‘The Traitors’ season 2 episode 3 recap: Who is murdered next, and is another faithful banished? [LIVE BLOG]

Heading into the third episode of “The Traitors,” “Survivor” winner Parvati Shallow had just been selected by Dan Gheesling and Phaedra Parks to join their ranks as the newly initiated third traitor. (Read our recaps of Episode 1 and Episode 2). Prior to Parvati moving to the dark side, Dan and Phaedra murdered Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio as their first night kill victim and the larger group wrongly banished the faithful Peppermint.

Who among the faithful will Dan, Parvati and Phaedra target for assassination next? Below, read our minute-by-minute “The Traitors” Season 2, Episode 3 recap/live blog of “Murder in Plain Sight” to find out what happened Friday, January 12, 2024. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite contestants on Peacock’s reality TV show, who annoys you the most and who you think will ultimately take home a cash prize of up to $250,000.

Here are the cast members still in the game at the start of Episode 3:

Traitors:
Dan Gheesling (“Big Brother”)
Parvati Shallow (“Survivor”)
Phaedra Parks (“The Real Housewives of Atlanta”)

Faithfuls:
Carsten “Bergie” Bergersen (“Love Island USA”)
Chris “C.T.” Tamburello (“The Challenge”)
Deontay Wilder (Boxer)
Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu (“Love Island UK”)
Janelle Pierzina (“Big Brother”)
John Bercow (UK Parliament)
Kevin Kreider (“Bling Empire”)
Larsa Pippen (“The Real Housewives of Miami”)
Marcus Jordan (Basketball Player)
Maksim Chmerkovskiy (“Dancing with the Stars”)
Mercedes “MJ” Javid (“Shahs of Sunset”)
Peter Weber (“The Bachelor”)
Sandra Diaz-Twine (“Survivor”)
Shereé Whitfield (“The Real Housewives of Atlanta”)
Tamra Judge (“The Real Housewives of Orange County”)
Trishelle Cannatella (“The Real World: Las Vegas”)

Keep refreshing/reloading this “The Traitors” live blog for the most recent updates.

’00: “Previously on ‘The Traitors’!” During the latest mission, Dan learned that the other players considered him as being too quiet, prompting him to go for and collect one of the protective shields. He hoped going for protection would serve as a “double bluff” to make people certain he’s a faithful, but little did they know that he was preparing to target a second victim for the nightly kill alongside Phaedra and Parvati. Their murderous decision should kick off the episode, so let’s get to it!

’02: In a confessional, Dan explained that their decision to bring Parvati into the fold was that they’d work with her in the long-term, but if it came down to it she’d be “an easy person to shove to the front of the line” as a traitor to save Dan and Phaedra. For their second kill, Parvati thought Deontay would be a good option because he might win shields in the future. Dan was concerned by Marcus because he could be on to them soon and the added “built-in protection” of Larsa. Phaedra thought Janelle was a good option because she’s “well-connected” and Dan and Parvati agreed that “people listen to Janelle” and that could become a problem.

’05: The next morning, Larsa, Maks and Phaedra were the first group to enter the breakfast hall for survivors. Maks thought that Trishelle would be in danger of a kill, but she was next to walk in along with Tamra. When Peter and Dan walked in next, Peter was keen to share his theory that good traitors would have random reasons for their kills so that no one could “follow the trail.” Next to join the breakfast was Sandra and John, then Bergie, Kevin and Ekin-su in one group and Shereé, MJ and CT in another. That left only Parvati, Janelle, Marcus and Deontay to return alive. When Parvati, Janelle and Deontay all walked in, reality hit Larsa that it was her boyfriend that had been chosen for the kill.

’09: In flashback, the decision to take Marcus out of the game came down to Dan seeing him as “one of the smartest players.” In his exit, Marcus assumed that he’s seen as a threat and “jealous” that he had his girlfriend in the game with him. Privately, Larsa knew that Marcus was chosen because he’s seen as smart and his murder only served to invigorate her to suss out who the traitors are so that she could successfully banish one of them at the next Round Table.

’12: Instead of preparing the group for their next mission, Alan let them know that it wouldn’t occur until “the dead of night” at “the witching hour” so he asked them to take the day to explore the grounds and discuss plans with one another. In one conversation, Trishelle told Bergie that based on her conversations with Marcus she knew how perceptive he was so it made sense to her that one of the traitors that killed him had to have been someone else that was talking to him a lot. When Parvati, Ekin-su and John joined the conversation, Trishelle softly through out Dan’s name as a suspect because “he’s not giving any information.” Parvati knew that she couldn’t be the only one defending him so she let that conversation happen without adding anything. In another conversation, Deontay and CT were thrown off by Maks not having any thoughts about the possible motive for killing Marcus.

’15: Janelle suggested to Larsa, Shereé, Sandra, Phaedra, Deontay and Dan that a male player has to be behind the two kills because she thinks “a woman wouldn’t have killed Bananas and Marcus first.” Larsa backed her up on that theory and when they questioned Dan for his thoughts, Dan was again not willing to offer anything up, instead going for “I’m not a vibe person. I’m like an action person.”

’18: Later that night the players assembled in a field outside the castle where they were greeted by a foggy graveyard. Alan explained that for their mission they’d go “grave digging for gold.” To earn money (or one of three shields) they’d have to find and use tools to dig up graves from around the yard. To complicate things, Alan installed searchlights around the yard and if any of them get caught in one of the roaming lights then they’d be removed from the mission. The mission began with only half the players starting the search and only when someone gets caught can a new player enter the yard for the search.

’20: In the first group was Peter, Bergie, Dan, Parvati, MJ, Sandra, Trishelle, Ekin-su and John. Very quickly, John was caught in the spotlight and replaced by CT. Though he was the first to find a hammer, CT was caught next and replaced. Next MJ was caught and replaced by Deontay, followed by Trishelle getting replaced by Larsa. Parvati and Deontay were eliminated next, all before any gold or shields were even found. At this point, Bergie tried to communicate to the group that the lights were moving in a repeated pattern, but no one was willing to listen to him. Shereé and Sandra were caught next and with only 10 minutes left, Dan convinced everyone to finally listen to Bergie. Using a battering ram and Bergie’s pattern, the group was able to confiscate a $5,000 bag of cash. Peter banked another bag and Tamra claimed a shield out of a tomb that CT had broken open earlier. Though he helped the group claim a ton of cash, Bergie was eventually caught in a light and eliminated as well, but everyone cheered him off the field in thanks for his leadership. In the final four minutes of the mission, Peter claimed the second shield and Janelle was able to snatch the third one away from Ekin-su’s grasp in the final coffin. By the end of the challenge, the group had amassed a total of $19,500 to be added to the prize pot.

’30: In the car rides home, Ekin-su was vocally upset at Janelle swiping the shield out of her grasp. Janelle told a different version of the story that suggested Ekin-su wasn’t yet claiming the shield and in a third car Larsa was telling a group that Janelle “elbowed” Ekin-su out of the way and “grabbed it from her.”

’32: Back at the castle, the topic of Dan’s quiet demeanor came up again from MJ. She told Ekin-su, Larsa, Kevin, Bergie and Maks that he doesn’t talk about the game at all. She wanted to “put Dan in the hot seat” and force him to defend himself. In another room, Deontay told Parvati, CT and Dan that he’s “going for Maks” because of a “dramatic change in behavior” and not looking surprised when it was revealed that Marcus was murdered. In a private conversation between the two of them, Kevin told Peter that his “top person” is Janelle, but Peter insisted that Janelle is acting “too aggressive” and that makes her a faithful. Peter thought it was behoove their interest if he and Kevin voted for each other at the banishment in order to “cause a little tension” because if they are going after each other then the traitors will want to keep them both around.

’34: When Parvati found a quiet spot to talk to Dan privately, she clued him in to “a bunch of people” saying his name because he’s “so quiet.” That was his first sign that he was “not on easy street anymore” and might need to become more vocal. His strategy was to go into the banishment ready with a “great defense” and a plan to “be very poised” when he defends himself.

’36: At the Round Table, Bergie jumped to be the first to speak and asked Dan to defend himself since his name had been going around a lot that day. Dan said he’s “1000% faithful” and admitted to being quiet. He sees his reservations as an asset because he wants everyone to know that when he does speak up it will be with conviction. MJ countered that if they all played that quiet then there would be no game to play and she said he’s playing “way too safe” and “flying below the radar.” Deontay spoke up in Dan’s defense because it was dangerous to confuse his personality with his allegiance. To that end, Deontay through out Maks for being different from when they first met. Deontay used his reaction to the murder of Marcus as evidence and then Sandra backed him up with another questionable reaction that she saw Maks give.

’39: Maks didn’t have much to say in defense, but liked the idea of throwing out names so he reminded everyone of the fight between Janelle and Ekin-su over the shield. Ekin-su said that they both went for the box at the same time and Janelle simply snatched it away and ran off, but Janelle insisted that it wasn’t that simple. Janelle did not believe that Ekin-su’s hands were ever in the grave or on the box, prompting Ekin-su to directly call Janelle a “selfish person.” She also challenged Maks for bringing them up in order to deflect from his own fault. When CT jumped in against Maks, Maks retaliated by saying that he suspects CT especially since Bananas was the first kill.

’42: Larsa brought the conversation back to Dan, saying that she’s “uneased” by how calm he is all the time compared to Maks who is “not a gamer.” Once again, Dan said that it’s just his personality to be quiet and acknowledged that he can “do a better job of talking” to her and others.

’43: After the votes were written down, Alan had them announce their votes in rotation. They were: Shereé for Janelle, Bergie for Maks, MJ for Dan, Phaedra for Ekin-su, Sandra for Maks, Peter for Kevin, John for Maks, Janelle for Maks, Maks for Ekin-su, Larsa for Dan, Parvati for Kevin, Kevin for Peter, Trishelle for Maks, Deontay for Maks, Ekin-su for Maks, Dan for Maks, Tamra for Maks and CT for Maks.

’47: With the most votes, Maks was officially banished from the game. In his departure from the room, Maks “promised no long speeches” and announced his truth that he’s a faithful. Janelle reacted with an “Now I’m pissed” while both Larsa and Parvati declared that they didn’t think he was a traitor at all. Before the group left the room, Larsa spoke up to urge them all to stop going off of “the wrong things” like someone being “quirky” and thinks they should “dig deeper.” MJ put Sandra and Deontay’s names out as being “influential” in that argument and though “it’s a strong trait,” they all need to “be careful” about how strongly they put names on the table.

’49: Once again, Deontay reacted emotionally by feeling like he let everyone down by pushing so hard for Maks and once again being responsible, at least in part, for a faithful going home. Phaedra immediately comforted him, recognizing that for a championship boxer the weight of the competition would be “taking a toll on him.”

’51: Later that night, instead of calling the traitors for their secret meeting in the turret, Alan delivered a letter to each of the three privately with a message that they must “murder in plain sight.” While everyone was still awake, they’d have to use a poisoned chalice and hope that it touches the lips first of their intended target.

’53: Parvati and Dan were able to find alone time to suggest John as a target, but Dan insisted that it has to be a female kill because narrowing down all the men is not good for him. Parvati thought MJ would be a good one then, but Dan was concerned that it’d be “so obvious” after she went so hard for him at the banishment. Dan put Shereé’s name out instead even though she’s a good friend of Phaedra’s. Because the mission made her so nervous, Phaedra was leaving it up to Parvati and Dan to execute without giving any insight.

’55: Once Parvati secured possession of the chalice without getting caught, she went to the bar room and announced herself as “the bartender tonight” in a room of John, Sandra, Bergie, Tamra, Phaedra, Shereé, Ekin-su and Larsa. Parvati decided that there were too many people around and so she took the chalice and some other glasses to head to a different room, much to Phaedra’s relief on Shereé’s behalf. Parvati found herself in the kitchen and right next to MJ, but she realized that there’s no way she could get MJ to drink out of the “rusty old cup” so with time running down, Parvati pivoted to get it in the hands of someone else. In the room as options were Ekin-su, Trishelle, and Peter, but the episode concluded without us knowing who she chose to pursue.

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