The Traitors Ireland (RTÉ One, Sunday, 9.30pm) has come down with a severe case of difficult second season syndrome and two weeks in there is little indication that it has captured the public’s imagination. Part of the issue is the lack of a breakout character such as series one’s Paudie Moloney or the bromantic tag team of Nick and Ben.
The other problem is that nobody involved this time around looks like they’re having fun – certainly not host Siobhán McSweeney, who mustered an enjoyable villain shtick last year but now comes across as merely a bit fed up and ready to move on to something new.
The contestants seem disgruntled also. There are tears at the round table at the end of Sunday’s instalment as Dave is condemned as a Traitor even though he is very obviously a Faithful. His expulsion follows an uncomfortable flashpoint as an upset Janet is accused of traitorous carry-on by Pete because she didn’t burst into tears upon hearing that Sam had been murdered.
“I’m saying I’m having a human moment,” she says, adding that Pete is “going to look like a horrible person” if he has his way and she is voted off as a Traitor.
But in the end the momentum is against Dave who is condemned because of verbal slips which make it seem he’s up to something. He makes mistakes right to the end, such as when he refers to the “other Traitors” but, even allowing for that, he is so affable and incredulous that you can tell he’s a Faithful.
It’s not nice seeing him go and there’s no tension as the Faithful then all dissolve into tears and self-recrimination. Meanwhile, the actual Traitors, Carla and Páraic, lack the maniacal quality you need for a good back-stabber. They’re obviously not having any fun plotting in the shadows – and if even the Traitors are a bit over the whole thing, how are the rest of us supposed to feel?