Though the cracks are starting to show, the endgame was undeniably nail-biting. And honestly, thank God for Rachel – the terrifyingly ruthless saviour of this series
B
it of a damp squib, this year’s Traitors. At its best, it was still able to skim the preposterously giddy heights of previous series, but I spent a lot of the run living 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.
