The Traitors Season-Premiere Recap: Grave Danger

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Get ready for more deception and drama! The Traitors is back for a fourth season on Peacock. The show combines the strategy of a Mafia-style game with a cast of reality TV stars, athletes, actors, and other well-known faces. This season’s group includes stars from The Real Housewives and Survivor, along with some famous moms – like Donna Kelce and Porsha Williams – in every sense of the word.

When the diverse group of contestants arrived at the castle – a place buzzing with activity – they finally met their rivals and teammates. Dorinda Medley, surprisingly back after being eliminated last season, was excited to see Lisa Rinna and even pointed out she was wearing Dorinda’s lip liner, instantly creating a potential alliance. Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, however, were keeping their distance, deliberately avoiding eye contact to downplay their close friendship and avoid appearing as a powerful pair.

Okay, so before anyone even gets to the castle, Alan Cumming is throwing a curveball! He’s secretly picking a Traitor – and this one’s a real mystery, even to the cameras! This person will be working completely alone, secretly nominating players for the other Traitors to potentially eliminate. It’s a fascinating twist, and it really makes you wonder… who will those other Traitors even be?

Okay, so Alan played his usual game of picking traitors, and this time it’s Candiace Dillard Bassett from The Real Housewives of Potomac, Lisa Rinna from Beverly Hills, and Rob Rausch from Love Island USA. It’s a first – we’ve got two Housewives up in the turret! And honestly, thank goodness there are no obvious strategy players this time. Last season was a mess with traitors turning on each other constantly. This group already feels way more upbeat. Rob thinks he’s perfect for the role because apparently, all his exes say he’s impossible to read. Candiace is just excited to finally be the center of attention, and Lisa? She’s thrilled she gets to lie, deceive, and basically ‘kill’ people – she says her time on Housewives was good practice for two out of those three!

Michael Rapaport is a major problem with this show. His consistently offensive and bigoted posts online were a strange choice for casting, especially considering NBCUniversal has fired people for similar behavior. From the moment he appears on screen, he’s irritating and unpleasant, and honestly gives me a headache. Every time he shows up, I wish it was just a mistake – like seeing a strangely diseased fish instead! But no, he’s there to loudly demonstrate his lack of strategy, and even Tiffany Mitchell immediately recognizes how badly he’s playing the game. Hopefully, he’ll be eliminated soon so we can actually enjoy the rest of the season.

Before the real drama begins, the cast faced their first challenge: retrieving one of 100 floating coffins from the loch. Twelve of these coffins were worth points towards a prize. Each team had to row out and collect a coffin, then place it in a designated grave matching a specific player. Those who end up with a coffin in their grave are then vulnerable to being “murdered” by the other players. Some cast members quickly dropped coffins in any available grave, while others, like Candiace, played strategically, even suggesting a certain player – Donna – might be a target. Candiace is known for her boldness, so no one was surprised by her approach. The challenge also included some comical moments, like Johnny falling into the lake and Colton Underwood impressively lifting an entire coffin out of the water as if it were a light pool toy.

In the end, nine players are suspects in the murder: Michael (who seems largely unconcerned), Ron, Donna, Eric, Ian, Dorinda, Rob C., Mark, and Rob R. However, Rob R. is safe because he’s already been revealed as the Traitor. Watching Dorinda, you can tell she’s deeply affected by being eliminated from the game – and especially by having it happen twice. It’s clear she won’t go down without a fight and someone is going to get hurt.

Porsha had a slightly better chance of staying on the show, as she was also nearly eliminated. Fortunately, the setup for her removal wasn’t quite finished in time. On the way back, Porsha questioned why she was being targeted, and Candiace explained that Michael—whom Candiace jokingly described as looking ghostly—had instructed them to go after the Housewives. Candiace admitted in a private interview that she was deliberately stirring up drama because Michael was a convenient distraction.

Sharing anything privately with Porsha seems pointless, as she immediately told everyone about a conversation with Michael (who apparently has severe gout!). She accused him of gossiping about the women, but he denied it. Everyone then decided to find out where the rumor started and confronted Candiace in the kitchen. When Porsha recounted what she heard, Candiace brilliantly responded by questioning where this conversation supposedly took place. I couldn’t stop laughing! She quickly explained that Porsha misunderstood, and she was actually referring to something Michael had said the day before.

When the Traitors gather, I’m honestly more worried about how their cloaks will mess up Lisa Rinna’s hair! But they’re focused on something much more important: who the Secret Traitor is considering eliminating. For the first murder, their list of potential victims included Rob, Ian, Mark, and Eric, but they ultimately narrowed it down to just three. It’s still unclear who’s really in charge, though. We see a sample of the handwriting, and I’m tempted to compare it to handwriting from past seasons of Survivor, but it’s hard to draw any firm conclusions. The writing style varies – some names are in all caps, others aren’t, and the letters themselves have different curves. What we do know for sure is that Ian, Mark, and Eric are safe – at least for now.

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2026-01-09 05:58