SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for the two-hour series premiere of NBC’s “The Traitors: New Blood,” now streaming on Peacock.
“The Traitors” castle isn’t just for the rich or famous anymore.
Peacock’s Emmy-winning franchise has moved to NBC, with “The Traitors: New Blood,” a new season featuring only everyday people in a game of murder, chaos, and big money.
In the show’s two-hour premiere, host Alan Cumming welcomed 22 players who were clearly eager to get started.
He immediately threw them into the action by putting them in a tough situation.Because the show is so popular internationally, the players knew exactly what to do and where to go.The creative team wanted them to feel right at home.
Executive producer Sam Rees-Jones told Variety that making the players feel comfortable helped them focus and play hard right away.
At the first roundtable, Cumming secretly chose Tomica Adams, a pilot from Boston, and Joe Vanella, a funeral director from New York, as the first Traitors of the season.
Later, during a midnight meeting in the turret, he told them a third Traitor was coming and asked them to pick that person.In addition to their first murder (RIP Kim Daily, who pretended to be a college basketball coach but was actually a lawyer), the Traitors also selected two “accomplices” to try and join them.
Katie Fites, a 23-year-old marketing manager from Florida, and Xavier Scruggs, a former baseball player turned analyst, had to work together and compete against each other to prove they were worthy of joining the Traitors.
The big test came in the second hour when they had to deceive the Faithfuls by secretly taking a book about crime and punishment and giving it to the Traitors.The premiere ends with the audience waiting to see if they can get the book out without being caught.
For sure, the Faithfuls have already been hurt.
In addition to Kim Daily’s murder, there was a tense first roundtable where Mississippi realtor Kriste Lewis attacked San Diego construction manager Madeline Kostopulos over a comment she thought proved she was a Traitor.Kostopulos’ ally, New York business executive Victor Vollbrechthausen, also got in trouble for quickly grabbing a shield in the first challenge.The vote nearly split evenly between the two.
Below, “The Traitors: New Blood” executive producers Rosie Franks, Mike Cotton, and Sam Rees-Jones explain how they adapted the show for broadcast, why they gave players a reason to identify Traitors for the first time, and how having all-civilian players made the game more personal.
Being on broadcast means the episodes are about 41-42 minutes long, including commercial breaks.
That’s different from Peacock episodes, which can be over an hour.How did the time limit affect the story and the flow of the show?
Mike Cotton: That was one of our biggest challenges.
The game is the same—it’s a day in the castle.There’s always breakfast, someone is killed, there’s a mission, a roundtable, and the Traitors meet in the turret.We didn’t change how the game was played.But we had to think about how to create exciting moments that would keep the audience hooked.We spent a lot of time planning how to make each episode end on a cliffhanger without making it feel like a drama.We always treated it like a murder mystery, but we designed it to feel like a drama.We had to figure out where those key moments would go in each episode to make it exciting.One thing we didn’t want to do was make it feel like a drama by cutting it up that way.
We didn't want to rush through the episodes or try to fit everything into a short time.
We still wanted to take our time and really get to know the characters, and I think we did that.
Courtesy of Euan Cherry/NBC
This season, you don't have the advantage of knowing the celebrities' backstories to help you get ready.
In the first episode, one of the players holds a card asking if they want to play as a Traitor or a Faithful.Was that something you always did, or is it new for this season?
Sam Rees-Jones: No, that was new for the players.
What we liked about this version is that Alan invited them.He sent out these invitations, so it should feel like they're really being invited to this wild experience in the Highlands of Scotland.And in that invitation, they had to choose whether they wanted to be a Traitor or a Faithful.
Rosie Franks: Alan always asks them in the "gold chats" by the fire in the premiere what role they want to play in the game.
But this felt like a really nice connection from the start, with the raven flying across America dropping the invitations, and this is like their answer to that invitation.
Rees-Jones: We only choose people to be Traitors if they want to be, because it’s a tough job.There’s a lot to do, so they should really want to be a Traitor.But we always tell everyone that once they start playing, they could be made a Traitor at any time.As you saw at the end of Episode 1, we picked our first two Traitors, and then let them decide who the third one would be, which turned out to be Katie and Xavier.
Cotton: That’s true.
It’s harder to decide who the first Traitors should be when they’re just regular people we don’t know from TV or reality shows.It comes down to casting and getting to know them well.We don’t choose the Traitors until everyone arrives at the castle.They’ve been on the train, and we’ve seen how they interact.Everyone has had a deep conversation with Alan about whether they want to be a Traitor or not.
The uncertainty also affects how the cast looks for Traitors.
Celebrities often have relationships or conflicts that can help them guess who the Traitors are.But in this first episode, the cast didn’t know who to accuse at the first roundtable.
Franks: What’s exciting is that everyone starts with a fresh start.
It’s a game about who you are, and they can be anyone they want.We’re learning about them, and so are the viewers.It’s fair for both the players and the audience, which makes it really fun to watch.You feel like you’re part of the game.
One big difference between the celebrity and civilian versions is how money plays a role.
Watching celebrities play for money doesn’t have the same feeling because for some, $250,000 could change their life, while for others, it might not matter much.But for the “New Blood” cast, money means a lot.After the first challenge, they added $50,000 to the prize pot.Mark Zgoda said, “That’s a full person’s salary already added.” That money really matters to these players.How does it change how they play?
Rees-Jones: We loved that moment, and I’m glad you mentioned it.
It showed exactly how they feel about the game, the challenges, and the money.For them, the money means a lot.In terms of the game, it means they all have to work hard to build up the prize pot.But it also means betrayal hurts more.Because the game depends on the Faithfuls and the Traitors working together to increase the prize pot, which can be worth a whole year’s salary in one mission.When someone betrays, it hurts even more.Watching them put their all into the challenges, no matter their age or ability, was amazing.You could see how much it meant to them by the end of Episode 1 when they won a lot of money.
Alan also mentions in the premiere that for the first time, each Traitor who is banished from the castle gets a $15,000 bonus added to the prize pot.
Is that extra money on top of the possible $250,000 they can earn?
Rees-Jones: Yes, it’s added to the $250,000.
We’ve talked about this for a while.The main thing is getting a Traitor out.But we thought it would be interesting to give them an extra incentive.
That could be the key to whether someone speaks up or stays quiet during the roundtable if they know there's more money involved.
Franks: Exactly!
In the first episode, as soon as they arrive at the castle, you let them walk around freely.
But after a few seasons, the cast has been watching from home and they clearly know the place well.A few even knew which book to pull to open the secret room in the library.Does that kind of familiarity with the castle cause any problems?
Cotton: I love that they knew the castle!
It's a real place.It's not like it's a "Big Brother" house that's rebuilt every year.So I think we all love the fact that they felt right at home right away and that they knew the game and the way it works.Every year is a different murder mystery, so we plan a lot to keep the players on their toes.But we never change the core game of Traitors versus Faithfuls.The overall rhythm stays the same, but every season we add new twists and turns to keep them guessing, even if they think they know everything about the castle and the game.
Rees-Jones: I think it actually helped the cast a lot.
Having a sense of familiarity made them feel comfortable in their surroundings and they played hard right from the start.
James and Oliver Phelps are here!
Fred and George Weasley from the "Harry Potter" movies are seen being mischievous in the premiere.What can you tell us about their role this season?
Rees-Jones: That's their role!
They're mischievous, mysterious castle creepers.
What a cool job title to have.
Rees-Jones: Yeah, it was just a fun, tongue-in-cheek way to extend the murder mystery world.
You have Alan's castle, and you imagine in that world there would be people who take care of the castle.So there's some fun to be had with little scenes that can be included throughout the season.
Cotton: One of the things I'm most excited about with the NBC version is that we get to expand this world to a wider audience.
In the U.K., the show has become a big shared viewing experience, like a family hit.People gather with their kids to watch the show.Although it's about betrayal and murder, there are also elements of "Harry Potter" and magical fantasy in the show as well.So I feel like who James and Oliver are, and the world they're from, fits nicely with the world of "The Traitors" too.
In the first challenge, there is a fake crate filled with salmon.
Was this an acknowledgment that there wasn't enough salmon in Scotland for the previous casts, who complained about the lack of smoked salmon at breakfast before?
Franks: It's always about the salmon!
It's hard not to make that connection, given how much the last celebrities talked about it!
Franks: Yes, we do like putting in little Easter eggs like that for the fans.
In previous seasons, the show's music has been appropriately moody but generic.
"New Blood" has covers of real songs, including Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" at a particularly dark moment.Was this something new allowed in the broadcast version?
Franks: That was one of the things we were really excited about in making the show feel familiar but also fresh.
We were able to use some commercial music in this version.I don't know how you felt watching it, but I feel like there's a shift in the tone, and I think the commercial music definitely helps with that.
You don't often talk about why you chose the Traitors, but you let them pick two accomplices to audition for the third Traitor spot.
We don't yet know who wins, but what did you think about their two choices, Katie and Xavier?
Cotton: I love that the Traitors chose Katie and Xavier because they chose almost completely opposite people.
The height difference alone!
You can barely fit them both in the same camera frame.
Cotton: Right!
They are so different that it was surprising and really exciting for us when it happened.
Should we be worried that, physically, the book they have to steal is almost as big as Katie?
It seems like it might be hard for her to sneak away with it!
Cotton: You'll have to wait and see what happens!
