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LAST UPDATE | 17 Sep 2025
*WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of The Traitors on RTÉ.*
IT MAY HAVE been Christine’s funeral, but she’s not the only one viewers will be mourning. RIP Paudie, the people’s traitor.
The last of the original traitors has fallen. Realistically, there was little path left open to Paudie to win the game, with no strong alliances to his name, but with how well he had somehow managed to evade capture so far, you would almost find yourself wondering – could he do it? Could he really keep pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes?
With the last few days approaching, Paudie was probably starting to wonder that himself, but it wasn’t to be.
When it came down to it, his departure crept up on him swiftly and unexpectedly. He didn’t slip up during this episode or give his game away or even get on someone’s nerves. It was the slow spread of suspicion that had lingered over him since the start of the game which finally came back to haunt him. No huge, explosive confrontation like the one that took Eamon down – just a few routine digs and the steady acceptance among enough other players that he wasn’t someone they could trust.
Vanessa said it best: “Your grandad could be a traitor! ‘Oh, he’s so cute’ – and?! When he’s taking the 50k, it’s not going to be cute!”
Vanessa came under a fair bit of suspicion herself at the roundtable for little apparent reason. That’s becoming a bit of a pattern now, though; by this point, everyone is suspicious of everyone for any old reason. Names are flying around Slane Castle faster than you can say: “I’m 100% a faithful.”
We’re getting in to the end stages. The numbers around the roundtable are whittling down. We started with 24 contestants and it’s down now to the final nine. After tonight, there are just three more episodes left to go next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday until Slane Castle is emptied of traitors and we’re all left wondering what to do with our evenings (Big Brother UK in two weeks, anyone? No? Maybe a sound stage just doesn’t quite hit the same way as a castle).
We have to talk about Christine’s tragic end. The murder-in-plain-sight antics of Monday night made for some of the most suspenseful minutes of the series. You could feel Nick’s panic through the screen as he tried to shake up the girl group to go in for the kill (and Paudie’s at the prospect of potentially having to hug someone).
After the tension of the murder came the campness of the faux funeral – though by the reactions of some of the players, you’d have thought it was the real deal. The extras put in a solid performance as mourners, the handshake line was absolutely on the nose, and the mini muffins were a nice touch.
A similar send-off was given to one of the players in a past season of the UK’s The Traitors, only the murdered faithful was buried alive in the forest. Sealed up after being on display in a parlour wake has a distinctly Irish feel to it.
As the wailers wailed and the procession plodded along its route, one friend messaged in a group chat during that moment: “This is peak Irish television. What a time to be alive. Make sure you all pay your TV licence.” The RTÉ executives down at Montrose will be kicking their heels with glee.
No one could be quite as gleeful, though, as Nick. That look to the camera when he had a moment alone after the banishment? He is getting brazen.
Potentially, he has good reason to be – he came under a little bit of heat but without much weight or momentum behind it. Nick’s fate now for the rest of the game could well rest on the shoulders of the player he selects to join him as a traitor. Will they be ally to him or turn treacherous?
In the words of Siobhan: “Traitors. What are ye like.”
Who do you think Nick will try to turn into a traitor?
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