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Must Readthe traitors ireland
'I'm faithful yiz thicks': The players are 'on edge' as the drama ramps up on The Traitors
Host Siobhán McSweeney voiced concern that the traitors are ‘pulling the wool’ over the eyes of the faithful.
Spoiler warning: This article contains spoilers for season two, episode four of The Traitors Ireland.
“A NICE KILL, soft and gentle.”
That’s what the traitors promised to deliver at the end of episode three on Tuesday night, when the cliffhanger saw Aoife, Ian and Saoirse shortlisted for murder.
But before we found out who was murdered, Donal was among the first to enter for breakfast.
He came in for serious heat at the last roundtable and said he felt he had to talk to someone, and confided in Pauric O, who Donal views as an “older brother-type figure”.
But Pauric O can’t get Donal off his mind, and describes his words as “wishy-washy”.
When Ian entered Slane Castle, he told the VT interview that he was greeted by a few “anxious” faces.
He received a rapturous reception from some of the “lads” who were unaware of how close he came to murder, such as Pete and Sam, leading others to question if Donal was now excluded from this posse.
Suspicions then start flying around the breakfast table and, in a sign of what is to come, Seán C revealed that he is “gunning” for traitor Fionula.
We then get our strongest hint yet that a major rupture is afoot among the traitors, with Páraic K and Carla saying that they’ll have to “talk about” Fionula, who they both conceded is “in trouble”.
Later in the episode, Ian will remark that “theories are just flying around”.
An example of this comes from Seán C, who said he has “six points” to make at tonight’s roundtable, “one of which has an ABC to it”.
“So eight points?” asks Carla.
But the scheming is interrupted momentarily with confirmation from Siobhán that Saoirse, the 29-year-old HR specialist from Galway, was murdered overnight and is having a “dirt nap”.
Some faithfuls are outraged that the traitors are only selecting women for murder, something that slipped Carla’s mind, as she didn’t notice this trend when deciding who to murder.
“The bastards,” said Saoirse upon learning of her murder, before shedding a few tears.
But a lack of tears will prove a headache for faithful Aoife, who was a close friend of Saoirse’s in the castle.
“She is my buddy,” said Aoife when challenged on this.
“But I’ve only known her a few days,” she adds.
But this isn’t enough to stop the suspicions.
“No hands to the face, nothing,” says Kayleigh of Aoife’s muted response to Saoirse’s murder.
“Oh, I’ll sit down and have a strawberry.”
Aoife (28) is a trainee fashion buyer from Dublin, and Ian remarks over breakfast that she works “behind the scenes” at Penneys.
However, Pete is unconvinced that this is actually her job.
“You speak to any female,” said Pete, “and they’ll know everything about Penneys because every second day of their lives they spend in there.”
Meanwhile, host Siobhán remarks that the traitors are “pulling the wool over your eyes”, which the group correctly identify as meaning that today’s mission will involve sheep.
‘Bamboozled’
Upon arrival at today’s mission, the players see Siobhán stood beside bales of hay and a red tractor.
“If she’s not red, leave her in the shed,” said DJ, probably to the bemusement of his more urban teammates.
Today’s mission involves the players splitting into three teams.
One person from each team has to enter a sheep pen.
Those outside the pen are shown a picture of a sheep, which they describe to those inside the pen, who then try to correctly identify it.
There is a €1,000 prize for each correctly identified sheep, and after getting off to a baaa-d start, the teams soon find their footing.
The mission then took a turn when each team was able to nominate one person to contest for a shield.
One team chose Pete without much debate, the other chose Donal by lot, but for the third team, it initially came down to a choice between Kayleigh and David.
When rock-paper-scissors was proposed to break the deadlock, Fionula asked that everyone be in the running instead, an idea quickly shut down by Denis.
He argued this would be a waste of a shield as she was emerging as a prime suspect for banishment.
David went on to capture the shield from a sprightly sheep as Fionula questioned who made Denis “Lord and Master”.
Denis later worried if he was too “direct” with Fionula, and Fionula approached him to say she was “bamboozled” by his remarks.
“If you’re not a traitor, I’ll feel so bad about it,” replied Denis.
‘I love the drama’
And so we come to the roundtable and Ian notes that “everyone is on edge”.
Before voting, Siobhán keeps up the sheep theme and voices concern about a “herd mentality” among the players.
Soon, the suspicions turn to Fionula and the viewers at home catch a side-eye glance from traitor Pauric K, who seems to be mulling over whether to throw her under the bus.
As Seán C begins to interrogate Fionula, Carla looks somewhat pained, as though she is contemplating sticking the knife into her fellow traitor too.
Perhaps sensing this, Fionula says she is “being used by the traitors”, a theory which doesn’t go down well with the faithful.
Fionula told the roundtable that she was “shocked” to see Sean A enter a “manic twilight zone” during the previous roundtable, but it is now her turn to try to escape from a tight spot.
Gráinne, who hasn’t been very vocal at the roundtables so far, suddenly throws her weight behind Fionula, claiming that the things which seem suspicious about her are just aspects of her “personality”.
“I don’t think she’s playing a great game,” said Gráinne, “and that’s why she’s coming under so much suspicion tonight.”
And with that, it’s time to vote and having been unimpressed by her roundtable performance, Pauric K turns on fellow-traitor Fionula.
Carla also decides to banish Fionula, all but sealing her fate and delivering the faithfuls their second catch of the series.
Fionula (61) is an actor and drama teacher from Cork and she summoned all of this for a rousing exit speech which caused chairs to be cast aside as the players leapt for joy.
“You literally want to take your top, put it above your head, and slide on your knees, it’s crazy,” said Janet of the feeling that comes with catching a traitor.
But while the others celebrate, it’s bittersweet for a teary Aoife, who came under questioning at the roundtable.
Aoife tells a VT interview that she “almost wanted” to be voted out so she could stand before the group and proclaim: “I’m faithful, yiz thicks.”
And so the group of traitors is reduced from three to two, and Gráinne uses the experience as a wake-up call to “play the game” and not let friendships muddy her thinking.
The mood at the conclave meanwhile is downcast, with Pauric K telling Carla: “I feel like a bitch.”
Pauric K and Carla both praise Fionula for not delivering a “parting shot” at their expense but worry about Pauric K’s standing.
Siobhán interrupts the conclave to say there will be no murder tonight, but instead, six people (in three pairs) will be placed on “death row”.
“Tomorrow night, one of those six will be murdered,” said Siobhan, who added that the traitors can put themselves up for murder.
“The players will be able to save one pair, which means you’ve got some serious thinking to do.”
Pauric K decides to go into “bluff-bluff-double bluff-double bluff” mode and is set to put himself up on death row.
However, in a sign of yet further tension among the traitors, Pauric K is now questioning if Carla could soon turn on him too.
“I actually love the drama,” says Carla.
We do too.
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