The Traitors Recap: Lip Service

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The players showed up to the banquet in elaborate outfits, though Colton’s was particularly awful. However, only one of them will actually be committing murder – Lisa Rinna, who’s wearing a cheap imitation of an outfit Conan Gray wore to the VMAs. This dress, designed like a sailor’s gown, has a dangerous amulet attached. If anyone considered ‘Faithful’ touches it, they’ll die. Everyone suspects something bad is about to happen at the banquet, which makes Lisa’s job—whatever it is—much more difficult.

Lisa really wants to get rid of Colton, but realizes doing it directly would make her a prime suspect. Instead, she’s focused on Yam Yam, Kristen, and Natalie, who are all close by, and she’s planning to act quickly. This is where Lisa Rinna’s acting skills become apparent – after all, she’s a professional soap opera actress, so her dramatic performance isn’t surprising. She pretends to struggle with her brooch, exclaiming, “Ow, ow, oh shit, it’s open! Will you just put it in?” This gets one of the others to help her, and in the process, someone is murdered. It’s a clever killing done right in front of everyone, and she managed to pull it off without even needing a distraction like a conga line!

Candiace subtly asks Lisa if their plan was successful while they begin to eat, and Lisa confirms that it was. They share a brief, happy moment discussing this, but the mood quickly shifts when Alan arrives covered in glitter and pearls with shocking news: someone has been murdered nearby. While they anticipated something bad happening, they didn’t expect a potential opportunity to fix things. Alan reveals two vials of antidote that could revive the person targeted.

Things quickly became chaotic. Yam Yam revealed that Lisa kissed him, and Natalie worried she’d taken food belonging to Stephen. Stephen also mentioned he asked Johnny to pick a tarot card, which turned out to be a picture of Kristen. Tara claimed Dorinda gave her some turkey, and Dorinda responded by saying she’s naturally good at serving people. Meanwhile, Rob calmly ate an entire hard-boiled egg. It was complete mayhem.

Everyone is desperately seeking the antidote, but trying to discuss it rationally is impossible, and they’re quickly running out of time. The fight for it comes down to Kristen, Tara, and Natalie, with Natalie and Tara both rushing towards Alan to get it. What happens next is a shocking betrayal. As Tara tries to grab an antidote, her close friend Johnny surprisingly takes it and gives it to Kristen. Natalie quickly drinks hers, leaving Tara with nothing. Though, it seems Tara wasn’t really meant to get one anyway – but did Natalie’s actions ruin Lisa’s earlier efforts?

The reveal came quickly. As Alan walked around the table, he dramatically announced, “The person cursed to die is… YOU, Yam Yam!” Everyone gasped as guards pulled Yam Yam from the room, and he shouted that Lisa was his killer. Lisa immediately denied it, but it turned out she’d successfully hidden her theft of the brooch. Yam Yam had noticed something else she’d done, however.

Okay, so Alan kept promising this huge, epic moment in Traitors, calling it a total bloodbath and “carnage.” Honestly? I was a little underwhelmed. Yeah, watching Yam Yam get voted out was definitely dramatic – the whole room was shouting! – but after all that build-up, I expected…more. It felt like one elimination wasn’t quite the “incredible moment in history” he’d been teasing. I kept waiting for another shoe to drop, but it just…didn’t.

Because the usual strategy meeting didn’t happen the night before, Lisa, Candiace, and Rob were the first to breakfast, giving them a chance to talk things over—and for Lisa to express her frustration with Rob’s vote. As everyone else joined them, the conversation turned to figuring out what happened to Yam Yam—was it the tarot cards, something he ate, or the initial greetings? Tara and Natalie apologized for their intense behavior during the competition. The atmosphere was awkward, like trying to remember a blurry, chaotic night after a long, sober morning.

Now that the group has broken into smaller sides, Stephen suspects Natalie is acting strangely. Rob, however, continues to blame Lisa, insisting Yam Yam had no reason to be dishonest – a move that’s sure to cause trouble at the reunion. Meanwhile, Natalie accidentally lets something slip to Lisa and Tara, saying “when we killed,” and Lisa is eager to confront her about it.

The challenge involves racing to the top of a hill while gathering gold, with the added prize of “The Dagger,” which grants two votes in future discussions. Lisa checks in with Dorinda as the women struggle uphill, and it’s a surprisingly tough climb – so much so that Dorinda even forgets one of her signature lines! It really highlights how exhausting the race is.

Once everyone reached the top, they carefully combined their gold, trying to figure out who would get the dagger. The six players with the most gold turned out to be Colton, Eric, Mark, Natalie, Rob, and Stephen, with Rob having the biggest advantage. Then, everyone drew a tablet indicating whether they had the dagger or not, and Rob had to figure out who was lying. He acted like a human lie detector, questioning each person and deciding whose tablet to take. Surprisingly, his strategy worked – he correctly identified Natalie as the liar and stole the dagger from her. However, before going back inside, Rob revealed he had the dagger to the group – a surprising move considering he’s supposed to be working with his fellow Traitors.

As soon as the discussion started, Lisa immediately confronted Natalie, referencing their past actions with the phrase, “When we murdered…” but Natalie insisted she wasn’t involved. While many thought Natalie’s efforts to find the antidote seemed like a show to prove her loyalty, this point didn’t dominate the conversation for long.

Everyone’s focused on Lisa and whether her kiss led to Yam Yam’s elimination. Maura, who witnessed the greeting, is pretty sure she saw Lisa actually kiss him. She jokingly recalls thinking she hoped Lisa wouldn’t kiss her and mess up her makeup, sharing this in her Irish accent. Meanwhile, Dorinda attempts to explain that Lisa was just giving everyone air kisses, but Rob delivers a damning statement. He points out that Yam Yam is the only person present they know to be truthful, and his last words were that Lisa is a Traitor. When questioned about why Yam Yam would lie, Lisa simply says she doesn’t know.

Lisa isn’t defending herself well. She could have pointed out that Yam Yam reacted as if her greeting was a blatant act, but he misinterpreted the situation – and that’s actually true! If the kiss was the issue, she could have said she’d never mess up her makeup with it, or that Yam Yam would have had lip gloss on his cheek if they had kissed – which he didn’t. She could have even used that as a chance to promote her products! She could have also argued that something as obvious as a ‘murder’ wouldn’t be as simple as a kiss. There were so many angles she could have taken, but she just keeps saying she didn’t do it, and unfortunately, that’s not a strong enough defense.

Voting largely followed party lines, but there was a surprise: Candiace voted for Rob. While the other cast members dismissed it as pointless, she meant it as a clear signal to him. Surprisingly, Rob got upset with her, even though he was doing the same thing – or even worse. What started as a positive and cooperative dynamic has now been damaged by Rob’s actions, and Candiace is determined to retaliate.

Lisa Rinna received the most votes, even one from a fellow Traitor, and was eliminated from the game. She proudly declared herself the “most iconic, legendary, TRAITOR.” It’s fitting that her famous lips ultimately led to her downfall. As she left, she expressed gratitude for the experience, a welcome change from her departure from The Real Housewives. The show’s dramatic music played as she exited, seemingly lamenting the fall of an icon – a soundtrack I also relate to when walking on the slippery sidewalks of New York City.

On top of Lisa leaving, things get even more frustrating: Colton is acting like he’s responsible. While he wanted Lisa gone, Rob was the one who actually made it happen, so it’s really annoying to hear Colton bragging about “taking out a Housewife.” He doesn’t even pause before he’s already scheming against Stephen. Thankfully, Johnny doesn’t trust Colton, so hopefully everyone will turn against him soon. But first, we have to sit through another meeting, and we’re worried about Rob’s safety – hopefully, security will be present.

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2026-01-30 05:56