At the start of Episode 8, Victor Vollbrechthausen’s banishment was on hold as Alan Cumming prepared to reveal who had won the “Power of the Pardon” and whether they would use it to change Victor’s fate.
Regardless of the outcome of the pardon, Traitors Tomica Adams and Katie Fites are left to deal with the consequences of their mutinous behavior while Joe Vanella remains incriminated by Victor’s “fruitgate” theory that has inextricably bound him to Tomica.
After five missions and no successful banishings, the players’ prize pot sits at $112,300. Playing as Traitors are Joe, Tomica, and Katie. Still in the game as the trustworthy Faithful are: Shane Beatty, Abbey Benjamin, Morgan Cook, Wyatt Gillespie, Abby Lee, Kriste Lewis, Ben McDonnell, Clyde Moser, Jay Vinnedge, and Victor Vollbrechthausen.
Read on for our recap of the important moments from Episode 8 of The Traitors: New Blood, titled “A Bad Apple Spoils the Whole Bunch” which aired Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. PT on NBC.
The Pardon
As the claimant of the most gold in the day’s mission, Shane is awarded the “Power of the Pardon,” giving him sole discretion as to whether to affirm Victor’s banishment or keep him in the game. Shane was among the five-player majority that initially voted to banish Victor so his decision may have already been written on the wall, but in an opportunity to pitch on his own behalf, Victor acknowledges that if the only way for everyone to believe his “fruitgate” theory is to banish him and see that he’s Faithful, then “so be it.” Despite this reassurance from Victor and his own vote, Shane changes his mind and pardons Victor.
After executing the pardon, Shane explains to Joe and Jay that what changed his mind is the realization that if Victor was a Traitor then it would have been dangerous for him to “run around” talking about the murder in plain sight. Joe counters that it was odd for Victor to assume the murder was committed in plain sight and suspicious that he was right about it. Jay adds that it could be Victor throwing other Traitors under the bus.
In the Turret
Once the Traitors retreat to the turret to make their next murder decision, Tomica admits to the possibility that she did throw Katie’s name out to Victor on the basis that she’s bad with names and meant Kriste. In turn, Katie defends her choice to vote for Tomica at the Round Table because she didn’t think Tomica would go home and thinks that it will inevitably look bad on all three of them if they continue to vote for the same people. Joe says that “things got out of control, we have to think smart,” proposing that they consider the “big swing” of killing Victor with plan for Tomica to argue that she’s being set up. They also consider murdering Abby to put heat on Wyatt or Clyde to shift the focus to Morgan.
At breakfast the next morning, Victor is among the first two groups of players to enter, declaring to Joe and the others that he’s “only here ’cause [he’s] right” and he “wouldn’t be here if [he] was wrong.” Instead, Abby is the player that didn’t return with the Traitors hoping that they can pin the murder on Wyatt.
The Round Table
Instead of having them compete in another mission, Alan sends the players back to the Round Table for a new majority vote to banish. Ahead of that, conversations around the castle raise concerns about Wyatt’s possible double bluff, Victor’s persistent “fruitgate” theory, and Joe’s realization, the persistence of Victor’s fruitgate theory on Tomica, and Joe having to cope with the realization that “if [Tomica] gets nailed, [he’s] in trouble.”
At the Round Table, the nature of Tomica’s name mix-up is addressed with Victor asserting that “people that are lying are more prone to messing names up” and Kriste claiming that it’s “brain fog” caused by menopause. After Joe has voted for him five times, Victor pressures him to name someone else he suspects. Joe replies that “if it’s not [Victor], it’s probably Tomica,” but that only reinvigorates Victor’s belief that Joe is also a Traitor because it’s “really interesting that this is the first time [Joe] is bringing up Tomica” after they’ve defended each other so much.
In the vote to banish, Jay and Tomica stick to their gut on Victor, but everyone else, including her allies Katie and Joe, joins the majority in voting to banish Tomica. Instead of it being “the biggest flop of all time” for Victor, he’s celebrated for steering the Faithful to their first successful banishment of a Traitor and adding $15,000 to the prize pot.
Find out how Joe and Katie respond as they return to the turret to choose their next victim when The Traitors: New Blood returns next week with Episode 9.
