The first few episodes of Season 2 of the US version of The Traitors officially hit Peacock this weekend, and it is an absolute delight to have the show back. I can’t wait to watch how it all plays out, both because I need to know what happens and because I need more of Alan Cummings’ utterly ridiculous Scottish accent.
If you’ve never watched The Traitors before, Alan Cumming sounds like he went to an audition, played up his Scottish accent, got a note to go bigger, tried again, then got a note to go in a more aristocratic direction. I hated it with the fire of a thousand Kate Chastains when I first started watching, but around the midway point of the season, much to my surprise, I started to kind of enjoy it. By the end, I was hooked and now I see whatever it is he’s doing with his voice as an absolutely vital tone-setting part of the show.
Cumming has been doing some press for season two recently, and he was, of course, asked about what he’s doing with the accent, and during a chat with BBC, he explained it in the best way possible.
(It’s) me playing Moira Rose from Schitt's Creek playing Alan Cumming.
Yup. That is exactly what it sounds like. There’s like a weird blend of authenticity but also horribly inauthentic theatricality about it. Thinking of it as if there’s a below average, overly serious, self-important actor involved makes it all make sense.
The Traitors started as a Dutch TV show and its potential was obvious almost immediately. Versions in the UK and Australia quickly followed, as well as the aforementioned American edition hosted by Alan Cumming that was stuffed with reality TV favorites during season one and now again for season two. There’s also a Canadian version of the show coming, which, like the American one, features reality stars.
For those who haven’t watched, the show follows a group of players who are secretly sub-divided into two groups: faithfuls and traitors. Each night, the traitors meet to remove one of the faithfuls from the game. The next day, all of the players, after seeing who the traitors killed off, meet and pick one person they suspect is a traitor. That player is then removed from the game and reveals whether they were a faithful or a traitor. If the faithfuls find all the traitors before a set endpoint, they split a pool of money. If they do not, the remaining traitors get it.
That might sound a bit complicated, but like Alan Cummings’ vocal stylings, it makes sense within the context of the show, which you can watch right now.
