The Traitors Season 3 Episode 8 Recap
Putting a nail in the figurative coffin.
In the latest episode of The Traitors, Danielle Reyes and Carolyn Wiger murder a player face-to-face – uncloaking their identities to their newest victim in a suspenseful meeting – and another innocent Faithful is banished following a dramatic roundtable discussion. The Traitors are also presented with a choice by the end of the episode: Will they bring in a new player into the turret?
Here’s what happened on the dramatic eighth episode of The Traitors Season 3, “A B*tch Is Lying.”
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Who Do the Traitors Murder?
With only five players eligible for murder – Chrishell Stause, Dolores Catania, Gabby Windey, Dylan Efron, and Tom Sandoval – the suspense is high over who Danielle and Carolyn will eliminate face-to-face in the gothic chapel. Danielle and Carolyn decide to murder who they believe is the most Faithful, and that’s Chrishell. "You would have never been banished,” Carolyn tells Chrishell, whose only response is, “That’s unfortunate.” In the aftermath of her murder, Chrishell is shocked that Carolyn is a Traitor. “She’s playing the best game. We’re all idiots,” she says.
Almost Getting Sussed Out
Because spared players meet Alan Cumming in the chapel instead of seeing the Traitors, at breakfast the next morning the players grill everyone who was at the chapel about what Alan was wearing. The idea is that whoever can’t accurately recall his outfit is immediately suspected of being a Traitor. Everyone passes the grill test except Carolyn (since she was too busy, you know, murdering), who struggles to describe Alan’s outfit. She’s saved by Tom, who doesn’t have the foresight to hang her out to dry. Even though other players are wary of Carolyn’s non-answer, Gabby reluctantly says the Survivor alum “passed.”
Meanwhile, Dylan and Tom are shocked that they’re still in the castle and weren’t murdered. Tom admits he was “ready to go,” saying it’s a “total miracle” he’s still there, and he admits it’s “thrown” him off his game. Why was Dylan saved? The Traitors deem him a “rogue voter,” which can be valuable for their selfish intentions.
The Coffin Theory Resurfaces
With players like Boston Rob, Derrick Levasseur, and Wes Bergmann out of the game, the players struggle to find a reasonable new target. That’s when the old coffin theory resurfaces. Sam Asghari reintroduces the idea that a Traitor may have put themselves into one of the three coffins. Because Jeremy Collins and Nikki Garcia were murdered and banished, respectively, that means the target is now on Ciara Miller.
Why are the players so obsessed with the coffin theory? It’s one of last threads that hasn’t been fully tied up yet, and even though we (aka the audience) know the coffin theory is moot, a handful of players want to see that coffin theory through – even at the expense of an innocent Faithful. There’s also a popular theory that one of two Traitors (or both) must be women. As the heat on Ciara grows, she does her best to deflect and questions Danielle and Britney Haynes’ strong Big Brother alliance. Ciara wants to separate them: “A b*tch is lying and I’m going to catch her.”
Sandoval’s Lullaby Redemption
The mission is all about identifying children’s nursery rhymes for a chance to add money to the pot. Players are split into two teams and the group (Team Doll) that goes with Alan is eligible for the shield. The other group (Team Castle) is not. The mission tasks Team Doll to find dolls playing nursery rhymes backwards. Once they do, they call Team Castle and recite the nursery rhymes back. Team Castle then records them through an inverse gramophone. If done correctly, the nursery rhyme plays back in the right order, and they have to identify what the nursery rhyme is.
Of course, almost everyone on Team Doll is busy looking for the doll with the clue to where the shield is – except Tom. He’s too busy trying to sing back the backwards nursery rhymes to look for the shield that he single-handedly saves the mission and adds $20,000. The reactions and commentary to Tom being a “terrible singer” – Sam’s words, not ours – is the comedic relief we needed this episode. Don’t be surprised if Tom has found his calling – a record deal and a lullaby album may be imminent, players joke.
As for the shield, Ciara snatches it once she spots it by a teddy bear.
Who Gets Banished?
Ciara kicks off the roundtable to knock down the coffin theory, insisting she’s a Faithful, but Sam continues to argue to close out the coffin theory. While various accusations are thrown out during the roundtable, the players seemingly in danger of banishment are Ciara, Britney, and Danielle. Unfortunately, it appears that players made up their mind on Ciara potentially being a Traitor or high on the idea of voting her out before the roundtable began. One piece of evidence against Ciara is the fact that when she declared that she would go after the Traitors, which some players felt was strange. There’s even an ill-sighted belief that Ciara was persuaded to get into the coffin by the Traitors.
When the votes are handed down, it’s near-unanimous:
- Ciara – Dylan, Carolyn, Sam, Ivar, Dolores, Danielle, Gabby, Tom, Britney
- Britney – Ciara
Ciara is angry that the players misunderstood her “fight” mode as being guilty of something. Looking back at the night of the coffins, she questions if that was the right thing to say as it became her downfall. Her final words strike a chord: “I don’t really do speeches, but I will always go down fighting – never succumbing to anyone, even the Traitors – because I am a Faithful.”
The Traitors’ New Dilemma
The target has gotten bigger on Danielle when she and Carolyn enter the turret. This time, Alan joins them, sharing that they have the option of recruiting a player to join as a Traitor or to continue operating as a duo and murder another player. Carolyn’s gut instinct is to keep the Traitors status quo, while Danielle desperately wants to bring in her BFF Britney in as a Traitor. If they seduce another player to join the turret, they forfeit the chance to murder.
Carolyn has concerns about bringing in someone like Britney into the fray, believing she’ll be iced out and eventually banished. “Do you think I’m stupid? Why on Earth? So I can bring your best friend in here to banish me? Heck no,” Carolyn says. “She’s trying to convince me all these reasons why it’s going to be great for both of us? It will only be great for you, Danielle.” What will their decision be?
Stream new episodes of The Traitors every Thursday at 9p ET on Peacock.
