The Traitors (US)/Season 1

***The Traitors Season 1*** is the first season of *The Traitors (US)*. The main series is comprised of 10 episodes, all uploaded onto NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock on January 12, 2023. The series became an instant hit, receiving critical acclaim and becoming Peacock's top-performing original reality series.

Due to the positive fan response, a second season was confirmed on 2 February 2023, and a special reunion episode aired on February 28, 2023.

## Background

    It was first announced on October 5, 2021 that NBCUniversal had acquired the rights to produce The Traitors as an original series for their streaming service Peacock. Casting was then opened for members of the public to apply until March 11, 2022. Alan Cumming was subsequently announced as the US version's host on April 29, 2022, with production taking place from April to May 2022 in Ardross Castle in Scotland, and the first UK series filming at the same location immediately afterwards.

Cumming's costumes, many of which came from his own wardrobe, emphasised the over-the-top nature of the character he put on as the show's host. The show's production design, with its emphasis on bright furniture colours, also deliberately evoked popular murder mystery movies such as *Clue* and *Knives Out*. Although the show is shot as if the contestants actually slept in the castle, Cumming revealed that the contestants actually stayed at an airport hotel in Inverness about 40 minutes away from the castle. The show also featured a fictional groundskeeper character who never speaks named Fergus, played by Scottish actor John Ritchie. Production was temporarily paused after contestant Amanda Clark contracted COVID-19, and the other contestants were quarantined in their lodgings while being constantly tested.

The casting of Survivor alumnae Cirie Fields and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick was first leaked on May 23, 2022, with the entire cast of reality TV alumni subsequently revealed as well. Peacock officially announced the complete cast and premiere date for the series on December 7, 2022, with a trailer release on January 4, 2023.

    Upon release, the show was widely praised for its gripping drama and inventive murder mystery format, as well as its wild twists and treacherous gameplay. The series was later made available in the UK on BBC iPlayer, One and Three from January 13, 2023 onwards, as well as in Australia on 10 play from March 17, 2023. A series renewal was officially announced February 2, 2023, alongside a bonus reunion episode hosted by long-time Bravo personality Andy Cohen filmed on February 17, 2023, and released on February 28, 2023. Brandi Glanville was not present for the reunion, allegedly due to controversy surrounding her exit on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girl Trip, while Reza Farahan did not appear as his father had just passed away. Glanville later hosted an unofficial reunion with Farahan on her podcast *Brandi Glanville Unfiltered*.

### Episode Titles

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

## Unique Characteristics & Twists

* **Celebrities vs. Civilians:** Unlike other international versions of the show featuring either all-celebrity or all-civilian casts, this season adopted a cast of ten reality TV veterans competing against ten newcomers to reality TV.

## Contestants

The cast of ten reality TV celebrities included contestants from competitive programmes such as *Survivor* and *Big Brother*, as well as themed reality shows such as *Below Deck* and *Shahs of Sunset*. Competing along them were ten regular Americans, most of whom were fans of reality TV.

 **Winner: Traitor**

 **Finalist: Faithful**

 **Finalist: Faithful**

 **Quit: Traitor**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Quit: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

## Season Summary

20 contestants - ten reality TV stars and ten regular civilians - arrived at Ardross Castle, where they were met by host Alan Cumming. After introducing themselves to each other, they were then whisked to the Round Table, where Alan designated three of the group as Traitors: goofy veteran turned van life influencer Christian, *Survivor* mastermind Cirie and two-time *Big Brother* player Cody. Their objective was to survive to the end of the game without being Banished by the Faithfuls, while possessing the power to pick the Faithfuls off by Murdering one nightly.

The Traitors first decided to Murder Reza, who possessed a loud personality, and send a message to the group that no individual was safe. Geraldine's nervousness during the selection of Traitors was brought up by many players as a sign of her potentially being a Traitor, although Michael's aggressive but successful campaigning to Banish her also raised suspicions - especially when she revealed herself to be a Faithful.

Bam was subsequently Murdered to confuse the Faithfuls and throw initial suspicions off Christian, who had been close to him. Brandi deduced that Cirie and Christian were likely Traitors, but lumped Michael in as a potential third. With her campaign against Christian going nowhere, she settled for targeting Michael, although her confrontational personality led others to think she was a Traitor instead, causing her subsequent Banishment. The Traitors then made use of Azra speaking up against Kyle at the Round Table to Murder her and cast suspicions on him. The group was later split between Banishing two contestants who spoke their mind freely, Kate and Michael; the latter's misjudgment of Geraldine proved too much to recover from.

That night, the Traitors encountered their first schism as they disagreed on who to Murder. While Cody wanted to Murder Rachel, Cirie intervened and insisted the group go after Ryan instead, accusing Cody of having a pre-game alliance with him. Cody denied this charge and agreed to Murder Ryan, hoping to restore some trust with Cirie. He subsequently began to unravel and lied about Ryan to Kyle. When Kyle picked up on this and began investigating further, he found himself being targeted for being too aggressive instead, and was then Banished. Amanda was also forced to Quit subsequently, dealing another blow to the Faithfuls.

The Traitors, relishing in not being discovered by any of the Faithfuls yet, were surprised by Alan. He told them that they had to nominate three contestants to put On Trial, with one of them Murdered the following night. Kate, increasingly isolated and fed up with the group, began sabotaging Missions in a bid to further make herself a pariah and be Banished; however, the group had honed in on Cody's increasingly erratic behaviour, successfully Banishing him at the next Round Table with the help of Christian and Cirie's votes.

Even though Kate was the only contestant On Trial who did not visit the Armoury, the Traitors took a chance and successfully Murdered Anjelica. The next day, Shelbe's increasing homesickness and withdrawal from the group was wrongly taken as a sign of cracking under pressure from being a Traitor, and she was then Banished. The remaining Traitors were offered an opportunity to recruit a Faithful into their ranks. They chose Arie for his unsuspicious nature, and he accepted; no Murder took place that night. At this point, the group was irritated by Rachel and misinterpreted her passionate nature as a sign of being a Traitor, Banishing her despite her dramatic pleas and with Cirie forced to cut her ally to go with the group.

Stephenie grew suspicious of Christian and Cirie as potential Traitors, and voiced her concerns to others. To protect themselves, the Traitors decided to Murder her, though Christian's gleeful reaction to the decision disturbed Cirie. She and Arie were also alarmed by Christian's growing overconfidence, especially when he made up a story about a Recruitment attempt at the previous Breakfast which drew suspicion. Although Christian began planting seeds to undermine the others, they moved quickly with their allies to have Christian Banished at the penultimate Round Table. Arie and Cirie later agreed to win the game together as Traitors and split the prize fund between themselves, though Cirie subsequently undermined Arie's position at the final Round Table by working with Andie and Quentin - whom she was close with from the start - to Banish Kate, who served as a huge distraction to the Faithful up to this point.

At the Fire of Truth, Alan instructed the final four to choose whether to end the game - if they felt all the Traitors within the group had been Banished - or Banish someone again. Although the others voted to end the game, Cirie chose to go for another Banishment vote. Arie, sensing he would be Banished by the other three, elected to Quit the game while trying to subtly hint to Andie and Quentin that Cirie was a Traitor. This would be to no avail, as the trio then all voted to end the game. Cirie won the full prize pot of US$250,000 for being a lone Traitor who made it to the end - but not before revealing her role to Andie and Quentin, who were shell-shocked by the revelation.

## Season History

1. ↑ Armoury visits actually occurred throughout the show, but were only shown on-screen from Episodes 6-8. No information is available for other rounds on who were eligible to visit or ended up winning the Shield.
1. ↑ Alan rounded up the prize fund from $114,900 to $115,000.
2. ↑ Alan rounded up the prize fund from $181,800 to $182,000.

## Voting History

1. ↑ Arie decided to Quit the game before a Banishment vote could be held.
2. ↑ On the show, Amanda was said to have Quit for personal reasons. This was revealed post-show as the result of a positive COVID-19 test.

## Viewership

Peacock does not release official viewing figures or ratings for its shows. However, the service announced that first season of The Traitors was its most watched original reality series to date.

## Trivia

* Reality TV veterans known to be invited for the show but who declined include Angelina Cardona Keeley and Rob Cesternino from *Survivor*, and Janelle Pierzina from *Big Brother*. Janelle however ultimately accepted to be a contestant in the second season.
* A civilian contestant by the name of Kevin Greene was originally part of the cast, but replaced after one day of filming due to a positive COVID-19 test. He was replaced by alternate Geraldine Moreno, and the entire first day reshot with her.
* Production is known to have been disrupted at least twice, with contestant departures and filming pauses after Kevin and Amanda contracted COVID-19.
* Even though the Armoury only appeared on the show from Episode 6 onwards, it was in fact a part of the game from the first day - just mostly edited out post-production.
* This is the first season internationally to have more female than male contestants.
* This is the first season internationally to have an original Traitor achieve a solo win.
* This is the first season where the Shield was won exclusively by one contestant.
* This season has the highest potential prize pot, highest prize pot achieved and highest winnings earned per winner internationally so far.

## References

1. ↑ Bell, BreAnna (February 2, 2023). ‘The Traitors’ Renewed for Season 2 at Peacock. *Variety*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
2. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (October 5, 2021). NBCUniversal, BBC Order U.S., U.K. Adaptations of Studio Lambert Format ‘The Traitors’. *Variety*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
3. ↑ https://www.studiolambert.com/take-part-the-traitors-us.html
4. ↑ White, Peter (April 29, 2022). Alan Cumming To Host Psychological Competition Series ‘The Traitors’ For Peacock. *Deadline*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
5. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/arts/television/the-traitors-us-show.html
6. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/style/the-traitors-alan-cumming.html
7. ↑ Cunningham, Kyndall (January 11, 2023). Alan Cumming Unleashes His Inner Bond Villain as Host of ‘The Traitors’. *The Daily Beast's Obsessed*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
8. ↑ John Ritchie, Actor, Scotland. *The Mandy Network*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
9. ↑ Palinkas, Lorianne (January 26, 2023). Amanda Clark-Stoner Reveals Why She Left The Traitors. *ScreenRant*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
10. ↑ Holmes, Martin (May 23, 2022). Rumor: Cirie Fields & Stephenie LaGrossa Cast on Peacock Reality Show ‘The Traitors’. *Inside Survivor*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
11. ↑ Tinoco, Armando (December 7, 2022). Peacock Sets Premiere Date For ‘The Traitors’, Reality Show Competition With ‘Real Housewives’ And ‘Big Brother’ Stars. *Deadline*.
12. ↑ Rhymes, Shameika (January 4, 2023). Peacock Promises Betrayal & Alan Cumming's Best Highland Wardrobe In 'The Traitors' Trailer. *USA Network*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
13. ↑ BBC acquires The Traitors US. *BBC* (January 12, 2023). Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
14. ↑ The Traitors US. *10 play*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
15. ↑ https://twitter.com/sharontharp/status/1626686649861128192
16. ↑ Harp, Justin (March 1, 2023). The Traitors USA addresses two stars missing reunion. *Digital Spy*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
17. ↑ Hatcher, Kirsty (March 2, 2023). Brandi Glanville Has Her Own 'Traitors' Reunion with Reza Farahan After Missing Peacock Taping. *People*. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
18. ↑ https://twitter.com/AngelinaCardona/status/1615211709417029632

 Filming locations