Last week on The Traitors, Boston Rob decided to take aim at a fellow Traitor and he did not miss his shot. After planting seeds among the other players in conversations, Rob helped to successfully banish Bob the Drag Queen from the game and in doing so he put himself on the radar of a few players. These players couldn’t help but question whether Rob was so certain Bob the Drag Queen was a Traitor because he was so certain of Bob the Drag Queen and the only players who could be 100% certain about a player’s status as a Traitor would be a fellow Traitor.
As the episode ended, Boston Rob, Danielle, and Carolyn once again assembled in the Traitors turret paving ending the episode with anticipation over how Danielle and Carolyn would react to Rob’s actions.
Episode 5 picks up where we left off and it’s clear there is a growing distrust among the Traitors in the game. Rob tries to explain to Danielle and Carolyn that he took a shot at Bob after Bob tossed his name out but neither are having it and are keeping a watchful eye on Rob.
The conversation shifts to a discussion of who should be murdered next and three players seem to find themselves on the chopping block: Gabby, Sam, and Robyn.
Who is murdered in The Traitors season 3 episode 5?
During the conversation in the turret, Rob suggests they go after Robyn as it would create a lot of chaos within the house because no one thinks she’s a Traitor or target. Danielle and Carolyn aren’t as sold on the idea and suggest perhaps going after Sam or Gabby, with a focus shifting heavily on Gabby as they talk about breaking up the Bambi alliance.
It’s clear Danielle and Carolyn think Gabby is the best move, but in the end, it’s Rob who gets his wish as Robyn becomes the latest player murdered by the Traitors. Sam and Gabby both show up for breakfast in the morning as we learn that Rob persuaded Danielle and Carolyn then just went along with the plan, but it’s clear Carolyn was not a fan of who they killed.
After breakfast, Danielle seems to hint about wanting to bring Rob down but then she starts looking in Carolyn’s direction wondering if Carolyn is the right Traitor to have by her side to assist with this mission. We hear Nikki’s name floated some more, but the interesting post-breakfast chat comes as Ivar lets Rob know Wes and others are looking in his direction.
Rob confronts Wes directly, but Wes understandably deflects and says he was complimenting Rob’s gameplay not questioning whether he was a Traitor. However, it’s clear Wes is onto Rob.
Speaking of Rob, Danielle pulls Carolyn aside to see how she’s feeling about what went down with Bob the Drag Queen and expresses her concerns over whether Rob can be trusted. Carolyn doesn’t give Danielle much to go off of so she begins to worry they have an alliance and Danielle unexpectedly shifts her attention in Carolyn’s direction. It seems Danielle believes the only way she can take down Rob is with help from another Traitor and that Carolyn is not that person.
Danielle might have just blown up her game on The Traitors
This week’s challenge sees the players taken to a church where their thinking skills will be tested. Over the course of several rounds, Alan will read a riddle and the answer to the riddle will be located under one of many urns on the shelves behind him. When a player thinks they have the answer, they’ll have 20 seconds to pick an urn from the shelves with the answer they believe is correct. They’re correct, they’ll bank $2,500 for the prize fund and also get the chance to place the portrait of any player into one of two frames. At the end of the rounds, whoever’s portraits are in the two frames will earn a shield and be safe from murder.
After Bob H is eliminated following a wrong answer, Derrick banks the first money of the challenge and places his photo in the frames. Tom goes next and also guesses correctly, and places his photo in the frame. That’s when things begin to get interesting.
Danielle gets the next riddle correct but rather than taking her own portrait and placing it into one of the two spots for a shield, she tells everyone she’s “sick of them going” and places Dolores’ portrait in one of the two frames and removes Derrick’s portrait which does not sit well with him and many others. Chrishell gets a question right and replaces Tom’s portrait with her own, and Tom is eliminated the round after.
Following Tom’s elimination, Danielle gets yet another question right and makes a major misstep from there. Rather than putting her portrait in the spot and bumping Tom, she grabs Derrick’s portrait and says he owes her one as she puts it in the frame and bumps Chrishell. This throws up some red flags for the group including for Dolores who comments “Don’t you feel like you’re going to get murdered too?” We don’t know what Danielle was thinking as it was a major miss for her and could prove to be the downfall of her game as what Faithful would pass up two opportunities for safety.
Unfortunately for Derrick, Ciara gets the final riddle correct and replaces his portrait with hers securing herself a shield along with Dolores while bringing the group’s earnings up to $15,000 for the challenge.
On the way back from the challenge, Danielle just keeps diving her own grave as she randomly tosses Carolyn’s name out to Ivar, Wes, and Dylan saying she thinks Nikki and Ciara being placed in the tombstone was a division and that Carolyn is a Traitor. She then kicks it into overdrive once they’re back at the mansion, telling Britney that Carolyn is looking her way and her theory about Carolyn being a Traitor.
Elsewhere, others are beginning to talk about who they suspect and it’s clear Nikki’s time could be limited. Many players are tossing her name out including her Bambi alliance member, Chrishell, who fears that she might be a Traitor based on her reaction to Rob telling her about Bob the Drag Queen planning to come for her at the previous roundtable.
Who was banished on The Traitors tonight, January 23?
Heading into the roundtable it seemed Rob, Nikki, Ciara, and Carolyn could be on the radars of some players and one of these players indeed was banished.
The roundtable opens with Ivar questioning Nikki and Rob, as he asks Rob for an explanation as to why he’s not a Traitor. Rob says he’s a Faithful and felt conviction toward Bob watching how he acted. He tells the group that when you’re guilty and accused of something, you deflect back on the accuser, and that’s exactly what Bob the Drag Queen did.
Sam makes a random off-comment about how if Rob isn’t murdered next he’ll be convinced he’s a Traitor and only time will tell if he follows through with that accusation when Rob shows up to breakfast again. That’s when the conversation shifts to Nikki with Ciara and Britney both calling her out for acting strange; however, it’s Chrishell who breaks Nikki’s heart as she calls her alliance member out as a suspect noting that she felt a shift in her after the coffin moment and worries her friendship is preventing her from seeing the truth.
Nikki understandably begins to close up as all eyes shift to her and the last comment of the roundtable before voting comes from Bob H who questions Rob’s actions, noting that he’s seen him play games like this and senses he would come in and go right after a fellow Traitor to establish his dominance. It’s brushed off, but it’s clear the players are starting to look in Rob’s direction.
While Ciara and Rob came up during the conversation, the group almost unanimously voted to banish Nikki with 14 of the night’s 16 votes going to Nikki resulting in her elimination. The only votes that did not go for Nikki were her own vote, which she cast for Ciara, and Dylan who voted for Gabby telling the group he thinks Nikki and Ciara are diversions and expressing some suspicion about Gabby once again.
After Nikki is banished, Chrishell feels terrible thinking she was the final nail in the coffin for her friend, while Derrick makes it clear to Wes that they need to watch out for Rob. But the dramatic moment comes as Dylan tells Carolyn about Danielle putting her name out to the group which does not sit well with Carolyn and is setting the stage for her and Danielle to battle it out next week!