Warning: This article contains spoilers for season two, episode four of The Traitors Ireland.

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WE’RE ONLY THREE roundtables in and two traitors have already been shown the door. Are the faithfuls doing especially well this season, or are the traitors simply struggling more than usual?

Fionula, a 61-year-old actor from Cork, was a big character in the early episodes. Gleeful after being selected as a traitor, she sought to hide her secret persona by putting on a ‘I don’t know what’s going on’ act – but it all came tumbling down for her in last night’s episode.

The players, including her fellow traitors Carla and Páraic, voted Fionula out at the roundtable after the suspicions levelled against her were too much for her to surmount.

How did it all go wrong for Fionula so suddenly?

Speaking to media today, including The Journal, Fionula explained how contestants latch on to any crumbs of ‘evidence’ they can muster up given that real information is so scarce.

“There’s a lot going on. It’s down to a look, something you said, something you didn’t say, some way you turned around, some way you nearly breathed, because things change on a dime in the game, because nobody knows,” she said.

“Paranoia sets in for people. They’re all looking at everything, and I think it’s just it’s general that things will change all the time.”

Fionula became the second traitor banished from the game. RTÉ RTÉ

At the roundtable, anything goes. Seeing the writing on the wall for Fionula, co-traitors Carla and Páraic weren’t about to let themselves be taken down with her. Both of them cast their votes against Fionula, adding to the wave of momentum against her.

Was she surprised by that? Not a bit.

Fionula revealed that three original traitors had a conversation early on about trying to stick together, at least at the beginning. But it wasn’t long until fourth traitor Edelle was kicked out, with Carla and Paraic both turning against her.

“When Edelle was up and they went straight for her, I went, okay, that ain’t happening anytime soon, that we’re going to stick together,” Fionula said.

“I wasn’t raging or anything because I will always applaud a good player. It’s called the traitors, and let’s be honest, I would have done something like that myself if it came up for me.”

‘A soft kill’

Fionula wasn’t the only player knocked out of the game last night.

Faithful Saoirse, a 29-year-old HR specialist from Galway, was murdered by the traitors after they decided to go for what they described as a ‘soft’ kill.

What did Saoirse make of their reasoning?

“Honestly, the first time that I watched it, I was absolutely fuming,” she laughed, adding that she understands their decision.

Saoirse detailed that she found herself doing more “chilling” than striking up tactical conversations while she was in the castle.

Saoirse's time in the game is up.

“I was kind of sticking to who I was making relationships with,” Saoirse said.

“If I was in the middle of a conversation where I knew it’s the same crowd that I was hanging around with the last few days, and I was consciously wanting to leave that room and go into another room where Fionula or somebody else was to make an effort – you consciously were not getting up from the seat because you were afraid you’d be questioned. ‘Why are you getting up in the middle of a conversation? Why is she leaving the room?’

“So, I think it fell to my detriment, but at the same time, I wasn’t going to force myself and make an extra effort with people unless they were like casually already in the room or in the conversation,” she said.

Boys’ club

During her time in the game, an observation Saoirse made was that many of the male players have quickly developed a camaraderie and have each other’s backs in the challenges.

It cropped up during the twisted hide-and-seek game in the third episode, where players were stuck in coffins waiting to be released by seeker Sam (and gain protection from that night’s murder).

“I think Paraic and Ian all said while they were in the coffin, ‘oh, it’s fine, he has my back, I’m chilling’,” Saoirse recalled.

She said it was “frustrating” that there was an assumption “that the lads would pick the lads” and that “the girls were kind of being left aside”.

Similarly, in episode one’s challenge where some players had to sacrifice themselves so the group could win money, more women ended up having to give their chance at securing a shield than men.

“We were running out of so much time because we were trying to make the decision as to who’s going to put themselves up to shackle themselves, and no lads were doing it,” Saoirse said.

“The lads should have been putting themselves forward a little bit more. So yeah, it was frustrating. You could tell the lads had the lads’ backs and not the girls more so.”

Looking to the end

Who would Fionula and Saoirse like to see win the game?

For Fionula, her winners would be Diego and Denis, two faithfuls who are secretly a couple.

Saoirse agreed that Diego and Denis would make good winners, adding that she would also like to see Sean C and Kayleigh do well. “They were playing a really good game,” she said.

Someone the remaining traitors should watch out for, Fionula reckons, is Ian, a 34-year-old civil servant from Dublin.

“He made me nervous because I knew he was going to get him a traitor. He is so invested in it. His body and his whole self is so in it,” Fionula said.

Will Ian catch himself a traitor? Will Diego and Denis manage to stay in the game? And most pressingly: Who will the traitors put on ‘death row’ tonight?

The next episode will air at 9.35pm on RTÉ One this evening.