The Traitors: New Blood Kicks Off With A Divisive Twist
NBC / Studio Lambert / The Traitors: New Blood
The Traitors US is back, and so are the twists and turns we’ve come to know and love.
The first-ever US civilian season of the reality franchise, titled The Traitors: New Blood, premiered on September, 17 on NBC with not one, but two treacherous episodes.
The Big Twist
The episode began with the new batch of players entering the famous Scottish castle. Host Alan Cumming later selected his two Traitors at the roundtable: Tomica Adams and Joe Vanella.
NBC / Studio Lambert / The Traitors: New Blood
During a secret meeting with the Traitors in the castle’s turret, host Alan dropped a bomb: the pair were required to recruit two Faithfuls as “accomplices.”
Alan explained that the accomplices would carry out secret missions in plain sight of everyone, including the Traitors (Tomica and Joe), who would then promote one of the two accomplices to Traitor and murder the other.
NBC / Studio Lambert / The Traitors: New Blood
Who they chose
Joe and Tomica went with Xavier Scruggs, the hyper-competitive MLB analyst, and Katie Fites, the 23-year-old marketing manager and youngest player this season.
NBC / Studio Lambert / The Traitors: New Blood
If either Xavier or Katie fails the secret mission, they’re automatically dead (metaphorically, of course). If they both succeed, Traitors Tomica and Joe must choose who gets a cloak.
NBC / Studio Lambert / The Traitors: New Blood
Episode 2 ended on a dreaded cliffhanger, so fans won’t know the identity of the third Traitor until next week.
Fans Are Split
While the accomplice twist has certainly given viewers an early burst of drama, many are divided by the format shake-up.
“Wait, I love the accomplices… to audition and potentially implicate yourself and the other one being murdered,” one fan wrote on X. “Fans are usually against playing around with the classic format, but the accomplice twist… might be one of the best I’ve seen in the franchise,” another wrote.
However, not everyone is quite so enthusiastic. “It was pretty boring; they didn’t have to do much at all,” one viewer commented, while another chimed in, “Not sure about the twist; they should leave the format alone.”
The Traitors: New Blood returns Thursday, September 24, with episodes 3 and 4 back-to-back at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
