Trust is overrated on ‘The Traitors’ Season 4

Trust is the most valuable currency on The Traitors — and it’s also the easiest thing to lose. In Season 4 of The Traitors, alliances form over breakfast only to fall apart by the nightly roundtable, as contestants scramble to figure out who’s lying, who’s loyal and who’s quietly orchestrating the chaos behind the scenes.

Hosted by Alan Cumming, The Traitors blends a murder mystery with reality TV strategy. 20 contestants, many of them reality TV personalities or celebrities, live together in a castle and compete in challenges to build a prize pot worth up to $250,000. But hidden among them are typically two to four secretly chosen “traitors,” whose goal is to eliminate the remaining players, known as “faithfuls,” without getting caught. Each night, the traitors “murder” a contestant, while the faithfuls try to identify and vote out suspected traitors before it’s too late.

Contestants come from all corners of the celebrity and reality TV world — from Love Island and The Real Housewives franchise to Survivor, RuPaul’s Drag Race and beyond. Notable names this season include Lisa Rinna from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Love Island USA star Rob Rausch, comedian Michael Rapaport and Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski. It’s hard to highlight only a few, since nearly every contestant brings a big personality to the castle.

Season 4 had both highs and lows in terms of how entertaining it was to watch, but for viewers who stuck with it, the end result was rewarding. This season introduced a dramatic twist: a “secret traitor.” Unlike the others, a fourth traitor operated independently, unknown to both the faithfuls and the three other traitors. Since the audience knows who the traitors are from the start, it’s easy to think you could solve the mystery yourself. However, watching the faithfuls try to identify the traitors often felt like watching them run in circles. Even when players began to suspect the right people, their instincts were clouded by alliances and loyalty.

Those alliances played a huge role this season. Many contestants gravitated toward others from the same reality TV franchise, creating built-in loyalties that made it harder to vote objectively. Loyalty became one of the biggest sources of tension in the castle, with some players feeling personally betrayed when alliances cracked — even though, at the end of the day, it’s still just a game ironically called The Traitors, where betrayal is practically the point.

The show’s storytelling also keeps players and viewers on edge. Producers carefully conceal who has been murdered overnight or banished at the roundtable, keeping the suspense alive. At times the pacing felt slow, but the shifting strategies made it fascinating to watch how contestants navigated the social game. For example, Olympic figure skating duo Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir initially pretended they barely knew each other. Later, they confessed the truth: they were actually best friends outside the castle and had known each other for more than a decade. But their honesty backfired; other players saw their long-standing friendship as proof that they were capable of keeping big secrets.

Meanwhile, Michael Rapaport’s loud and outspoken approach made him a constant presence at the roundtable, often distracting contestants from the goal of identifying traitors. Eventually, he was voted out so the faithfuls could refocus. They didn’t even care if he was a traitor; they just wanted him gone. Ironically, other contestants were criticized for speaking too little, proving that in The Traitors, there’s almost no safe way to play the game without drawing suspicion.

Much of the show’s charm also comes from host Alan Cumming himself. With dramatic entrances, theatrical line deliveries and elaborate outfits that look like they came from a gothic stage play, Cumming fully embraces the show’s campy tone. Rather than presenting the competition like a straightforward reality game, he treats each twist and elimination like a scene in a dramatic mystery, adding another layer of entertainment to the already tense game.

The show’s atmosphere also plays a major role in raising the stakes. Filmed at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, the series features sweeping landscape shots, dim lighting and ominous background music that make it feel more like a dark whodunit than a traditional reality competition. The castle itself becomes another character in the show, heightening the sense of isolation and paranoia amongst the players.

Editing also carries a heavy weight in building suspense. Strategic confessionals and carefully placed reaction shots make every suspicious glance or awkward pause feel significant. Even when viewers already know who the traitors are, the editing keeps the tension alive by showing just how far off — or, on the bizarre occasion, how close — the faithfuls are in their suspicions.

In the end, Rob Rausch, who ultimately won the season, delivered a masterclass in subtle strategy. He kept conversations casual, avoided unnecessary drama and aligned with others in ways that felt natural instead of forced. While other contestants heavily relied on bold moves or franchise loyalties, Rob quietly navigated the paranoia-filled castle and outlasted everyone — proof that in The Traitors, brains and social savvy can trump theatrics. His performance was so impressive that I found myself rooting for him most of the time, especially since he flew under the faithfuls’ radar so well. Sometimes the quiet ones are the most dangerous.

If Season 4 proves anything, it’s that nobody in the castle really knows what they’re doing, and that’s what makes The Traitors so fun to watch. Alliances fall apart, and someone always ends up getting blamed for something they didn’t do. It’s easy for me to say that I’d make a good traitor or faithful from my dorm room twin XL, but who’s to say otherwise? After all, I knew who the traitors were from day one.