While season four\u2019s first mission gives the faithful the ability to select who\u2019s up for murder, it doesn\u2019t give individual players any agency. But it also gives us Alan Cumming wearing a literal coffin outfit, so I guess who cares! <\/p>\n
Alan is in fine form, earning his Emmy<\/a> with even greater confidence in his ostentatious castle-dwelling persona. The gusto with which he takes care of business, like smashing the photos of the murdered players, is magnified by his wardrobe, some of which would be just too much for the Met Gala. <\/p>\n And then there\u2019s just his genuine reactions to the chaos. \u201cI\u2019ve missed this,\u201d Alan laughs after Johnny Weir falls off the pier into the loch.<\/p>\n The 23-person cast is so big some fade to the background: Top Chef host Kristen Kish, Olympian Tara Lipinski, and Laguna Beach\u2019s Stephen Colletti are among those who fade, overshadowed by Michael Rapaport shouting at everyone and Dorinda Medley screaming about not wanting to be murdered on day one again. <\/p>\n Assembling reality TV stars known for their personalities and\/or competition resumes means they\u2019re judged more for their reputations than their behavior. And, as usual, some are more interested in their reputations\u2014screen time; not pissing off the Swifties, thanks to producers casting Donna Kelce\u2014than the competition.<\/p>\n The fun for me is in how they interact (\u201cYou could do that the whole time? Hot,\u201d Mon\u00e9t X Change says to\u00a0Colton Underwood when he picks up a coffin), defy expectations, and deal with each other as the game unfolds. <\/p>\n Rob Cesternino, coming out of reality TV retirement and his RHAP empire<\/a>, is immediately frustrated that, during the challenge, his fellow players don\u2019t want to play the larger game. \u201cWe should talk through how is this going to help us most strategically,\u201d he said. Big Brother winner Ian Terry agrees: \u201cThere\u2019s no game play here.\u201d How will they convince others to play?<\/p>\n When Alan squeezed Love Island\u2019s Rob Rausch\u2019s shoulder and made him a traitor, I thought it a waste. But he\u2019s already more interesting than I expected, and may not be just turret cannon fodder. Lisa Rinna, of course, is exactly what we\u2019d expect from her: telling us she\u2019s excited to tell Harry Hamlin about her selection. <\/p>\n The producers making fellow Housewives star Candiace Dillard Bassett the third traitor is inspired: no gamers in the turret, but two Housewives, who are inclined to stick together but now have their role to protect.<\/p>\n And then, of course, is the Secret Traitor. Putting elimination nominations in one player\u2019s hand makes The Traitors more Big Brother than I\u2019d like, but it remains to be seen how that\u2019ll play out\u2014and for how long.<\/p>\n The highlight of episode one is a post-mission conversation. \u201cWhen we were in our boat, Michael was like, Who we gonna put the caskets in? Let\u2019s do the Housewives!\u201d Candiace tells Porsha during the car ride. But she is lying to put heat on him.<\/p>\n Back at the castle, Porsha tells Michael, and leads a line of players to the kitchen to confront Candiace directly! \u201cIt\u2019s about to get really good,\u201d Monet says to Lisa in the kitchen, and the crowd gathered for this confrontation know it, too.<\/p>\n \u201cYou misheard me. I did not say he said it today,\u201d Candiace says, lying again. \u201cI was referring to him saying something about Housewives yesterday.\u201d Incredibly, Maura\u2014who heard and reacted to that in the car\u2014backs up Candiace: \u201cI don\u2019t remember her saying that, what you just said.\u201d<\/p>\n Candiace, though, isn\u2019t done with her scorched-earth traitor game, saying Michael was indeed targeting Housewives. \u201cI would be a real piece of shit at this point in the game,\u201d Michael says, and Cadiace hits back: \u201cYes, you would be.\u201d<\/p>\n Candiace openly guessing Lisa is a traitor before actually meeting her fellow traitors was quite stunning. I agree with her that being a convincing, aggressive faithful might be the better play versus fading to the background, the strategy Rob argues for. <\/p>\n All of this was even more stunning than learning there actually is a time limit on challenges, and it\u2019s not just faked for our benefit! <\/p>\n The players didn\u2019t get credit for their final coffin. \u201cWasn\u2019t in on time,\u201d Alan Cumming declared. \u201cBased on what?\u201d Michael demanded (ugh, murder\/banish him please!) \u201cBased on the clock,\u201d Alan said. <\/p>\n As the first episode ends, nine are in danger: Donna, Dorinda, Eric, Ian, Mark, Michael, and Rob C., Rob R., Ron, and Mark. But only those the Secret Traitor selects will actually be eligible. Will that tell us something about their identity? Or affect what the faithful can divine from the actual murder? <\/p>\n Despite the shortcomings of this iteration\u2019s casting and format, I am fully back in, and can\u2019t wait to see where The Traitors goes.<\/p>\n Traitors US season 4 recaps <\/p>\n All of reality blurred\u2019s content is independently selected, including links to products or services. However, if you buy something after clicking an affiliate link, we may earn a commission. Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI just don\u2019t know what I could have done differently,\u201d the first person murdered on The Traitors US…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-235751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Traitors US host Alan Cumming in \u201cLet the Cards Fall as they Will,\u201d episode 401 (Photo by Euan Cherry\/Peacock)<\/p>\n
The Traitors US season 4\u2019s players: Rob Rausch, Mark Ballas, Colton Underwood, Eric Nam, Stephen Colletti, Lisa Rinna, Donna Kelce, Dorinda Medley, Porsha Williams, Natalie Anderson, Candiace Dillard Bassett, Tara Lipinski, Michael Rapaport, Rob Cesternino, Kristen Kish, Mone\u0301t X Change, Ian Terry, Caroline Stanbury, Ron Funches, and Johnny Weir (Photo by Euan Cherry\/Peacock)<\/p>\n