How To Be a Good Traitor, According to The Traitors Season 2

[SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers from the Season 2 finale of The Traitors, now streaming on Peacock.]

For The Traitors, the final stretch of Season 2 was a tough road. 

The Peacock reality competition series went into its second finale with only one of four Traitors left standing — Below Deck's Kate Chastain, who had only been recruited by The Real Housewives of Atlanta's Phaedra Parks two weeks earlier, in Episode 9. Parks had no choice but to seduce a new conspirator after her original turret mates, Big Brother's Dan Gheesling and Survivor's Parvati Shallow, were both banished mid-season.

But when the final four players took their places at the fire pit, Chastain couldn't hold off suspicion from Chris "CT" Tamburello, Trishelle Cannatella, and Mercedes "MJ" Javid, who finally acted on their mistrust for the veteran player. Not the best at deceiving, Chastain was happily banished, leaving the door open for the trio of sleuths to split the more than $200,000 prize pot. But even with the Traitors gone, one final twist of the knife was dealt, as Javid became a victim of a hail-mary test of allegiance and friendship between The Challenge alums Tamburello and Cannatella.

In the end, the Traitors didn't walk away with a pocketful of gold, but there are lessons to be learned in how they fared throughout the season. Could Season 2 be a guide for what future Traitors should and should not do when trying to lie and deceive their way to a win? Here are some of the do's and don'ts of making it to the end as a Traitor.

Be ready to name names

The beginning of the end for Gheesling this season came when he learned he couldn't be the quiet kid in class, as he described his strategy during the post-finale reunion special. That was simply not possible for someone whose reputation as the greatest player in Big Brother history preceded him. In an attempt to keep himself out of everyone's crosshairs, Gheesling played his cards too close to his chest early on and made it look like he was hiding something — which, of course, he was. One of the core requirements of being a Traitor is being ready and able to change up your strategy at a moment's notice if suspicion falls on you. But Gheesling clung to his silent game plan like a life vest, even as it was weighing him down. Had he just named a few names, even the harmless ones like Shereé Whitfield or Javid, he could have shown he was willing to loosen up. But when you act like a steel fortress, it only makes people want to storm the castle even more.

Don't target another Traitor unless you can seal their fate

Another lesson Gheesling learned in real time was to never attack a fellow Traitor unless you know you can send them packing. In Episode 5, when Gheesling finally took the hint to cough up at least one suspect, he made the supremely ill-advised game move to make that one person Parks. Targeting a fellow Traitor is not against the rules, and in fact, it is almost a certainty if you survive long enough in the game. But if you are going to take the shot, don't miss. If you do, you are handing the one person you can let your guard down with the chance to air your secrets and your vulnerabilities to the masses. Shallow ran into a similar situation earlier when she tried to fight her way out of a corner by throwing suspicion on a supposed alliance between the players hailing from Bravo shows like Parks and Whitfield. While it did send some attention away from Shallow, it mostly just activated Parks' fight or flight syndrome, which just so happens to be when she is at her strongest. A fellow Traitor can be your best ally or your worst enemy.

Be prepared to kill your darlings

In the game of The Traitors — and yes, this is a game — a little thing called love cannot be the North Star of a Traitor. It is inevitable that connections will be made, but a wise Traitor is one willing to cut loose even the closest ally if it will divert suspicion. The murder of Carsten "Bergie" Bergersen in Episode 8 was tough because it came, partly, at the hands of Parks, who had come to call the Love Island USA alum "her Berg-alicious." But his death was necessary in kneecapping Peter's Pals, the arrogant alliance commanded by The Bachelor's Peter Weber. Their numbers were simply too strong, and Parks knew her Berg-alicious would be a roadblock for her down the line. An even better example of why ruthlessness is such a crucial key to being a Traitor is the Season 1 finale, when [SPOILER] Survivor's Cirie Fields used her motherly nature to lure her fellow finalists into a sense of safety before double crossing them and taking the win as a Traitor. Even in the final moments, the role of the Traitor must be what drives you, because if any Faithful isn't expendable, then you might as well throw in the towel.

Keep your cool at the roundtable

Tensions run high at the roundtable banishments each episode, but the last person losing their cool should be a Traitor. Playing too hard out in the open or changing up your demeanor, let alone your decibel, out of fear can be an instant red flag, because no one is more vigilant than the nervous Faithfuls around that table. For example, in the penultimate episode, the group had pretty much nailed Parks' coffin shut after she could no longer defend herself against traitorous accusations. But then, despite having the votes to cast out her fellow Traitor without a fuss, Chastain took it a step further and said Parks was "more selfish than skillful." It was an out-of-character overcompensation that made no sense, and no one ever forgot. While Parks, Gheesling, and Shallow never lost their head in defending themselves to the end, there were plenty of opportunities. The key is to let the Faithfuls like Big Brother's Janelle Pierzina, Survivor's Sandra Diaz-Twine, and Bling Empire's Kevin Kreider raise the volume — and then use it as cover.

Don't let revenge cloud your judgment

One of the biggest shocks of the season was when Weber orchestrated a trap for the Traitors by having Bergie and Cannatella hide that they won shields during the bird-calling mission. By doing so, he was able to plant false information with his Traitor suspects that, should they act upon it, could confirm their treacherous extracurricular activities. It worked in drawing out Shallow and Gheesling, because Gheesling had just been targeted at the roundtable and was out for blood. With Weber's reassurance that Bergie was fair game, Gheesling's blinding revenge plot became his tomb when he single-handedly pushed for the Traitors to kill Bergie. It was a great lesson that no matter what happens at the roundtable, a Traitor should always go into the turret with a clear head. Revenge is best served elsewhere, not in Alan Cumming's castle, where strategy is the name of the game.

Care more about the murder victims than the breakfast menu

Parks played a pretty flawless game early on, which makes this repeated stumble all the more glaring. Every Traitor will lie, deceive, and deflect in their own way, but Parks' kindness and frankness made people think twice about questioning her. And yet the only time that compassion took a back seat was when she was far more focused on the breakfast spread every morning than she was on feigning shock at who had been murdered overnight. Now, it's easy to look back and laugh about her quest to find deviled eggs while the room was reeling from Tamra Judge's murder. But as a viewer, it felt alarmingly obvious and just made it seem like she wasn't all that interested in the aftermath of what happened. This is obviously a problem because she was among those responsible for the late-night slayings! So not being able to muster even a slight show of sympathy was a callous and highly suspicious tell for Faithfuls like Cannatella. Future Traitors would be wise to keep an even stricter eye on how they play dumb — and Faithfuls should make sure they watch closely for who dives for the danishes first.

The Traitors U.S. Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Peacock.