On Thursday night’s finale ofThe Traitors, the remaining Faithfuls will try to oust last Traitor standingKate Chastain.
Certain contestants’ games ended too soon (RIPJohnny “Bananas” Devenanzio), and others seemed to have flown under the radar to make it to the end. But some managed to impress hostAlan Cummingalong the way.
The Scottish star gives props toLove IslandUSA’s Carsten “Bergie” Bergersen for “suddenly” making major moves during the graveyard challenge in episode 3 and appreciatesthe gameplayof former BachelorPeter Weber, who made it the season’s penultimate episode.
“Peter’s trajectory in the show is fascinating because it shows this whole theory that gamers from shows likeSurvivorandBig Brotherand everything are going to be much more predisposed to be good in the show; that’s clearly not true,” Cumming says. “Peter being the cutesy Bachelor has kind of worked it all out and was really kind of strategizing in a really amazing way.”
Peter Weber and Alan Cumming on ‘The Traitors’.Euan Cherry/PEACOCK via Getty

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK via Getty
Cumming found himself surprised that lawyer and formerReal Housewife of AtlantaPhaedra Parkstook such a “passive” approach to playing as a Traitor. “The only thing she was really kind of firm about was her loyalty to the Housewives,” he says. “There was a very tribal aspect to her Housewife stuff, which I kind of enjoyed as well.”
Parks, 50, often used her skills for crafting a flawless argument to take the heat off of her at the roundtable, most notably whenDan Gheesling, also a Traitor, outed her as such in an attempt to save himself from banishment. In last week’s episode, Parks kept it together while lying to fellow Bravo star and longtime friendShereé Whitfieldwhen Whitfield, 54, asked Parks directly if she was a Traitor.
“She never really risks a judgment about anything,” Cumming observes of Parks. “And as a lawyer, you have to be very authoritative, but non-partisan. So, I was kind of surprised.”
Phaedra Parks and Alan Cumming.Euan Cherry/PEACOCK via Getty

Cumming also marveled at howBig Brotherwinner Gheesling approachedTraitors. “Everyone talks about what a great game player he was and how great he was at tactics and everything, and he blew it in a major way,” the four-time Emmy nominee says. “All the other contestants were telling him what to do!”
Gheesling, 40, received heat from his castmates for staying quiet in the game and not putting forth the name of anyone he thought might be a Traitor.
“The thing I was trying to do was be quiet and when I talk [have people think], ‘OK, this is Dan’s time, let’s give him this vote. He takes a shot, I get out a Traitor and it’s like, OK, he really is the Faithful.’ And then I build some trust with everyone,” he told PEOPLE. “And then probably closer towards the end, you take a shot at whoever is the next person you recruit.”
Dan Gheesling and Parvati Shallow on ‘The Traitors’.Euan Cherry/Peacock via Getty

Euan Cherry/Peacock via Getty
That didn’t work out for Gheesling, and he ended up being the first Traitor voted out.Survivor’sParvati Shallow, 41, soon followed, and in last week’s episode, Parks’s time came too.
Parks recruited Chastain, 41, after Shallow’s banishment, and now, remaining FaithfulsTrishelle Cannatella,Sandra Diaz-Twine,Mercedes “MJ” Javid,Chris “C.T.” Tamburelloand Whitfield will have to banish theBelow Deckalum in order to walk away with part of the prize money. First, Chastain has a murder to complete, and Javid, 51, won’t be the victim since she won a shield in the last mission with seconds to spare.
Javid tells PEOPLE she went onThe Traitorsto challenge herself in just the way that episode 10’s mission did.
“I’ve lived in the Bravo bubble,” theShahs of Sunsetstar says. “I’m here because I want to do something brand-new, something so different from my day to day. It’s obviously this whole other muscle and it’s really interesting to have so much at stake. I have a lot of respect for the game.”
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The season 2 finale ofThe Traitorsairs Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.
source: people.com