Alex Casey and Tara Ward discuss the sublime finale of The Traitors UK.
(Warning: contains spoilers for the finale of The Traitors UK).
Tara Ward: Alex, it’s over for another season. The final faithful has been murdered, the last tangled web has been spun, and the winners of The Traitors UK have been uncloaked. That finale was more spectacular than the shine on Claudia Winkleman’s raven locks, proving that yet again, The Traitors is a masterclass in how to make gripping and surprising television. Against the odds, the two remaining traitors were faithful to each other and Stephen and Rachel won a whopping £95,750 between them. What a reward for such magnificent deceit! What did you think of the finale?
Alex Casey: I was genuinely nauseous during the finale, which is always just an unparalleled viewing experience no matter what combo of Traitors and Faithfuls you have left. No wonder nine million people watched live in the UK. I started out so certain that Rachel was going to get banished, but then soon remembered that she is possibly the most formidable force in all of Traitors history. As a fellow fan pointed out, every police force in the world should be fighting to get Rachel onboard as a hostage negotiator right now. Maybe Amanda will hire her for her detective squad? Now THERE is a spinoff I would watch. Can you believe she managed to wriggle her way out of it?
TW: Squeeze me into a wetsuit and lob me into a Scottish loch, because I reckon she’s the most skilled traitor we’ve ever seen. Rachel had the faithful eating out of the palm of her hand for the entire game – in fact, I’d love for her to return as a faithful to see how she’d use those legendary FBI skills at hunting down the traitors. Luck was on her side too, like when she chose the box with the shield inside, meaning James was eliminated instead of her (what a cliffhanger!). When she accidentally said “if I was a faithful, I would have murdered me” in a room of faithfuls, I panicked way more than she did. She was steady as a rock, especially given that Stephen could have turned on Rachel at any point, and she would have been banished quicker than a faithful ripping the heart out of a stuffed penguin. What did you make of their traitorous partnership?
AC: I feel like they kept flirting with the idea of turning on each other, chucking out little breadcrumbs here and there from hushed armchairs. While these were thrilling moments, it became pretty clear early on in the finale that they weren’t going to flip on each other. If I was Stephen, I would be weighing up who I would prefer to be mad at me for the rest of my life, and a mild-mannered 28-year-old personal trainer with a dangly earring hasn’t got a patch on a genuinely lethal 42-year-old communications professional with two kids and FBI training. She would go pure Liam Neeson in Taken and poor Stephen would never, ever sleep again.
On the flipside, Rachel started talking so much about how she wanted to make her kids proud, that breaking her promise to Stephen at the last minute would have felt like a really crazy betrayal of that. When they were standing there together at the end with their champagne flutes I was genuinely sobbing just like Claudia, because they also both equally worked really, really hard for it from day one. If there had been some random Traitor recruits who came in halfway through, or someone who had coasted a bit more, then backstab away I say.
TW: Yes, it was the ultimate honour among thieves. What were your favourite moments from the finale? I thought the last challenge where they had to abseil down the dam was super impressive, and I loved seeing Stephen rock his Harry Styles jumpsuit at the firepit. I also loved seeing footage of UK fans watching the finale in cinemas and having finale parties, and all the collective joy and anticipation that watching TV together brings.
AC: This wasn’t the finale, but we have to spare a moment to talk about James vomiting green bile on the run-up-a-hill-and-get-the-gold challenge. Hollering “he’s being sick!” in Faraaz’ thick Newcastle accent has already become a well-used catchphrase in our house, a fitting ode to one of the most unusual and unruly players to ever grace our television screens. Speaking of poor Faraaz, shall we also shout out the last Faithfuls who were so mercilessly chewed up and spat out? Poor Jade didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell once Rachel locked in.
TW: I felt for Jade, who spent most of the game defending herself against nothing more than “the vibe” of being a traitor. It feels like lots of faithful didn’t get a chance to live up to their potential – Matthew wasn’t recruited like he wanted to be, Roxy was completely won over by Rachel and Stephen, and poor old Faraaz fell at the final firepit. His little face when he realised after he’d been banished that “it could be Rachel…it’s definitely Rachel”. He probably felt as sick as old mate James running up that hill.
AC: And he was so sure of Rachel just a few days prior! With The Traitors NZ S3 heading to our screens later this year, I think we can all learn something here. Trust your gut. Trust your head. Trust your heart. Trust your friends. But also, don’t trust anyone, ever again.
Watch The Traitors UK here on ThreeNow
