The latest episode of NBC's reality competition series, The Traitors: New Blood, saw social media personality Morgan Cook eliminated after a game of poisoned goblets. This marks another development in Season 1, Episode 9, titled “Playing Chess.”
The previous episode concluded with the Faithfuls successfully banishing their first Traitor, Tomica Adams, leading to a sense of confidence among the remaining players. However, this optimism was quickly tested when host Alan Cumming introduced a new challenge involving poisoned chalices.
Cumming informed the contestants that one of the goblets presented to them contained poison. Players had the option to swap their cups with another willing participant. The twist was designed so that if a Traitor ended up with the poisoned drink, no murder would occur that night. Conversely, if a Faithful consumed the poison, a murder would proceed as usual.
Despite suspicions that Victor Vollbrechthausen, a prominent Traitor hunter, might be the target, the Traitors ultimately chose Morgan Cook. According to Fites and Vanella, who are the season's Traitors, targeting Vollbrechthausen would have drawn too much attention to Vanella, who Vollbrechthausen has frequently accused.
Following Cook's elimination, the remaining players vying for the $250,000 prize include Abbey Benjamin, Shane Beatty, Katie Fites (Traitor), Wyatt Gillespie, Kriste Lewis, Ben McDonnell, Clyde Moser, Joe Vanella (Traitor), and Victor Vollbrechthausen.
The Traitors: New Blood airs new episodes on Thursdays on NBC and streams the following day on Peacock.