Review: The Traitors, “Leap of Faith” | Season 4, Episode 11

Hey free subscribers—and thus Ben Rosenstock's coverage of The Traitors comes to an end. Here's a preview, and a reminder that yearly subscriptions are currently discounted to $44 in honor of our fourth anniversation.

To a certain extent, every finale of The Traitors becomes the story of its runner-up. In season one, we watched Cirie stun Andie and Quentin by revealing herself as a traitor at final fire, up to this point the most painful ending in U.S. Traitors history. In season two, three faithfuls got to the end together, but CT and Trishelle cut MJ anyway because they only truly trusted each other (or, more likely, wanted to split the prize between just the two of them). Britney came into the season three finale as the new main character—one well-positioned as a recruited traitor, but destined to fall to the faithfuls. And now we have Maura, the main character of “Leap of Faith,” driving most of the biggest moments. And falling short.

I’ve acknowledged before that I came into this season as a big (albeit recent) fan of both Rob and Maura from their respective runs on Love Island, and that familiarity has made me invested in them as characters throughout The Traitors. But what about those who lack that built-in investment? Watching this finale, I wondered if this whole final stretch would’ve had more stakes if we had a real sense of Maura as a character throughout this season, rather than as a nonentity who popped up now and then to snap at someone (more of that, please) or tell Rob she trusted him. So much of this episode relies on that relationship, and the show could’ve used a few more scenes showing why exactly they connect outside of sharing a franchise.

Then again, would we want to see more of Maura, knowing how it all ends? Everyone has a different line when it comes to this stuff; we can agree that the fire of truth is particularly brutal this time around, but whether that makes for a satisfying viewing experience depends on taste. After a few episodes that kept me entertained but vaguely dissatisfied, I appreciate the opportunity to feel something, to see a big betrayal play out in the final minutes of the finale like a proper Traitors finale should.