There are only a few episodes left of Season 4 of The Traitors, and the players are scrambling to make it to the finish line. We’re here to break it all down, one shady move at a time.
Last week, Candiace spearheaded Colton’s murder and got caught red-handed, which left Rob as the last Traitor standing. They ended things on a cliffhanger, with Rob delivering an ultimatum to Eric: Join the dark side or die.
In The Traitors Season 4 Episode 9, “Think Outside the Box,” we learned Eric’s fate, and the game took another shocking turn.
What happened in The Traitors Season 4 Episode 9?
After Candiace’s elimination, Rob was left riding solo in the turret, and Eric received an offer he couldn’t refuse. Meanwhile, the Faithful fully disregarded all of the clues Candiace gave them on her way out of the castle. Instead, they shifted their focus to Johnny and Tara. In the end, the figure skating champs put their faith in each other, and they fought tooth and nail to keep their spots in the game.
Did Eric accept the recruitment to become a Traitor?
There’s a new Traitor in the castle! Episode 9 kicked off with Eric accepting Rob’s offer to join the dark side, and can you blame him? When the options are either die or team up with the handsome snake charmer who has been coasting his way through the whole competition undetected, it’s an easy decision to make.
“I feel crazy,” Eric said after finding out Rob’s identity. “This is insane.”
Although Eric accepted the cloak, he’s well aware that it could be risky to join forces with Rob this late in the game. The Love Island USA alum has already sacrificed two Traitors. Who’s to say Eric won’t be next? Either way, it’s a risk he’s willing to take.
“We can’t move forward without any sort of trust, so I have to give him the trust and follow my gut instinct,” Eric said in his confessional.
Who got murdered in The Traitors Season 4 Episode 9?
The final Housewife of Season 4 has been slain. During Eric’s first night as a Traitor, he and Rob decided to murder Dorinda. RIP.
In the turret, Rob and Eric justified their decision by thinking strategically about their endgame. There are only three round tables remaining, so they had to consider who would be easy to banish and who would put up a fight.
This week, Kristen had a shield, Johnny had heat on him, and there were only so many people to choose from. They realized Dorinda would give them the least amount of suspicion while giving them a clear path forward for the upcoming banishments.
When Dorinda learned she had been murdered, she took the news on the chin. She’s been down this road before, and honestly, we know she was just happy to have made it past the first episode.
“I would have loved to stay on, but you know, the queen’s got to get back to Bluestone Manor,” Dorinda quipped in her exit interview.
Johnny and Tara’s friendship took center stage
The NBCUniversal Gods couldn’t have planned this timing any better. As the Winter Olympics air across their networks, the castle’s resident Olympians became the main focus on The Traitors, after weeks of largely floating along on the sidelines. Is it divine timing or a stroke of genius from some NBC executive? We’re not sure, but we’re living for it either way.
The episode started with everyone saying Johnny’s name, with players feeling unnerved by his closeness to Candiace. Kristen said she felt suspicious of Tara. In the jack-in-the-box-inspired mission, the Traitors fully exploited that by throwing Tara under the bus, several times over. They’re coming at these two from every angle, but Johnny said he felt a sense of “empowerment” from the pressure.
Of course, as everyone at home knows, Johnny and Tara are longtime broadcast partners, figure skating pros, and besties. They came into the castle trying to downplay that closeness, but at this point, it’s time to ditch that plan. That sense of urgency intensified when the day’s mission left them shortlisted for murder, along with Kristen and Natalie.
With all of that in mind, Johnny and Tara made a pact to fight for each other at the roundtable. They’re no longer playing the game as singles. Instead, they’re competing as a pair, and that wound up having a huge impact at the roundtable.
Who got banished in The Traitors Season 4 Episode 9?
In a surprising twist, Stephen was the latest player eliminated from Season 4. His banishment came after Johnny and Tara successfully split the vote. Their team-up worked.
At the roundtable, Tara and Johnny revealed the true nature of their friendship, and they vouched for each other in a way we haven’t really seen on this show. We all know that Housewives and gamers stick up for each other, but these two have a real-life friendship built on trust. Keeping that a secret for nine episodes was a wise move, and they made it clear to the rest of the players that they were willing to go down together, while also pitching Stephen as an alternative option.
Unfortunately for Stephen, Natalie was also suspicious of him and had been compiling an evidence sheet. She cast a vote for him, along with Tara, Johnny, and both Traitors. Meanwhile, Kristen and Mark voted for Tara.
Eric might have made a rookie mistake
The strangest part about this banishment was how Eric and Rob voted. They both cast votes for Stephen, sealing his fate in the game. Maura and Stephen were the only two players who voted for Johnny, even though the episode started with everyone being clear that they would be targeting him at this roundtable.
So, why switch up? Rob claimed that he was convinced by Natalie’s evidence at the roundtable. That’s a likely story.
Eric, on the other hand, explained his vote by saying he was just trying to vote with the majority. He wanted to go with the flow of the rest of the group. It’s a bad excuse that didn’t go unnoticed. At this late stage of the game, going with the flow and trying to align your vote with the rest of the group is not a smart way to play, unless you have something to hide.
Right before the credits rolled, we saw that Kristen clocked the unusual gameplay, and now, she’s onto Eric. But will she live long enough to expose him?
The Traitors Season 4 continues on Thursdays at 9/8c on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE TRAITORS SEASON 4 EPISODE 9? WERE YOU SURPRISED BY DORINDA’S MURDER? DO YOU THINK TARA AND JOHNNY’S ALLIANCE CAN GET THEM TO THE FINAL?
