with the growing realisation that the cracks in the format are starting to show.
One major culprit, as always, has been the mid-episode challenge; a slab of filler designed to kill any trace of intrigue, like a version of 12 Angry Men where the jurors get up halfway through to spend 20 minutes swanning around in a park. Nor did the new raft of tweaks amount to much, with the reveal of the Secret Traitor coming far too early, and the secret connections (Judy and Roxy, Ellie and Ross) fizzling out without resolution.
However, the biggest accusation to level at The Traitors is that it is a show designed to reward the dull. There have been some spectacular participants this year – James was baffling, Harriet was explosive, Fiona somehow managed to be both at once – but they all got banished the instant they demonstrated any tangible signs of personality. Instead, the final five contestants were two traitors and a handful of people who couldn’t have said more than 500 words between them all series. It didn’t look great.
After James was banished by chance in a cliffhanger from the previous episode, we were left with Jade (whose default characteristic was defensive), Faraaz (who was mute, then tantalisingly perceptive, then mute again), Jack (who suddenly made himself known three episodes ago, like a Star Trek redshirt) and the two remaining traitors.
They were Stephen, who was passive and fond of big collars, and Rachel. And, honestly, thank God for Rachel. She was, of course, the figure who managed to bend the show’s entire gravity field around her. This was the woman responsible for turning The Traitors into – if you’ll allow me to quote Logan Roy – a fight for a knife in the mud.
For better or worse, Rachel’s machinations meant that this year’s entire series was cast in her image. It, and she, was ruthless to a terrifying extent. Even in the final her plotting remained in overdrive, as she worked
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