Traitors Ireland episode nine recap: 'I hate to do this to another rebel'
DJ and Pete don't hold back at tonight's roundtable
It looks like Pauric O has actually gotten away with it.
The plainest 'murder-in-plain-sight' the show has ever seen, with the murdered party returning immediately to announce to her fellow faithfuls that she had just been murdered in plain sight by the game's remaining traitors. And yet, somehow, the Tipperary musician seems to have weaseled his way out of it.
At the start of Tuesday night's episode, we are brought back to the heat of the moment, when Janet first makes the accusation. Janet tells her version of events. Pauric tells his. Nobody seems particularly sold.
The following morning at breakfast, Janet walks in with her tail between her legs.
"I'm really sorry," she says, giving Pauric O a hug.
"It's alright, it's all good," he says, consoling her. Carla is trying to keep the smile off her face.
Everyone immediately worries that someone has been recruited, with Siobhán's use of the word "change" ahead of today's mission seemingly confirming suspicions.
At this point in the game, the conversations in the SUVs to and from missions are where some of the most interesting conversations are taking place.
In one of the cars, Anna says Pete was trying to get her to "steer away from DJ" and go after Carla.
"He knows for a fact it's Carla?" Pauric O wonders aloud. "And... it's him as well?"
Anna nods vigorously.
In the other car, Pete tells Kayleigh and DJ, "I think my mind's swayed from Carla."
"Jeez, I hope not, Pete," DJ says aghast. "Where are we going to go then?"
Well, this is awkward.
"I am thinking one of ye," he admits, followed by a sheepish laugh.
"What?" Kayleigh says. A reasonable question, given Pete put his hand on his heart and declared her "100% faithful" at the previous night's roundtable. How does he explain this?
"You were a faithful yesterday..." he starts.
"You think I've been recruited?" she finishes.
"Yeah," he says.
"Oh, super," DJ sighs.
Today's mission? Figure out... who's been killed in plain sight.
We were kind of hoping Siobhán might have kept her mouth shut (sorry, Siobhán), just so it wasn't quite so obvious for the faithfuls, but alas, Pauric is back on the chopping block when Janet quite literally goes up in flames by the end of a tense forest walk.
"This will actually be our easiest catch ever, if everyone uses their head, not their heart," DJ tells Carla in the car afterwards. "It's as plain as day like!"
I mean, you'd think. But...
Back at the castle, Anna is running giddy to Pauric when she sees Pete pulling Carla for a chat, convinced now, apparently, that it's confirmation they are the two traitors.
DJ is trying and failing to wake his fellow faithfuls up.
"Ian," he says, with the kind of serious tone your dad only pulls out when he needs you to really hear what he's saying. "Don't do it to yourself. You have to be strong now."
Kayleigh is telling Diego, "it's 110% Pete."
Now, to be fair, after his turn on her, we'll give her that one.
Somehow, Pauric is barely mentioned at tonight's roundtable. Instead, it's DJ and Pete at loggerheads.
"I hate to do this to a fellow Rebel," DJ sighs as he writes down Pete's name, alongside Kayleigh.
Everyone else votes for the car salesman, the one person who hasn't lost his mind in there, it seems.
"I think I am in shock," Pauric O says afterwards. "How am I after getting away with that?"
Heading into the final week, they should all pay more heed to the Meelin salesman. Go with your head, not your heart.
As we head into the final week, it's worth keeping an eye on what's going on with Ian and Pauric.
At breakfast, before Janet walks in the door, Ian turns to the musician and says, "It's you, isn't it... thanks for keeping me in the game as long as you did."
"You'd be dead if it was me," Pauric O says, laughing.
"Here, let me know who the other one is and then recruit me," Ian says, nudging him as Pauric laughs more.
Har har har. It's all jokes... or is it?
Before the night is done, Ian finds a quiet space with Pauric, looks him directly in the eye and says with passion, "I want to win it with you."
"And Anna..." Pauric O suggests.
Ian shakes his head.
"They're all gone, they're all gone."
"Split that prize pot?" Pauric O asks.
The two shake on it.
"The only person that I fully trust in here is Pauric," Ian tells the camera. "And even if he was the traitor, I know he'd bring me to the final with him."
Now, why would you want to be left with a traitor at the end if you're a faithful? Could Ian have his suspicions about Pauric, and his plea is to be brought into the fold before it's too late?
