The Traitors
Planning a Coup
Season 4
Episode 6
Editor’s Rating
A legendary roundtable finally wakes up Lisa, and the entire castle is in trouble.
Photo: Euan Cherry/Peacock
The question, of course, at the beginning of this week’s episode is: Why is Rob dressed like he’s on Home Improvement? Just kidding. The question is if someone was murdered last night — a fate determined by whether or not someone took a shield. If nobody was greedy and snuck one for themselves, the Traitors would have had no choice but to let them all live. And sure enough, everybody arrives at breakfast, which is bad news for our Traitors, and for those hoping there’d be less competition over the smoked salmon.
Since they can’t come up with new suspects based on a murder, much of this week’s focus remains on Ron and Colton after each of them repeatedly targeted and banished multiple Faithfuls. But there’s one new name in the mix. Despite killing Monet, Lisa’s name is still out there, primarily thanks to Colton, who seems physically unable to go a day in this castle without a target. At least this one is actually correct. He warns Dorinda to put her Housewife loyalties aside and keep an eye on her, and Natalie agrees that her laid-back behavior hasn’t aligned with the over-the-top Housewife they expected.
This three-man race proves especially tricky for Rob to navigate. He’s close with Colton, Lisa is his fellow Traitor, and he’s suddenly growing fond of Ron, with whom he connects with over chess. Rob says that he thinks Ron isn’t thriving in the game because he’s an introvert and has a lot of compassion for him. In turn, Ron tells Rob he can tell he’s a good guy from the way he talks about his family. Oh, so Ron doesn’t give a fuck about Dorinda’s family, but now here he is mucking it up with Rob? I can almost see Dorinda taking notes for the reunion as we speak.
But even scarier than choosing which of your three pals to banish is the mission awaiting them in the cabin. They have to sit in the haunted digs, where they’ll be given clues that match up with a gravestone outside — if they find the right gravestone, they win money (or they can snag a shield instead). But before things kick off, they all make a pact that none of them will go for a shield — a vow that’s a little half-hearted for some, like Yam Yam — before the Ouija-board-esque table starts spelling out a clue. The next clue comes via a bloodied woman who scares the shit out of Dorinda, who screams so loudly that you would have thought it was Tinsley Mortimer coming back for revenge. When all was said and done, nobody went for the shields, meaning the Traitors will have their pick of the litter.
Back at the castle, where the only thing haunting them is the ghosts of slain reality stars, everybody huddles to try to figure out whether to go for Ron or Colton. Rob remains caught in the middle, not liking either choice being presented to him. It’s like watching a U.S. general election play out. But Colton has something else up his sleeve and decides to make a big swing before the roundtable, pulling Lisa aside in an attempt to ally with her. “I will protect you at the roundtable if you protect me in the turret,” he tells her, but she doesn’t take the bait. First of all, Colton saying he wants to win this with her makes zero sense. A Traitor and a Faithful cannot win together. Colton, have you ever watched the show? Secondly, Lisa would never be dumb enough to fall for this, so all he’s done is tip her off before the roundtable.
But as we could have guessed, the initial focus of the roundtable remains Ron. He’s taking a beating after making several mistakes but defends himself by saying that many people have made similar misfires, most notably Colton, whom the rest of the table also goes after for muddying the waters and sending Faithful after Faithful home. It’s not a good look for either of them.
But Ron makes a really bold and smart move. Backed into a corner, he says that if he really wants to be as true of a Faithful as he can, he should let them all write his name down so they can finally get some clarity and stop chasing their tail — his last wish is just to go around the table to say good-bye to each of them. It’s as he does this that he slowly starts to win some of them over. Natalie starts to doubt that he’s a Traitor, and Tara cuts him off to say that it’s not him, which Rob seconds.
The table is clearly hungry for a name other than Ron, so Colton (given that he’s their next choice) jumps in to make his case against Lisa, which kicks off with the fact that she voted against Porsha. “I don’t know a lot about Housewives, but I do know one thing, you don’t go against a Housewife,” Colton says like an idiot, because going against Housewives is the most key part of Housewives. But in the castle, the table agrees that her voting against Porsha right at the jump was suspicious, as is her out-of-character, laid-back demeanor.
“I’m not going to dance on the table, I’m not going to break a wine glass, I don’t have to. I think you’re a Traitor,” Lisa fires back, referencing two of her most iconic Housewives moments (Andy Cohen’s baby shower and attacking Kim Richards in Amsterdam).
The vote itself is a nail-biter among Colton, Lisa, and Ron — with Rob stuck with a real Sophie’s Choice. Ultimately, he votes in the boldest direction, against his fellow Traitor Lisa, whose wrath he’ll have to face back in the turret because, unfortunately for him, she survives the vote by the skin of her teeth. Instead, Ron is ultimately banished, despite his power move that almost paid off, and he reveals to the class that he’s a Faithful. But Dorinda will only have so long to revel in her nemesis’s departure, because Alan announces to them that their day is not yet done — there will be a banquet, and while the Faithfuls don’t know it, a murder in plain sight is set to happen there.
Maybe if Colton knew a murder was imminent, he wouldn’t be continuing to go after Lisa so hard. “I’ll take us both down just to get you out,” he whispers to her, who in turn promises her inner Housewife will finally come out. But once they’re back out with the rest of the group, Lisa has to clarify something for Colton to correct his preconceived notions.
“I’ve been in this business for 36 years, I just want you to know, I am so much more than a Housewife,” she announces, which is true. She’s also an M&M. She was a guest star on The Middle. Her store in L.A. was robbed while she was live on the Today show. “Don’t expect me to be a Housewife, because I am Lisa fucking Rinna. I was Lisa fucking Rinna before Housewives and I am Lisa fucking Rinna after.” It’s moments like this when her overuse of the word iconic is warranted.
Colton then announces to the room that the Traitors should kill him tonight while they still can, because moving forward he’ll be going after every shield. But will they be able to? The murder in plain sight is a tricky one. One of the Traitors has to wear a cursed amulet, and the first Faithful they get to touch it will die. And while the episode ends without us seeing this murder play out just yet, we do get a peek at the insane Donald Duck outfit Lisa is pinning that cursed brooch onto — so that should be enough to hold us over in the meantime.
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