Fans of The Traitors were shocked to witness a ‘world first’ finale on the latest season of the Australian series.
Following the shocking finale to season 2 of The Traitors UK last week, the BBC removed all episodes of the Australian version, which aired Down Under last year.
While watching Harry hoodwink close friend Mollie had viewers shouting at their screens, some argue that the ending had little to do with what the Aussie Traitors did to win.
Those who have not yet binge-watched all nine episodes should stop reading now.
Throughout the season, there were several twists and turns as the Faithfuls spectacularly (and largely inadvertently) turned against one other during almost every exile.
Only one of the ten roundtables resulted in the expulsion of a traitor.
Despite receiving continuous criticism, initial Traitor Sam, a 27-year-old marketing expert, was able to redirect the group’s focus to other participants after vowing to be on their side.
The 20 candidates were a mix of superstars and normal people, with renowned names like Survivor’s Luke Toki, actress Gyton Grantley, former My Kitchen Rules star Ash Pollard, and Below Deck’s Hannah Ferrier.
Ash, like Sam, was an original Traitor, although he only lasted two episodes before his attempt to eliminate her was successful.
Despite his best efforts, Sam had little success driving out his other fellow Traitor, Blake, a 35-year-old beer sales manager.
Things came to a head in episode 7, when Blake blew out in Traitors’ Tower after discovering Sam had attempted to do him dirty and betray his secret.
After a heated dispute, the lads decided to hire former federal agent Camille, 53, in the hopes of using her as a distraction and taking the blame as more people became suspicious of them.
As the conclusion came, the Traitors had the last laugh, ousting Faithful’s Liam and then Sarah at the final hurdle.
After the terrible moment when Sarah (who had no idea what was going on for the most of the game) learned she was in the final with three Traitors and wasn’t going to get a penny of the $208,000 (£107,000), it was time for the last three to decide on the Traitor’s Dilemma.
After they choose to Share or Steal, the game may have ended in one of three ways.
If all Traitors wanted to share, they would receive an equal portion of the proceeds.
Another way the game could have ended was if a Traitor had selected the Steal option, everyone who opted to Share would have missed out on the pot, but stealing would either leave one Traitor with all of the money or share it with another player who also chose to steal.
However, the third choice resulted in the prize fund remaining unclaimed when Sam, Blake, and Camille all picked Steal.
While Sam and Blake planned to steal and leave Camille without money, she understood she couldn’t trust them and intended to ensure their backstabbing left them with nothing as well.
When the time came, Camille stated that if she didn’t win, ‘none of us were going to’.
Despite their preparations to leave her in their wake, the males lost it, with Blake falling down and Sam ranting about how he ‘had confidence’ in Camille’s loyalty, despite the fact that he had trampled over anybody who stood in his way the whole game.
‘The way I’ve seen Sam lie and told me we would do it (share the money)- it didn’t feel genuine,’ she said.
Lashing out Sam then said he and Blake had ‘deserved’ the prize money and Camille ‘should have let us have it’.
After Camille said the result was just ‘part of the game’, Sam again made it clear he was mad: ‘That’s what a rich person would say.’
Blake stormed out in tears, stating he was done, before Camille, exhausted of Sam’s verbal lashing, departed as well.
As host Rodger Corser stated, justice was ‘a dish best served cold’.
Unsurprisingly, many people took to social media to express their emotions to what happened.
‘The ending. If you’re sad #TraitorsUK has finished get #TraitorsAU watched immediately,’ Kerry Whitney shared on X.
‘Omg this really is the series of dumb dumbs. How many times did you sit at the table with Sam as your vote then change it argghhhh. Absolutely loved the ending well deserved,’ user Becks posted.
‘OK so the ending was EXCEPTIONAL. Sam’s stupid face was priceless – major spiteful Kendal Roy vibes at the end. What an absolute dirtbag. Thank you Camille, you legend,’ Michael A Oakes added.
Rhiannon Nelson said it was ‘the best ending of any of the series yet’.
Meanwhile Jason said the ending would ‘mess with your mind’.
Speaking after the finale, Camille told Yahoo! Lifestyle it was a ‘no brainer’ to write steal to ‘wipe the look from Sam’s face’.
‘Sam used and manipulated players and he thought I was just another pawn in his game of Traitors chess. I knew I was going to cancel payday,’ she said.
Despite the thrilling finish to the roller coaster season, the Australian version of The Traitors was terminated a few weeks later owing to low ratings.
According to sources, the first season had an average of 250,000 metro viewers each episode, whereas the second season premiere got just 216,000 metro viewers.
The Traitors Australia is streaming on BBC iPlayer.