The Traitors (American TV series) season 1

The first season of the American television series The Traitors premiered on Peacock on January 12, 2023, with all episodes being released. The season was won by Survivor contestant Cirie Fields, as a traitor, with Quentin Jiles and Andie Vanacore, placing as runners-up, as faithfuls. The season won Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program at the 75th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Production

The season is produced similar to its British counterpart, with the same production company, Studio Lambert, in the same location at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands.

The first season of The Traitors featured ten former reality television participants and ten members of the general public. One player, Kevin Greene, was removed during the first day of the competition due to a positive COVID-19 test and the game was restarted with an alternate player, Geraldine Moreno, replacing him.

Format

The first season of the show retained the same format and challenges as the first season of The Traitors UK. The arrived contestants at the castle are referred to as the "Faithful," and among them are the "Traitors," a group of contestants secretly selected by the host, Alan Cumming. Each night, the Traitors would decide who to "murder," and that same contestant would leave the game. After the end of each day, where the contestants participated in various challenges to add money to the prize fund, they would participate in the Round Table, where they must decide who to banish from the game, trying to identify the Traitor.

If all the remaining players are Faithful, then the prize money is divided evenly among them. However, if any Traitors remain, they win the entire pot.

Contestants

The cast was a mix of notable reality television personalities and regular people.

Notes

Episodes

Voting history

Key

  The contestant was a Faithful.

  The contestant was a Traitor.

Notes

Missions

Notes

Reception

The first season of the American edition of The Traitors received positive critical acclaim with many praising the show's cast, concept and setting. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 95% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Hosted by Alan Cumming with theatrical relish, The Traitors deploys a rogues' gallery of reality television stars to make for a compelling murder mystery party." Alex Abad-Santos of Vox wrote that it "combines the acute pain of a corporate team-building exercise with some of the most emotionally fragile reality show celebrities that have ever been on television... and it's perfect." Alim Kheraj of The Guardian rated the show 4 out of 5 stars writing that "by the time you reach episode eight (which could already scoop the award for the year’s best hour of reality TV), the tension is so unbearable that you will be glad the last two episodes are there for binging." Linda Holmes of Pop Culture Happy Hour summarised the season as "Goofy, hyperdramatic, suspenseful and pretty entertaining." Dustin Rowles of Pajiba described the season as "A slickly produced version of Mafia set in a Scottish castle that features a number of contestants familiar to reality-show audiences and a number of newbies to make the whole enterprise more unpredictable." adding that "It’s really fun." Andy Dehnart of Reality Blurred wrote that "The Traitors had me a few seconds into its first episode, and only tightened its grip from there. This is outstanding competition reality TV, with all of the elements sliding confidently into place."

References

External links

• Official website
• The Traitors (American TV series) season 1 at IMDb