Heading in to the fourth episode of The Traitors: New Blood, the second Round Table is still under way and Traitor Joe Vanella had just alley-ooped Faithful Jay Vinnedge into revealing how his status as a body language expert could reveal any change in behavior among the group. Already in the hot seat for the second banishing are newly minted Traitor Katie Fites because of a possible battle with murdered Xavier Scruggs, Faithful Arisa Thomas for potentially hiding that she claimed a shield, and Faithful Victor Vollbrechthausen for ongoing suspicious behavior.
Meanwhile, the third Traitor among them, Tomica Adams was seemingly in the clear after owning up to claiming a shield in the mission with Clyde Moser and flubbing up that she wasn’t the one in possession of it. Her honesty earned enough good will with others that they see her as not understanding the game well enough to be in control of it as a Traitor. (Read our Episode 3 recap.)
After two missions and no successful banishings, the players’ prize pot sits at $65,000. Still in the game as the trustworthy Faithful are: Shane Beatty, Abbey Benjamin, Morgan Cook, Michael Foote, Wyatt Gillespie, Niyyah Hayes, Sherry Kuehl, Abby Lee, Kriste Lewis, Ben McDonnell, Clyde Moser, Logan Smith, Arisa Thomas, Jay Vinnedge, Victor Vollbrechthausen, and Mark Zgoda.
Read on for our recap of the important moments from Episode 4 of The Traitors: New Blood, titled “The Death Parade,” which aired Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. PT on NBC.
The Banishment
Picking up where Episode 3 left off, Jay asserts that even though it’s a pivotal point in the game, he has no information to provide as a body language expert because “I’ve been taking a beat today ’cause it’s been a lot” for him. Joe interjects to say he spent a lot of time with Xavier and never once heard him mention Katie’s name. From there, Niyyah challenges Victor for not sticking up for Arisa in the same way he didn’t stick up for Madeline when her head was on the chopping block. Joe and Michael add to the fight against Victor, prompting many to vote that way, but not enough. Instead, the majority voted to banish Arisa by a count of 13 for Arisa, 5 for Victor, and 1 for Michael.
Following the Round Table, although Abby felt bad about pushing the narrative against Arisa, she proceeds to push another false truth after Sherry says to her that “you know there’s not three female Traitors.” Abby conveys to Logan, Kriste, Abbey and Clyde that the only way Sherry could be sure there are three Traitors is if she’s one herself. Logan adds that he’s suspicious of Sherry for not speaking up at all at the Round Table, but he’s still worried about Katie.
Turret and Breakfast
Having been informed by Abby in a private conversation about her suspicions on Sherry, Joe tells the other Traitors that they can let Sherry take the fall next. For their own kill options, they float Logan for being “super smart” but with the caveat that it could add heat to Katie, Abby for quietly mentioning Tomica as on the radar and that it would add fuel to the Sherry fire, and Mark because it’d “be a big shake up” to kill one of the most faithful Faithful. Though they’re in agreement with her, Joe and Tomica allow Katie to have the final say in which of the three they kill.
At the next breakfast, it’s revealed to all that Logan did not make it through the night alive. Katie’s reason for choosing Logan for the kill is his vocalness at the Round Table and because Tomica and Joe argued that his suspicions of her feel more “frivolous” than a big deal. For the Faithful, this kill feels “more strategic” and “less random” than the previous ones.
The Mission
For the third mission, the players march together carting $24,000 worth of gold in barrels. Along the way are gates blocking their path and a death parade follows in their wake, promising to mark for death at the next murder any players that it catches up to. At the first gate, Victor, Mark, Niyyah, and Morgan are left behind and caught by the death parade. At the second gate, Tomica and Kriste are left behind and shortlisted for murder. At the third gate, Joe, Clyde, Sherry, and Abby were the last sacrificed to the death parade. In total, the surviving players are able to add $12,000 to the prize pot for a new total of $77,000.
Throughout the mission, Jay furthered his personal plan to intentionally create chaos among the group so that the Traitors would take notice and keep him alive. Many of his fellow Faithful get fed up with his antics during the challenge, urging him to stop promising a name if he isn’t willing to sacrifice himself to the death parade. Jay quickly realizes that his relationships with everyone is “at tipping points,” minimizing his ability to influence the game in any positive direction. Luckily, Michael acknowledges that Jay is a smart person because of his career in the medical field and starts to understand that Jay’s suspicions on Katie must hold some weight.
Jay opens the third Round Table stating that he’ll “be concise this time” in naming Katie as the player he most suspects of being a Traitor after collecting information on her “over the past four days.” Whether he’s able to point the rest of the Faithful in this correct direction will be revealed in the fifth episode.
Also check out our The Traitors: New Blood recaps for Episode 1 and Episode 2.
