Review: The Traitors, “The Black Banquet” | Season 4, Episode 7
Tension in the turret helps sustain the season’s momentum
It feels a little odd to have so little to critique on The Traitors this season. Yes, there was some bumpiness with the secret traitor twist flopping, and there’s still a handful of faithfuls who aren’t delivering the way they should be. It remains frustrating that every gamer has a target on their back—though this season is doing the work to undo that pattern by not selecting any Survivor or Big Brother alumni as traitors, which will hopefully benefit gamers down the line. But all in all, the momentum has hardly flagged. Every episode leaves unresolved drama, something to look forward to next week.
When I say the momentum has hardly flagged, I’m alluding to the missions, which still can’t help interrupting the flow of otherwise high-drama episodes. Improvements have been made to give them more consequence, but narrowing the murder shortlists with shields can only provide so much entertainment. Even the van conversation format on the way to and from missions has gotten stale. If two thirds of the screentime of a given episode are devoted to “plot” revolving around murders and banishments, the middle sections cut that narrative short. (As I saw someone say on Twitter, the missions basically signify "phone time" for the audience.)
