One of The Traitors' latest Season 4 episode featured a pretty wild late-game challenge that almost felt unfair to Eric Nam and Rob Rausch. At least that was what I thought before Kristen Kish talked about the box challenge, which the Traitors had to get in and out of while next to fellow Faithfuls, and revealed why it was impossible to hear them moving.
With the Season 4 finale for The Traitors rapidly approaching on the 2026 TV schedule, I was pretty shocked to see the reality show featuring a game in which it seemed pretty easy to figure out who was a Traitor just by listening to who got in and out of their box. The series even played it up by cutting to Faithfuls seemingly reacting from inside their boxes when the Traitors stumbled getting in and out, but as Kish told EW during her exit interview, there was no chance of such sound-based deduction happening. As she put it:
In the boxes, they had very loud music playing, to keep the game fair. Because then if you were close to Eric or Rob, certainly maybe you could have heard something. To keep the game fair, they played very, very, very loud carnival creepy music in all of the boxes individually. So you couldn't hear anything. You couldn't even hear your own thoughts. Honestly, if I sneezed, I couldn't even hear myself sneeze. The music was just so loud in those boxes and it was just echoing off the non-insulated walls.
I'm feeling so many emotions after learning this. To start, it sounds like the Faithful were put through their own version of hell having to sit inside those boxes while getting blasted by carnival music. I'd be losing my mind, and I'm unsure how they managed to stay cool and in the challenge during that aural assault.
I also feel some type of way about The Traitors editing that moment to make it look like Eric and Rob's movement could've been easily heard, since Kish said there was never any real danger of that happening. So, did producers tell Eric to slink his way out of the box and look paranoid just for the sake of the episode, or did he not have his own blaring music coming through his box?
These are the questions I would be asking at the upcoming reunion special for The Traitors, though I fear the majority of it will be dominated by Housewives drama. While some people no doubt love it, I know there's a section of the fandom that hates that they were given as much power as they were.
Aside from feeling deceived, I am happy that the Faithful couldn't hear Eric and Rob as they figured out how to work the challenge in their favor and prevent being taken out. At the same time, I feel like it only delayed the inevitable, as I'll be shocked if Rob survives the finale now that the Faithful finally realized Candiace Dillard Bassett left them a huge clue with her vote.
I've enjoyed watching The Traitors Season 4 with my Peacock subscription, but I'm going to be honest about the finale. If this season ends with Rob getting revealed after playing such a perfect season, but Eric slides by without being discovered and wins the money, I'm going to feel like I wasted my time watching. I guess that's always the risk when committing to a reality competition show, but it doesn't mean I have to be happy with it!
The Traitors' Season 4 finale streams on Peacock on Thursday, February 26th. While I'm bummed this season is ending, I am hype to watch the upcoming NBC spinoff, and ready to see how I enjoy it with zero celebrities involved.
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