Recap: The Traitors US 2, Episode 6 – “Fling for you life!”

Recap: The Traitors US 2, Episode 6 – Backstab and Betrayal

Before I start talking about this week’s episode, I have to talk about what I stumbled upon this past week. So it all started when a tweet from Deadline popped up on my feed with a link to their article reporting on a lawsuit against NBCUniversal, Bravo, et al regarding sexual assault by Housewives and Traitors alum Brandi Glanville.

Now, I’ve never watched a single episode of any Bravo reality show, to be honest. The most of the Housewives I’ve seen are any of the viral clips involving Lisa Rinna and Eileen Davidson. And that’s only because I grew up watching them on Days of our Lives.

Anyway, in reading about this latest lawsuit, I learned that current Traitor Phaedra Parks was also accused of sexually assaulting someone on one of the Bravo/Peacock shows as well. I was shocked. This alone would affect how I watch and enjoy Phaedra on The Traitors. And to be clear, nothing has been proven regarding the assault. In fact, I believe NBCUniversal has motioned to dismiss the lawsuit.

But now learning about that led me to probably an even more shocking incident regarding Phaedra. And that’s an incident from Real Housewives of Atlanta in which she apparently instigated a false rumor suggesting that Kandi Burruss and her husband intended to drug and sexually assault another Housewife. Apparently, that’s why she was fired from Housewives in the past. Yet she apparently is still employed by NBCU. (Read more here: 1, 2, 3)

Like, WTF? Hello? I don’t even know why anyone would think of doing that. But that’s absolutely disgusting. And honestly, completely changes how I see her.

She even mentioned how she’s a “Christian woman” at the end of the episode. Yeah, well…

Needless to say, I hope she is banished sooner rather than later. No amount of “good TV” will get me to just set aside something like falsely accusing someone of sexual assault. Absolutely absurd.

OKAY! Now let’s get to the episode.

The show definitely didn’t even pretend to play up any suspense. Yes, they spoiled that the Traitors eventually decided on Bergie. So from the very beginning, there was no beating around the bush. This episode was all about the drama regarding the Traitors’ miscalculation and the repercussions of it. Especially how Dan and Parvati, now on the hot seat, would try to save themselves.

At the breakfast, I wasn’t sure why Peter would tell everyone about his plan as soon as Bergie walked in. But I guess I get it so they all had the day to stew on the information. While it was fun to see Team Peter celebrating the plan working, I was most amused by Sandra’s excitement at wanting to know who Peter told about the shield lol It was really funny.

Next up was the challenge which of course was a callback to last season’s memorable task. And yes, Kate reminded us all about it. She tried to replicate the shenanigans this time around. But it was honestly irrelevant. Even her holding Peter’s Shield box. That few seconds of drama really was just to fill the time. Kate could care less about surviving a murder. We know that. lol

The way they had to pull the stuff up the hill reminded me of Netflix’s Korean reality-competition program <I>Physical: 100</i>. By the way, when is season 2? lol

Watching the challenge though, I was reminded of something I’ve been thinking about. And that is the show adding a Saboteur element. Maybe recruit someone from the Traitors or Faithful to sabotage the money earning. And in doing so, get money for themselves. Maybe have a few Saboteurs. But perhaps that would be too much like The Mole.

The Shield side-challenge was alright. It was a luck-based task. And I think it’s good to mix up how people can get Shields, day-to-day.

Half of the episode though dealt with the pre-Round Table discussions and then the Round Table itself.

As soon as Dan was talking about what he was planning, I knew he was going to go after Phaedra. He and Parvati already told us that a few episodes ago. They would always go after Phaedra first because she was the safest of them three.

Once I realized he was going after Phaedra, I was of course happy considering the stuff I learned about her in the past week. But I was also intrigued. Because I think everyone knew Dan was 99% going to be banished this episode. So if Dan were to pull this off and save himself, it would show that he really has still got it. No rust at all.

Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.

First, I thought Parvati should have hung on with Dan. Like we remember, they already planned to strike at Phaedra when the time came. So she AND Dan should have already been planting the seeds with the others before the Round Table. Dan again teasing what he might say instead of just coming out and saying it already is just one of his missteps. Keeping too much to himself instead of going around and joining in on the Traitor hunting.

Targeting Phaedra was really the only thing he could’ve done. Two problems though. One, his arguments were flimsy at best. He had all day to think about what to throw at Phaedra and he came up with the lamest, last-minute-sounding arguments. They might make sense, but as we saw can easily be talked down.

The other problem is, as we saw, the Housewives will always have each other’s back. And they are going to go to bat for Phaedra. That includes Housewives and Friends members like Sandra too. That is also one reason Phaedra is in a great position right now. Not necessarily because of anything she’s doing. But because she has that group of people with her. And it’s a group not necessarily focused on game. But a group of friends and acquaintances that can definitely influence a Round Table discussion.

Dan’s ultimate mistake wasn’t that he targeted Phaedra at the Round Table. It was because he was playing a Big Brother game and this is definitely not Big Brother. Too bad for him.

With Parvati, she survived not because of anything she’s done either. But only because Dan was in front of her in the firing line.

Parvati is upset Peter is gaming really hard. As if playing the game is a bad thing. Is she the only one who is supposed to play? She doesn’t like the way Peter is playing because he’s on to her. Simple as that.

It actually kind of makes her a bit pathetic. I’m sorry. And not the Parvati that is a Survivor icon. She is coasting by on others’ bigger targets or mistakes. Similar to Dan, to be honest. Which is why she and Dan should’ve ensured they had a foolproof plan to get Phaedra out before them. She’s not long for the game. Unless other people make bigger mistakes again.

Moving forward, I love that Trishelle picked up on the possibility that Phaedra is a Traitor based on Dan bringing her name up. I hope Trishelle will be able to do something with that.

Meanwhile, The Traitors seem to not want to avoid the obvious. So that would mean Peter will absolutely accept the invitation. What I actually hope is that he doesn’t accept. And I think that can also turn the game upside down as much as him becoming a Traitor might. If not moreso, to be honest.