locked-in, and may give a brief rationale for the vote. The person who received the most votes for banishment is eliminated from the game and must reveal their affiliation. In some instances (see Episode 7), when a Traitor is eliminated the remaining Traitors are given the opportunity to recruit another player. Once the game has reached the final four, the remaining players participate in the Endgame. The players are given a choice to "Banish Again" or "End Game". A unanimous End Game vote would conclude the game, while a single vote to Banish would result in another Banishment Vote, followed by another choice between “Banish” or “End Game”. If the game ends and all remaining players are Faithful, then the prize money will be divided evenly among them. However, if any Traitors remain, they will steal the entire pot.


Contestants

20 contestants competed in the first season of ''The Traitors''. The American cast featured ten former reality television participants and ten members of the general public.


Notes


Episodes


Voting history

Key : The contestant was a Faithful. : The contestant was a Traitor. : The contestant had a Shield and was secretly immune from being Murdered. : The contestant was ineligible to vote.


Notes


Reception


Critical response

''The Traitors'' received positive critical acclaim with many praising the show's cast, concept and setting. On
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website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, it holds an approval rating of 95% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Hosted by Alan Cumming with theatrical relish, ''The Traitors'' deploys a rogues' gallery of reality television stars to make for a compelling murder mystery party." Alex Abad-Santos of ''Vox'' wrote that it "combines the acute pain of a corporate team-building exercise with some of the most emotionally fragile reality show celebrities that have ever been on television... and it's perfect." Alim Kheraj of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' rated the show 4 out of 5 stars writing that "by the time you reach episode eight (which could already scoop the award for the year’s best hour of reality TV), the tension is so unbearable that you will be glad the last two episodes are there for binging."
Linda Holmes Linda Holmes (born March 16, 1959) is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 42nd District since January 2007. The 42nd district includes all or parts of Aurora, Boulder Hill, Montgomery, Naperville, North Aurora and ...
of ''Pop Culture Happy Hour'' summarised the season as "Goofy, hyperdramatic, suspenseful and pretty entertaining." Dustin Rowles of ''Pajiba'' described the season as "A slickly produced version of Mafia set in a Scottish castle that features a number of contestants familiar to reality-show audiences and a number of newbies to make the whole enterprise more unpredictable." adding that "It’s really fun."
Andy Dehnart Andy Dehnart (born August 26, 1977) is an American journalist and television critic. He may be best known as reality television's "longest-standing critic" for his online journalism, as he is the creator of the genre's first tracking website, rea ...
of ''Reality Blurred'' wrote that "The Traitors had me a few seconds into its first episode, and only tightened its grip from there. This is outstanding competition reality TV, with all of the elements sliding confidently into place."


Missions

: The team received the full amount of available prize money. : The team DID NOT receive the full amount of available prize money.


Notes


International broadcasts

In the United Kingdom, the series was acquired by the BBC as a companion to its British version, with episodes released on BBC iPlayer the day after the American release, January 13, 2023, and linear television airings for
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...
and
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Traitors, The (American Tv series) 2020s American reality television series 2023 American television series debuts American television series based on Dutch television series English-language television shows Peacock (streaming service) original programming Television series by All3Media Television shows filmed in Scotland Television shows set in Scotland