Tara and Johnny are on thin ice in this week's The Traitors

Johnny Weir also has concerns about Colletti, especially after catching him and dearly departed traitor Candiace Dillard Bassett having a sneaky one-on-one sitdown during last week’s ep. However, BFF Tara Lipinski alerts him that his name is being thrown around the grounds, and she’s ready to defend her ally. “I will do anything for Johnny. Part of our plan and strategy was to come into this castle and not let anyone know how tight we are. But they picked the wrong girl to mess with her best friend.” She pulls Kristen for a chat to add more fuel to the Stephen flames, but it majorly backfires on the Olympian, with Kish admitting that she believes Lipinski herself to be one of the Traitors.

That theory isn’t helped one bit by this week’s mission, which has the players climb into life-sized lidded boxes where they have to answer questions about the Traitors’ opinions of them. The catch? The Traitors themselves haven’t yet answered those questions and have to do so during the mission itself, climbing out of their respective boxes and deliberating without the other competitors hearing them. It’s a tense one, for sure, Rob notes. But he and Eric decide to simplify things by answering Tara for every question, forfeiting the mission’s cash as a result. “It’s far more important to confuse them than get more money,” Rausch reasons.

The Faithfuls eventually realize the ruse by the final question and decide to unanimously answer Tara so that they can at least add some dough to the prize pot. Well, they all decide to do that except Johnny and Tara, which does little to quiet any of the conjecture around them. It’s not a surprise, then, that the Traitors shortlist the ice-skating pair for murder that very evening, along with Kristen and Natalie.  

Before we find out who is killed by the Traitors, though, there’s yet another banishment to get through, and the Faithfuls’ early plan to target Johnny is redirected toward Stephen at the prompting of Natalie. Kristen is adamant, though, that no matter how the group votes, she’s putting Tara’s name down.

Coming clean that they’re IRL besties, Tara and Johnny go into the evening’s roundtable as a unit, with both athletes doggedly assuring the others of their respective faithfulness and in the same breath pointing their arrows at Stephen. That plan works, with the majority voting the Laguna Beach alum out of the castle, prompting an understandably bitter reveal from Colletti that he’s a Faithful. “You blew it,” he gripes upon his exit. 

Later, Rob declares Tara and Johnny’s friendship reveal a stupid move, as it simply proves how good they are at hiding a secret. But he might want to focus his energies on his own ally, as Kristen immediately clocks Eric’s hesitancy in participating in the night’s roundtable discussion. “But you have to have your own opinion,” she criticizes Nam’s argument about being confused by the group’s last-minute switch-up from Johnny to Stephen. She informs Rob and Mark Ballas about her growing trust issues: “If I’m murdered tomorrow, just look at Eric.”

Needless to say, the Traitors are sweating up in that turret. “It’s pretty bad,” Rob admits. But they’ve got killing to do and four potential victims: Natalie, Kristen, Tara, and Johnny. Each of the quartet receives middle-of-the-night notes inviting them down to the dungeon, where a jack-in-the-box will reveal their fate…but not until next Thursday. 

Stray observations

• • Things I desperately need after watching this week’s episode: 
  • • Alan Cumming’s fur-lined navy cape.
  • • A Traitors reunion held at Bluestone Manor.
  • • A GIF of Mark’s fabulous door-slamming spin.
  • • And for Johnny and Tara to win the whole damn thing. Hear me out: The pals have not been playing smart this entire season (Weir’s own words: “We don’t know anything; why do we even keep trying?”) but the thought of those two dolts taking the win after all of Rob’s dastardly hijinks would be truly funny TV. 

Christina Izzo is a contributor to The A.V. Club.