The Traitors: the best reality show on television?
With the gripping second season now under way, critics say the hit game show has entered the canon of 'truly great reality TV'
The BBC's hit game show "The Traitors" has returned to British screens with a new cast of contestants and some tweaks to the format that the producers hope will keep audiences hooked.
The first series was "spectacularly successful", said the i newssite's TV editor Emily Baker. It was "100% the best reality show on TV", winning a National Television Award and two Baftas, and was watched more than 34 million times on iPlayer.
But with viewers and the new season's contestants now "wise to the game", Baker added, the show "has an uphill battle on its hands".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'A glorified game of wink murder'
The first series of "The Traitors" was a "word-of-mouth hit" that "sounded ropey on paper", said The Telegraph. Effectively a glorified game of "wink murder", the show's "faithful" contestants aim to vote out unknown "traitors" in their midst before they themselves are "murdered", in the hope of taking home a cash prize at the end.
The format proved to be "insanely entertaining", the newspaper said – so much so that even host Claudia Winkleman urged the BBC to "not do another" series, because the first was, in her view, so perfect.
At its heart, this is merely a "child's game", said The New Statesman, "and yet 'The Traitors' is good – so good – full of betrayal, revelation and bitchiness, despite such low stakes".
As to why it is so addictive, "perhaps" it is "because the viewer is given smug omniscience – we know who the traitors are, and we watch, god-like, popcorn in hand, as chaos blooms in their wake", the magazine added.
For The Guardian, the show is "superlative TV" that has "single-handedly given the increasingly cynical and tired reality genre a new lease of life". It is "so thrilling it will make you gasp and yelp".
'Truly great reality TV'
In 2022, the nation became "gripped" by what amounted to an "illuminating experiment in the psychology of fear, group delusion, suggestion, confirmation bias, self-preservation and duplicity", said Rolling Stone.
So series 2 of "The Traitors" has "a lot to live up to", said Digital Spy. And "with anticipation comes the potential for disappointment".
Initial reviews following the show's return last week have been good though, the site noted. From "the casting of even more genuinely interesting people" to Winkleman's "wit and rollneck jumpers", the new season's premiere "felt comfortingly familiar for fans of the series".
Producers have been made some changes to the original format, however.
"You think you know how this game works," Winkleman announced in the first episode. "You don't."
Changes this time around include more "immunity" shields, which give players protection from being murdered, being offered in each of the show's elaborate challenges.
There are also other tweaks, such as faithfuls not knowing how many traitors are in their midst, and the recruitment of a fourth traitor on the first night, whose identity is kept secret from the audience.
The suspense is "so well engineered", said Rachel Aroesti in The Guardian, that when the episode ended just as the fourth traitor was about to lift their hood, "I let out an involuntary yelp of frustration".
And that response can be added to the "catalogue of small, strange sounds", such as the "hiss of thousands of gleeful hands rubbing together", that "heralds a new entry in the canon of truly great reality TV".
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.
-
The biggest climate records in the last year
In Depth The number of records set in the past year is a stark reminder of the destructiveness of climate change
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
'The future of abortion access in many states may come down to who has the final say'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Baby Reindeer's 'Martha' on Piers Morgan: a hunt for the truth
Talking Point Fiona Harvey's interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored leads to more 'vitriol'
By The Week UK Published
-
Baby Reindeer: will armchair detectives spell the end for 'true story' dramas?
Talking Point Richard Gadd's Netflix hit renews focus on 'slippery ethics around true crime' as fans become internet sleuths
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Pundits are mixed on the real possibility of Alex Garland's 'Civil War'
Talking Point Some say the film's events aren't that far from reality, but others are less convinced
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Aitch or haitch: the linguisitic debate that 'matters a lot'
Talking Point 'University Challenge' host Amol Rajan has promised to change the way he pronounces the letter 'H'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Are We Dating the Same Guy?': do Facebook groups harm or help?
Talking Point Women share their relationship experiences to try to stay safe on dating apps but critics highlight legal and emotional issues
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Secret Army: the IRA propaganda film forgotten for almost 50 years
Why Everyone's Talking About 'Chilling' BBC documentary reveals how US TV crew documented the inner workings of paramilitary group in 1970s
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Not cross buns': the row over recipe revamps
Talking Point New versions of the Easter favourite have sparked controversy but sales are soaring
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
The art world and motherhood: the end of a final taboo?
Talking Point Hettie Judah's new touring exhibition offers a 'riveting riposte' to old cliches
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published