The Traitors (US)/Season 2

## Season Information

### Filming Location

Ardross Castle, Ardross, Highland, United Kingdom

## Cast

### Contestants

22* 2 original Traitors
* 20 initial Faithfuls

### Traitors

Dan Gheesling
Phaedra Parks
Parvati Shallow (from Episode 2)

## Season Chronology

### Next Season

*Season 3*

***The Traitors Season 2*** is the second season of *The Traitors (US)*. Just like its predecessor, it is released on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock, with the first three episodes released on January 12, 2024, and then new episodes weekly at 9pm ET on Thursdays.

## Background

After the success of *Season 1*, a series renewal was officially announced on February 2, 2023. Although the plan was initially to continue with the first season's theme of celebrities vs. civilians, applications for civilian participants were soon closed, as production decided to shift towards a cast of all reality TV veterans.

    After months of speculation and the names of various reality stalwarts thrown around, the finalised cast was flown to the UK between September 19 to 20, 2023. The first officially confirmed contestants were Real Housewife Larsa Pippen and her boyfriend Marcus Jordan. Peacock later confirmed the full cast list, including many speculated names (and surprises such as *Love Island UK* winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and former British politician John Bercow) on September 21, 2023. Alan Cumming's dog Lala was also announced as his sidekick for the season, with an order for 11 episodes and a reunion special. The first trailer dropped on December 14, 2023, alongside the official launch date of January 12, 2024 - exactly a year after *Season 1*.

### Aftershows

The new season included an official after-show, ***The Traitors: Postmortem***, featuring “additional footage and interviews with eliminated contestants”. It will be uploaded onto both Peacock and its YouTube channel.

### Episode Titles

Unlike most international editions of the show, the US edition gives each episode non-generic titles.

## Unique Characteristics & Twists

* **Pre-existing Relationship:** Dating couple Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan were cast on the show together, competing as individual contestants.
* **Early Recruitment:** On top of committing a Murder on their first night, the Traitors were also allowed to Recruit a Faithful from the start of the game onwards, before any Traitors were Banished.
* **Armoury Removal:** Shields were no longer given out at random through Armoury visits; instead, contestants had the chance to go for Shields during Challenges.
* **Murder in Plain Sight:** At the end of Episode 3, there was no Traitor's conclave. Instead, the Traitors had to retrieve a Poisoned Chalice from a book and persuade a Faithful to drink from it before midnight, in order to Murder them.
* **Mid-Game Intruder:** In Episode 5, Kate Chastain is introduced as a surprise new contestant to the season.

## Cast

The cast was comprised of 22 celebrities, with a mix of veterans from both competitive (e.g. *The Challenge* and *Survivor*) and non-competitive (e.g. *The Real Housewives* and *Bling Empire*) reality shows, as well as a few high-profile names like boxer Deontay Wilder and British ex-Speaker John Bercow.

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Traitor**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Traitor**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Traitor**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Active: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Quit: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

## Voting History

1. ↑ Instead of a Traitors' conclave, the Murder took place in plain sight, with the Traitors convincing a Faithful to drink from a poisoned chalice.
2. ↑ Deontay left the show for mental health reasons.

## Season Overview

### Episode 1

*Airdate: January 12, 2024*

* **Traitors Selected:** Dan & Phaedra
* **Mission Synopsis:** Beacon Lighting
Together, the 22 contestants worked together to build a giant beacon and set it alight in the middle of a loch, by gathering and rearranging the puzzle pieces for the beacon first. To guide the group, a replica of the puzzle was also hidden among bottles scattered along the loch shore. In order to set it ablaze, all players must have left the water; however, they were first tied up to a pole, and needed to untangle themselves first, and deciding whether to go for a Shield (two in the loch and one on land), start the puzzle or help someone untie themselves first. Completing the Mission within 40 minutes would earn the group $15,000.
* **Prize Earned:** $30,000 out of $30,000
* **Shields:** CT, Deontay & Janelle

### Episode 2

*Airdate: January 12, 2024*

* **Recruitment:** Parvati *(Accepted)*
* **Murdered:** *Bananas*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Scarecrow Search
The group of 21 contestants were split into three groups, each with their own marked paths. They encountered three questions about their fellow contestants based on a previously-completed questionnaire, with each possible option associated with a scarecrow that had a key on their neck. They had to guess the correct option, carry the scarecrow to a locked box and attempt to open it with the scarecrow's key. If they succeeded, they would be eventually guided to a 'field of gold' full of scarecrows, which they dissembled to try and find ten hidden gold coins. Additionally, three Shields were hidden in scarecrows. The group had 30 minutes to complete entire Mission and win up to $20,000.
* **Prize Earned:** $16,000 out of $20,000
* **Shield:** Dan
* **Banished:** *Peppermint (17-2-1)*

### Episode 3

*Airdate: January 12, 2024*

* **Murdered:** *Marcus*
* **Mission Synopsis:** The Traitors' Cemetery
The 20 contestants had 15 minutes to find the gold hidden in the various graves, crypts and tombs in the cemetery at night. To find the gold, the contestants needed to use tools scattered around the cemetery to break things open. The gold would only be counted if it was placed in a wheelbarrow at the cemetery entrance. To make things more difficult, searchlights traversed across the cemetery; any contestant caught in them were immediately eliminated from the game and any gold they were carrying. Only 9 players will allowed to search at a time so the rest of the players were a substitute incase a player is caught and eliminated from the game. 3 Shields was also hidden somewhere in the cemetery.
* **Prize Earned:** $19,500 out of $20,000
* **Shields:** Janelle, Peter & Tamra
* **Banished:** *Maks (10-2-2-2-1-1)*

### Episode 4

*Airdate: January 18, 2024*

* **Quit:** *Deontay*
* **Murdered:** *Ekin-Su*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Resting Place
The contestants took a long and slow walk to the Murdered contestant's final resting place; along the way, they were given a series of questions hinting at who was safe, allowing those who were the correct answer(s) to enter the carriage instead of walking with the procession, and eliminating them from consideration. The three contestants left then stepped into coffins at the burial plot, with the group voting on who they believe was Murdered. If the majority could correctly guess which contestant was Murdered, they earned $20,000 for the prize pot.
* **Prize Earned:** $0 out of $20,000
* **Banished:** *Larsa (8-4-1-1-1)*

## Viewership

The season instantly became a bigger hit than the first one, with 75% more views from *Season 1* and becoming Peacock's biggest reality premiere. The show was the second most watched TV program on Peacock when it was first released.

## Trivia

* This is the first season in the international franchise:
	+ To feature a returnee contestant.
	+ To have a mid-season intruder that was not in the game from Episode 1.
* This is the first season in the US franchise:
	+ To have only 2 Original traitors at the start of the game; the first franchise worldwide for The Traitors to this was second Norwegian season.
	+ To have episodes dropped weekly, rather all the episodes dropped at once.

## References

1. ↑ ‘The Traitors’ Renewed for Season 2 at Peacock | Variety — February 2, 2023
2. ↑ Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan Join 'The Traitors' Season 2 Cast (Exclusive) | People — September 20, 2023
3. ↑ Post by Peacock | Twitter — September 21, 2023
4. ↑ The Traitors Gets Season 2 Release Date at Peacock — Watch Trailer | TVLine — December 14, 2023
5. ↑ PEACOCK ANNOUNCES STAR-STUDDED CAST FOR SEASON 2 OF EMMY-NOMINATED REALITY SERIES, THE TRAITORS | NBCUniversal Media Village — September 21, 2023
6. ↑ ‘The Traitors’ Season 2 Becomes Peacock’s Most-Watched Reality Premiere, Up 75% From Season 1 (EXCLUSIVE) | Variety — January 18, 2024

 Filming locations