The Traitors Season 4, Episode 7
"The Black Banquet"
Host: Alan Cumming
Cast: Natalie Anderson, Yam Yam Arocho, Mark Ballas, Stephen Colletti, Candiace Dillard Bassett, Maura Higgins, Kristen Kish, Tara Lipinski, Dorinda Medley, Eric Nam, Rob Rausch, Lisa Rinna, Colton Underwood, Johnny Weir
Rob Rausch seemed to stumble last week, but he quickly found his footing and delivered a lethal blow to one of the most iconic Housewives to ever enter the castle. In doing so, though, he may have unknowingly sealed his own fate, underestimating just how tight the Housewives’ bond truly is.
The Traitors is at it’s best when it’s delivering camp and it’s safe to say that The Banquet served. Sure, some of the outfits might be better than others (we’re looking at you Colton), but it’s a fun time. Seemingly every player is paranoid about the plethora of things that might kill them. It feels like the world’s worst escape room where tarot cards, sliced turkey and a kiss on the cheek all become fodder for suspicion. Mark asks Johnny to pick a card from a tarot deck, Stephen slices turkey for Tara and Dorinda and Lisa, allegedly, kisses Yam Yam on the cheek. Alan reveals that the murder has happened, but two antidotes are on offer to save them from certain death. Kristen gets one, thanks to Yam Yam and Johnny, while Tara and Natalie fight over the other. Ultimately, Natalie wins out, though she puts some serious sus on her in the process.
Yam Yam quietly says that Lisa kissed her until it’s revealed that he died and suddenly he’s yelling it from the rooftops. I think I love the public dragging of Yam Yam as he gets to call out Lisa on his way out. He’s both wrong and right. She did kill him, just not the way he thought. Lisa immediately claims she did not kiss Yam Yam, causing Rob to load some ammunition against her.
Personally, I found it most suspicious that none of Rob, Candiace or Lisa lobbied for an antidote, but that’s obviously much clearer having seen the whole thing play out while also seeing an edited version of the episode. Natalie raises her threat level by so loudly wanting an antidote, though in hindsight, it should be the exact opposite. Why loudly prevent Tara from getting an antidote when she’s not even the one who wound up being murdered? I can’t blame Candiace for using this info to try and switch the roundtable banishment from Lisa to Natalie.
If the show hasn’t exactly been living up to its reputation this season, at least the challenges have been a marked improvement on seasons past. This one involves each player being given gold rocks, which they need to use to break urns and earn money (urn money, if you will). However, using one of your rocks means you have less at the end of the game. The players with the most gold rocks are then eligible to win a golden dagger (a double vote for a future round table). There’s an extra twist that you can give your rocks to another player.
Ultimately, the men + Natalie end up eligible to win the dagger, with Rob having the most and getting to the opportunity to really dictate where it winds up. The other five players are given a tablet that either does or does not have the dagger. Rob can then interrogate them and steal a tablet. He correctly deduces that Natalie had it, so he steals it from her and earns it himself. Yet another piece of ammo.
Back at the castle and the roundtable quickly becomes a tale of two options: Natalie or Lisa. Johnny is leading the charge against Natalie, though he’s being slightly manipulated by Candiace. He tries to rally a group of seven to control the votes. It’s Stephen who seems on the fence.
Meanwhile, Rob and Colton are head of the pack against Lisa. Rob lays out the argumnet that there’s really no reason for Lisa to respond to Yam Yam’s accusation the way she did unless she is a Traitor. Why say she didn’t kiss him. In my opinion, this is really the nail in her coffin. Lisa should have just said that kissing him isn’t the reason he was killed, rather than try to say she never did. She tries to insulate that she air kissed everyone at the banquet, missing the fact that the Traitor would need to air kiss everyone else is her means of a murder in plain sight required her to kiss her target on the cheek.
Ultimately, the roundtable is never as split as it was made out to be. Lisa calls out Natalie for saying “we” regarding a murdered Faithful, but once Colton and Rob weigh in, Lisa seems doomed. Refusing to vote for a fellow Housewife, Dorinda votes for Maura and Candiace throws an arrow at Rob.
Lisa reveals herself to be a Traitor and seemed to be genuinely moved by getting to play the game. She was fun to watch and even if she’s out before the end of the game, I appreciated having her on this season.
Rob doesn’t take too kindly to Candiace throwing a hinky vote her way. Johnny wonders whether the Colton vs. Lisa feud was Traitor on Traitor violence, and posits that perhaps Rob is aligned with Colton in the turret. It’s music to Candiace’s ears. She claims Rob disbanded the Traitors and that it’s all out war from here on out.
Rob was in a real challenge here. It seems like eliminating Lisa was somewhat necessary for his game. If the Traitors were too closely aligned, as soon as one was voted out, the others would have a target on their backs. I worry about this for Candiace. However, I think she played off the vote better than Rob did. Rob was always climbing up hill being in the turret with two Housewives. He now seems in a pretty rough position moving forward, especially if Candiace can rally some troops. And she seems very likely to be able do so. She obviously would have Dorinda, but you can potentially add Johnny, Eric and Tara to that list. It’d only take one more person to control the votes.
While I think the mid-game of The Traitors Season 4 has been weaker than other seasons, I do think we’re set up for a fun end game, especially if the Traitors are heading into a full on civil war.
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