TV Season of the Week: The Traitors (US) Season 2 (2024)

I started this blog so I could talk about old and random reality television seasons. Well, that's not the only reason, but it is an important one. Where else could I go to write about the Traitors season from last year? Who would let me do that? Only I would let myself do that.

So here we go. I'll be running through the contestants in order of when they left the castle. Some thoughts are brief, some are longer, but all of them are full of spoilers, naturally. If I don't have anything substantial to say about someone, I just skipped them. 

Johnny Bananas: Okay, I don't watch The Challenge. And I never will because if I do I'll never stop. So I don't know anything about this guy. But calling yourself Johnny Bananas and dressing like that is like the beginning of an Andy Kaufman bit. Or maybe just the whole bit.

Peppermint: Okay, I don't watch Drag Race. And I never will because if I do I'll never stop. But I really liked Peppermint! Maybe I'll just watch her season...

Marcus Jordan: Dude tried so hard to go under the radar but he's MICHAEL JORDAN'S SON and when you're MICHAEL JORDAN'S SON, you can't get away with calling yourself a "fashion entrepreneur."

Maks: Why was he acting so suspicious? I would've thought he was a Traitor too!

Deontay: It is so interesting that a guy who beats the shit out of people for a living couldn't handle the emotional stress of being kinda mean to somebody on a reality show. Respect.

Ekin-Su: Nobody is more of an Ekin-Su hater than me, so I'm glad she didn't last too long. She wanted to leave anyway.

Absolutely nothing to say about Larsa, Tamra, or Janelle.

Dan: Could've been a stronger Traitor if his strategy wasn't "be as suspicious as possible for as long as possible." I am surprised, however, that his Phaedra takedown attempt didn't at least cause more Phaedra suspicion, as it's the most obvious "I'm gonna vote out a fellow Traitor" move I've ever seen.

Bergie: He only lasted as long as he did because there's no way in a million years he could've pulled off being dastardly and secretive.

Parvati: I can absolutely see why she's a Survivor fan favorite.

Nothing to say about Kevin.

Peter: Got too big for his britches.

John: You can take the man out of Parliament, but you can't take Parliament out of the man.

Phaedra: The longest-lasting original Traitor. I loved her at first. Not knowing her from her other shows, I thought she was funny and just a great character. Dan and Parvati didn't think she was a gamer and talked down to her, while she outlasted them both.

Nothing to say about Shereé.

Sandra: I have no clue how she lasted so long. Nobody thought it would be a good idea to bring up the fact that she won Survivor not once, but twice, until the final episode? I would've targeted him right away. I wouldn't even care if I was voting out a Faithful, I just would've wanted her out of the game. She's too good.

Kate: It was supposed to be a big dun dun duuun when Kate joined the game late, but I haven't seen the first season of the show or Below Deck (and I can't say she has convinced me to try it), so I didn't care. Even though she survived the final Banishment, Sandra raised too many suspicions for them to not vote out Kate as soon as possible.

MJ: Nothing to say about her gameplay, but man she got screwed over in the end. She deserved to win just as much as those two, even if she was outside of their click and generally not great at the game.

Trishelle and CT: What the hell was up with Trishelle in the end? That was straight-up sus. If there was a way for one person to win, CT should've been able to after that nonsense. Fine overall gameplay from them both and overall deserving winners, however.