Well, we lost our favourite faithful Traitor. And in quite an unexpected, dramatic fashion. With just hours to go until the finale airs and the second series of The Celebrity Traitors is officially done and dusted, we can't help but obsess over what's going to happen next.
Has James Acaster's banishment doomed the Traitors? Will Maya take up the chance to murder Michael Sheen? Will anyone call out King Kenny for that 'as a traitor myself...' blunder at the Round Table?
Let's dig in.
How James Acaster's Round Table reveal outed Maya Jama
Michael Sheen was already hot on Maya's trail with his meticulous run-through of the probable logistics of Ross Kemp's murder. But it was James Acaster's declaration that he was, 'reluctantly', a Traitor, that has really put a target on Maya's back.
It's not just that Maya, Kenny, and James A were the only remaining players in the library with Ross. The problem is how much James A heaped praise on Michael and James Blunt for pointing this out. 'I'm so proud of you guys for catching me the way that you did,' James A said at the Round Table. 'I wanted it to be that I was found logically and in a way that you followed clues and got me.'
James effectively told Michael that his logic was spot on – thus making him almost completely certain all his other suspicions are right, too. Michael was pointing the finger at Maya along with James, and James' comments will have confirmed his thoughts.
What to read next
What further doomed Maya? Her attempts to get the players away from the assumption that Ross's murder in plain sight happened in the library. An actual Faithful would have reacted to the theory by jumping to the conclusion that James Acaster, being the last person in the room with Ross, had killed him. Had Maya decided to throw James under the bus before he outed himself, she could have positioned herself as a faithful. Imagine it: "I didn't see anything weird happen with Ross and James but when I got up to go, James made a point of staying behind".
Her reaction to James Acaster's reveal won't have helped her case either. If any of the players were watching her face, they would have seen her disappointment (and perhaps even some annoyance?) at James throwing his game, rather than the absolute shock on everyone else's faces. And all that after her slip-up at breakfast, when she toasted with 'to killing 'em', then awkwardly corrected herself with 'to banishing them, I mean'. Oh dear.
How Maya can still win
Let's be real, we're all kind of rooting for Maya. She's the only original traitor to have made it to the final episode, and she's been a joy to watch. While her fallen teammates – Richard E. Grant, James Acaster, Hannah Fry – were haphazard and reluctant, Maya was the one to pull them together and lead them to be the deceptive murderers the game required. The odds are stacked against her, but there are a few ways she could turn it all around.
Option one: Position Michael and James Acaster's entire Round Table interaction as a Traitor vs Traitor betrayal
In this scenario, Maya doesn't murder Michael, but instead gets rid of another player who has showed suspicion towards her, such as Romesh Ranganathan or James Blunt. Then, at the breakfast table she goes all in on saying that the library theory that's put her in the firing line was deliberately engineered by Michael and James Acaster to put focus on her. She goes on to accuse Michael of then sacrificing James A and making himself look like a faithful. She'd need to get Kenny to take her side, but in a subtle way that doesn't implicate him. Maya would also need to remind everyone of their previous suspicions of Michael, noting that it makes no sense that he hasn't been killed or recruited.
Option two: Kill Michael
Could Maya murder Michael? She very clearly wants to... but said herself that she can't, as this would put suspicion on her. It might be possible to cleverly suggest to everyone that Michael has been murdered in order to set her up. She's proven herself well-liked and persuasive enough for this to work. The only trouble? Maya would still be left with James Blunt, who is convinced she's a Traitor. And Romesh, who seemed to agree with Michael's logic. And Sebastian 'Bash' Croft, who has secretly suspected Maya all along. And Leigh-Anne, who might think the odds are that if there are only two women left in the game, one is a Traitor. Tricky.
Option three: Go full (faux) Faithful and start leading the charge to seek out traitors
Michael pointed to Maya as playing the smart game of coasting along in the middle of the pack, rarely creating theories or leading accusations. She could seek to reverse this narrative by going in all guns blazing at the breakfast table. In this play, Maya says Michael's right, she has been quiet... but that's because she's wanted to avoid getting murdered. Now that it's the final, she says it's time to be open about her theories: then she throws suspicion on very specific people, with solid evidence to back it up. Romesh would be a good choice. Maya could refer back to the crypts and everyone's belief that out of the four people sent there, one of them had to be a Traitor. Leigh-Anne might pick up on this, telling everyone how reluctant Romesh was to give her the shield.
Option four: Play the popularity game
Maya is charming and likeable. She has allies left in the game; including an especially powerful one in King Kenny, who continues to be thought of as a likely Faithful. She could play innocent, continue her previous approach of being in the midst of the pack, and get the remaining players to see her in a positive light. Leigh-Anne is a fan of Maya and could easily be swayed. James Blunt is doubting his theorising enough that he could be convinced he's wrong. Sebastian has been close with Maya, and while he's had suspicions of her, perhaps she can make him question them. Romesh, we really can't call. Kenny genuinely loves Maya and can keep vouching for her faithfulness.
Option five: Sneakily throw Leigh-Anne under the bus
Leigh-Anne has had heat on her since the beginning. Maya could use that to take herself and Kenny to victory. Bring back up the crypt theory. Accuse her of working as a distraction for James A's murder of Ross when she taught Miranda Hart the Touch choreography. Michael and James B have repeatedly said they suspect Leigh-Anne. If Maya can go behind her pal's back and stoke those coals, she could make the players banish Leigh-Anne and feel like they'd ousted a Traitor (as it's the finale, any banished players won't reveal their true identity).
Most likely? We think Maya may have run out of steam and shot herself in the foot. But the Traitors could still win through Kenny, and we think Maya would happily take that.
Or maybe despite all the blunders, the Faithful will succeed, with Bash the key? He's not only suspicious of Maya, but he also seemed to be the only one who spotted Kenny's slip-up of saying 'as a Traitor myself...' at the Round Table. Only time will tell. Hope you're ready with a blanket (to be worn as a cloak if the Traitors win) and snacks.
