The Traitors' Poison Twist Goes Deeper Than Exposing the Gamers vs. Housewives Rift

There's a war brewing in The Traitors castle, and it's not between the show's undercover villains and their Faithful co-stars. In the first three episodes, the cast began to divide along familiar lines, with the "gamers" — those who came up on competition shows like Survivor and Big Brother — on one side, and Bravo stars, led by the four Housewives in the group, on the other. The conflict has been simmering on the back burner as the Faithful struggled to correctly identify the Traitors among them, but this week, it finally boils over, all thanks to a surprising twist that requires the Traitors to murder someone in plain sight.

[Editor's Note: Spoilers ahead for The Traitors Season 2, Episode 4, "The Funeral."]

The nature of the twist — the Traitors must convince someone to drink out of a chalice filled with slow-acting, lethal poison — means the decision isn't a purely strategic one, as Survivor's Parvati Shallow, who takes it upon herself to get the job done, can only target people gullible enough not to ask questions about the rusty goblet she's offering. After failing to entice her preferred victim, MJ Javid (Shahs of Sunset), to drink out of the cup, Parvati finally settles on the widely liked Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu (Love Island UK), but the seemingly senseless murder unleashes chaos in the castle as the group attempts to find some sort of greater meaning in Ekin-Su's poisoning.

In the absence of answers, paranoia prevails, and the gamers and the Housewives close ranks. At the roundtable, everyone is forced to pick a side, resulting in The Real Housewives of Miami's Larsa Pippen, the unspoken captain of the Bravo clique and a Faithful, being banished by majority vote.

Larsa's banishment adds fuel to the gamers-versus-Housewives fire, but what makes Season 2's poison twist such a game-changer — and thus so delightful, from a viewer standpoint — is how the fallout brings the clique conflict directly into the Traitors' turret. In a way, the challenge is a test of loyalty among the Traitors: For the first time, Parvati, Dan Gheesling (Big Brother), and Phaedra Parks (The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Married to Medicine) aren't able to thoroughly plan a murder in advance, leaving the door open for someone to go rogue and freeze the others out.

Initially, Parvati and Dan consider taking advantage of that fact and neutralizing Phaedra by poisoning her closest friend, RHOA's Shereé Whitfield. But while they ultimately choose not to target Shereé, they're already plotting to use Ekin-Su's murder to "draw more suspicion on Phaedra," who voted to banish Ekin-Su the night prior. As Dan argues, Phaedra is so popular that no one would suspect she's a Traitor, whereas he and Parvati, who have publicly schemed their way to victory in the past, are more likely to be considered untrustworthy. "I don't think I can win this game with Phaedra in the Traitors' conclave," Dan says in a confessional. "What I'm working on is a great plan to use Parvati to take a shot at Phaedra when the time presents itself."

Dan's machinations are only halfway successful. While Parvati does take aim at the Housewives during the roundtable, accusing them of being capable of "performing" the role of a Faithful because their shows are "produced," she directs her criticism toward Larsa, and her argument turns many players against the RHOM star. Parvati's monologue has the unintended consequence of activating Phaedra, who warns Parvati about "com[ing] for the Housewives." There's nothing sweet about the way Phaedra adds "honey" to the end of each statement: "I am livid with Parvati. Because you're bringing heat my way. I will not tolerate bad behavior in the roundtable," she tells the camera.

On her way out of the room, Phaedra loudly declares that she "wanted to vote for Parvati, but [she] didn't want it to be a mean vote," setting the stage for a tense meeting in the turret that night. The final minute more than delivers, as Phaedra puts the confrontation skills she learned on Bravo to good use. "No one likes you, Parvati. Everyone says you're a f*cking Traitor," she says. "We can be in this game together, but you're going to play fair. And if you don't, you're going to have more problems than the Faithfuls. I'm playing very fair with you. So don't do that to me — both of you."

While the show's structure ensures that the Traitors will turn their knives on one another eventually, the poison twist has undoubtedly sped up that process, as it requires them to work at cross-purposes just a few days into their tenure. Last season, it took seven episodes for the Traitors to eat one of their own, and that was only after the group became suspicious of Big Brother's Cody Calafiore, leaving his cloaked compatriots with no other option but to vote to banish him. But now, with Parvati and Phaedra at each other's throats (and Phaedra issuing a similar threat to Dan), any chance at a long-lasting alliance has likely gone out the window. That may be exactly what Dan and Parvati wanted, but if this week's episode is any indication, anyone who underestimates Phaedra and the Housewives "gang" does so at their own risk.

New episodes of The Traitors drop Thursdays at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT on Peacock. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.