John Byrne recaps Monday's penultimate episode of The Traitors Ireland, where time runs out in more ways than one as the battle for the final takes a tearful turn. *Spoilers galore*
After last night's incendiary episode, when Joanna got slaughtered at the Round Table and another – as yet unknown - faithful got murdered, the traitors are having a laugh.
All Nick and Ben have had to do is sit back and watch the faithful tear each other apart.
Will the penultimate episode see the faithful get their act together?
Well, if you’re reading this you probably already know. But as I’m writing, I haven’t a clue.
One thing’s for sure though: the temperature is rising as the players are just one day away from the final.
It’s time for cool heads and, well, a little less finger-pointing.
Que Sera, Sera
First in for breakfast are Kelley and Ben. Both would’ve had a good night’s sleep – but for very different reasons, as Kelley had a shield and Ben’s a traitor.
"I’m finding the game more difficult, the smaller and smaller the group gets," she tells the camera. "I’m feeling really paranoid and I don’t have anyone left in the group that I can trust."
Ben makes a slightly leading mistake while they’re discussing Wilkin, but it’s more his own paranoia than Kelley’s awareness at play here.
"I’m only a traitor a wet day and I’m already tripping over myself," he says to the camera.
Vanessa’s next, still feeling guilty about the previous night’s witch hunt of Joanna. "We all kind of regret the part we played in that," she admits.
Faye makes it four. "It’s so quiet," she says. Without a sense of irony she adds: "It’s kind of got too cliquey."
And then the finger-points at Wilkin.
Oyin arrives. "I feel extremely on edge," she admits.
"I think Oyin is a traitor," Faye tells the camera.
Oyin repays Faye the compliment. It’s last night all over again. Already!
Nick knocks next. Wilkin’s gone!
To the camera, Faye describes him as "clueless sometimes - in the best way."
Back to last night, when the lads choose Wilkin and he returns to his room...
"Game over," he says after reading the murder note. "I think I did pretty well to last this long," he adds. "This experience has been one in a lifetime."
Back at the breakfast table, Nick says: "Will would be the last one on my list," lying through his teeth. In his head though, he’s plotting a final assault.
Then Siobhán appears. "That’s nice," she says to the six remaining contestants. "Being friendly. How are you feeling? Good?
"I’ll tell you who isn’t feeling good. Poor Wilkin."
Vanessa takes his picture down and Siobhán makes reference to "counting on a mission" before disappearing.
Careless Whisper
Faye and Keeley are having a post-brekkie chat about who to target next. Oyin's ear must be burning.
"I don’t want it to be Nick," says Faye, "but it could be Oyin and Nick."
Keeley wonders about Nick and Ben. "I think one of them could be a Traitor," she tells the camera. She trusts Ben slightly more "because I think Nick would be a better Traitor."
Ben arrives and Faye gives him and Nick her daily vote of confidence.
Watch: "I just know one of my friends is a Traitor."
Elsewhere, Nick, Oyin and Vanessa discuss. "I’m thinking Ben and Faye right now," says Vanessa.
Oyin reckons Nick and Ben protect Faye. "She knows the two of you are not going to vote for her."
Nick says it’s "impossible" that Ben is a traitor, which Vanessa picks up. Has he made a big screw-up?
Anyway, time for a mission.
Maths the Way I Like It
"This may be your second-last mission," Siobhán tells the six contestants assembled inside a stables’ courtyard. "But it may be the easiest so far."
To compliment the numbers left, there’s €6,000 up grabs to be added to the prize pot. But can they, eh, count on that?
They split into teams of two, go inside and count up to 13 minutes and 30 seconds. And every duo that gets within a minute of that will receive €2,000.
Faye moves to the left of Oyin to be beside Kelley, leaving Oyin beside Vanessa.
Kelley and Faye then make an assumption that Oyin and Vanessa must be traitors. I mean, how dumb is that?
The trick in the mission is that they’re sat back-to-back and tied up. And the counting begins.
During the count, masked people try to throw them off their count by making random noises. Then they blow out the candles, leaving the six in darkness.
Then they’re played voices of the banished and murdered contestants.
"I’d imagine that was quite an experience," Siobhán says afterwards out in the courtyard.
Oyin and Vanessa made it: 2K in the bank.
Nick and Ben "were miles off".
Kelley and Faye? "You did really well" and so they’ve earned a total of €4,000.
You’re The One That I Want (to Banish)
On the way back to the castle, Nick starts the blame game with Oyin and Faye – of course – jumps to the bait, while also sucking up to the lads.
"My fate in being here tomorrow is in your hands," she tells Ben and Nick.
Kelley, Vanessa and Oyin are in the other car. Kelley asks for a name and Oyin obliges.
"I think it’s Faye," she says.
Kelley then says that Faye got her to travel with Vanessa and Oyin to do some fishing.
"I’m not going to tell her," Kelley says. "Because I don’t trust her either."
Watch: 'My fate in being here tomorrow is in your hands'
Looks like the girls are heading for a showdown between Oyin and Faye. Nick and Ben can head for the beach.
Back at the castle, Nick says to Oyin: "It’s going to be an interesting Round Table. Are you ready for it?
"I think it’s going to be you or Vanessa," he adds. Ben admires his fellow traitor’s gameplaying from the safety of the other end of the sofa.
To the camera, Oyin admits: "It feels like I’ve hit a wall . . . These two will vote me out tonight and it’s a lot to take in."
Ben’s getting stressed, but Nick tells him to focus on the prize. Ben tells the camera he’s thinking about his wife and family, "to make some money here and make our lives better."
Day turns to night as the six head to the Round Table.
"Strap in," says Siobhán. "It’s about to get feisty."
Girls Talk
The tension is palpable. No one’s chatting anymore. No one’s smiling.
Survival’s the name of the game now.
"What you don’t want to do at the Round Table is to step up and say something stupid," says Nick to the camera. "Sit back, let everyone else argue it out and make your kill."
"Emotions are so, so high," says Oyin. "I’m nervous," says Kelley. "I hate the Round Table."
Ben admits to camera that he and Nick will focus on Vanessa and Oyin. And they have one third of the remaining votes between them.
Siobhán enters the room. Wearing a pretty bonkers hat, it must be said.
"Today, you added €4,000 to the prize fund, which now stands at €32,900," she says. "Well done!"
But who’s not going to get a sniff of that?
Watch: Is this the moment it all comes crashing down for Faye?
"One player must leave," says Siobhán. "Prepare to fight for your place in the final. Discuss."
Faye goes first. Will she set the agenda or set herself up?
Vanessa’s her first target. It’s basically an extension of last night. If Joanna was a faithful, does that implicate Vanessa? Blah, blah, blah.
Quickly, it descends into an identical 'she said, she said’ back and forth.
Nick accuses Vanessa of cutting people off.
Oyin swings back at Faye, accusing her of "watching it play out" at last night’s Round Table.
More ‘she said, she said’ and Nick - who could've gone out for a walk and not be missed - says: "It’s actually going nowhere."
Oyin insists she’s a faithful.
Kelley then swings against Faye, saying that she asked her to get in the car with Vanessa and Oyin.
This could be a pivotal moment.
"It feels like I’m being attacked," says Faye, without a hint of irony.
Siobhán urges the people who been quiet so far (ie: the traitors), "now is your time to speak."
Nick mumbles nothing of note. Ben says: "I’m just going to vote."
Siobhán says: "time for talk is over."
I’m almost relieved there’s an ad break . . .
There She Goes
And so, the vote. Faye goes first.
"I voted for Oyin," she says. "Because I can’t understand the lie between her and Joanna."
Vanessa’s next. She votes for Faye. "She just sat back when we went at Joanna."
Siobhán then asks Ben for his vote. I can't call it tension. It's much worse than that. Is twelve-sion a thing?
"I came into this room with an opinion," he says. "And listening to Oyin’s defence, and a couple of points that were made, I’ve changed my mind. Sorry Faye . . . it kills me to do it."
Oyin’s next. No shock there as she votes for Faye.
Only Kelley and Nick can save Faye. The next vote could be the decider. Faye starts to tear up.
Siobhán then calls on Kelley. Is it Faye or nay?
Watch: An emotional Faye is the last to leave before the final
"I voted for you Faye," she says, adding: "I’m sorry. I just believe Oyin’s defence."
Nick’s vote is irrelevant, but he votes for Faye anyway. "I feel sick putting your name down," he says.
Poor Faye is distraught. She’s banished on the penultimate night.
She gathers herself and manages to smile as she says: "I’ve had such an amazing time here. Meeting so many of you.
"I came in and I was so honest and it’s funny how it’s ending," she adds. "It’s really disheartening to know that this is how it ended when I thought I could trust some of you.
"But I’m a faithful."
And then she’s gone. The faithful have turned on each other once again, with traitors Nick and Ben barely having to turn up.
Siobhán tells the five remaining contestants: "Players, you have banished another faithful. There will be no murder tonight. It’s up to you remaining whether that is good news or not."
Let’s Go Round Again
After Siobhán departs, Oyin is first to speak. She’s pretty much the only one to speak.
"I genuinely thought she was a traitor," she says. "So sorry guys."
There’s a lot of silent reflection – but two of the five are acting.
Will Kelley, Oyin and Vanessa finally cop on to the traitors in their midst? Or will it be girl against girl once again on the final day?
Afterwards, Ben talks to the camera. "It’s not easy," he says. "It’s not easy at all, especially when she’s telling the truth, and she breaks down and you see her reaction.
"It’s terrible to see."
Oyin admits: "I don’t know how to feel. I’ve asked so many questions. There’s the shock of her killing, especially that she’s a faithful. There’s the relief of still being at the Round Table.
"And then there’s just the confusion, because I’m wondering: If she’s not a traitor, then there’s two people at this table that are."
"I just feel horrible, knowing that somebody goes home and that’s the last interaction they have with you," says Vanessa. "You don’t get to apologise.
"So, for me, I’m feeling really sorry for her . . . Whether it’s a game, it’s not a nice feeling."
Even Nick’s feeling like a bag of compost. "I feel terrible for what I’ve just done to Faye," he says, with a broken voice. "She’s my friend and obviously I’d never do that in real life.
"It’s brutal, what we have to do to win the game, and it’s making me feel terrible."
The guilt and misery on display tonight is so Irish! So proud of these guys.
Bon Appétit
To lighten the mood, some food.
"After a bruising Round Table," Siobhán says, "the finalists take time away from the game to get to know each other a little better."
It’s a very different kind of round table, with candelabras rather than questions, a grill rather than a grilling. Something to chew on that might actually taste nice.
"Going into the banquet, I’m feeling a little uneasy, concerned about what just happened," says Oyin.
"Everyone is a little bit pee’d off about the way the night went," says Nick.
A bottle of bubbly is opened and glasses are raised.
"It’s nice that we can share a couple of moments from home and talk about our families," Nick adds.
"I didn’t think I was an emotional person," says Ben. "But coming here you’re just constantly thinking of home all the time. It gets to you . . ."
Nick admits he became a dad at just 23. "It was a complete curveball – best thing to ever happen to me."
He talks about going to Disneyland and putting money towards a house.
Watch: "If we don't crack, we can't lose.'
Kelley’s complimenting Oyin. "She’s such a strong woman. She’s so funny, so independent.
"She’s only a couple of months older than me and yet I’d love to be half the woman she is."
Both her and Oyin talk about their supportive folks, while Vanessa recalls that shew grew up in direct provision, which must have been tough.
They’re all getting along famously, revealing times of sadness in their lives. There are tears. There are smiles. Laughter.
And tomorrow, that all changes. As Kelley says to the camera: "There’s not one I really trust."
Ben, Kelley, Nick, Oyin and Vanessa. The final five. With two traitors amongst them.
"I didn’t come here to be second, third or fourth," says Nick, back focused on the prize. "You’re trying to win it."
The traitors then go to the conclave to plot their final move.
"Tomorrow’s a new day," says Ben. "If we don’t crack, we can’t lose."
So on we go to Treacherous Tuesday...
The Traitors Ireland concludes on Tuesday at 9:35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player. The Traitors Ireland: Uncloaked starts directly after The Traitors Ireland on RTÉ2.
