Quick Facts
| Detail | Episode 8 |
|---|---|
| Episode | Episode 8, “A Bad Apple Spoils the Whole Bunch” |
| Aired | Thursday, October 29, 2026, 8 PM ET on NBC; Peacock the next day |
| Power of the Pardon holder | Shane Beatty |
| Pardon decision | Victor Vollbrechthausen saved; his Episode 7 banishment overturned |
| Murdered | Abby Lee (Faithful) |
| Banished | Tomica Adams (Traitor), 10-2 |
| Mission | None in this episode |
| Prize pot after Episode 8 | $127,300 |
| Traitors left | Joe Vanella and Katie Fites |
| Players left | 11 |
| Next episode | Episode 9, “Playing Chess”, Thursday, November 5, 8 PM ET on NBC |
The Pardon: Shane Saves Victor
Episode 8 opened where Episode 7 stopped, with Victor Vollbrechthausen waiting to learn whether his banishment would stand. Shane Beatty held the Power of the Pardon, earned as the top personal banker in the Episode 7 scarecrow mission.
Shane had voted to banish Victor in Episode 7, and he had also knocked Victor out of the mission with a black heart. Victor told the room he was willing to leave and reveal that he was a Faithful if that would get the castle to see reason, as reported by the AV Club.
Shane reversed his own vote and pardoned Victor. Shane said, as quoted by the AV Club: “As a New Yorker… I can tell when someone is lying in my face, and he convinced me.” NorthJersey reports the same reasoning: Shane questioned why a Traitor would walk around saying there was a murder in plain sight.
The Murder: Abby Lee
The Traitors picked Abby Lee, as reported by realityblurred. Her absence was revealed when the remaining players gathered for breakfast.
Katie Fites saw a second advantage in the choice: Abby had been suspicious of Wyatt Gillespie rather than the actual Traitors.
Abby left with one last accusation aimed at Wyatt, as reported by realityblurred: “I knew it. It’s Wyatt.” Shane read the murder at once as an attempt to frame Wyatt, which took the heat off Wyatt for now, as reported by the AV Club.
Breakfast and the Second Round Table
Breakfast turned into open argument instead of quiet strategy talk. Joe Vanella went after Victor directly, and Victor answered that there was no new evidence against him apart from the shield he took on day one, as reported by the AV Club.
Tomica Adams questioned Shane’s decision to pardon Victor, which set off another clash between Tomica and Victor. Alan Cumming then told the players that breakfast would be followed by another Round Table the same day.
Victor kept pressing his case against Tomica through the day. Ben McDonnell spoke up for Victor more plainly than anyone else had, and Wyatt Gillespie pointed out that nobody was really defending Tomica, as reported by the AV Club.
Morgan Cook pushed back on the fruit theory itself, telling Victor, as quoted by the AV Club, “You are not right about Fruitgate.” Kriste Lewis came to Tomica’s defense and put Tomica’s mixed-up names down to menopause, as reported by the AV Club.
The Round Table: Joe Names Tomica
At the Round Table, Victor asked Joe to name a suspect other than Victor. Joe froze, then said, as reported by NorthJersey: “If not you, then it’s Tomica.” That line put suspicion on Joe’s own fellow Traitor in front of the whole table.
Victor also pointed out that murdering him would have cleared him, since the Traitors would not kill the player loudly accusing them. Tomica answered that Victor was attaching baseless theories to her name and that mixing up names should not label her a Traitor, as reported by the AV Club.
Katie Fites voted for Tomica, her fellow Traitor, for the second episode running. The AV Club notes that Tomica had already been angry in the turret about Katie’s Episode 7 vote for her, after Tomica wrongly named Katie as her suspect to Victor.
The Vote: Tomica Banished 10-2
Tomica Adams was banished in a 10-2 vote and revealed as a Traitor. It was the first Traitor banished all season, after seven episodes without one, as reported by the AV Club.
Votes for Tomica Adams (10): Abbey Benjamin, Ben McDonnell, Clyde Moser, Joe Vanella, Katie Fites, Kriste Lewis, Morgan Cook, Shane Beatty, Victor Vollbrechthausen, Wyatt Gillespie. Votes for Victor Vollbrechthausen (2): Jay Vinnedge, Tomica Adams. Vote list as reported by NorthJersey.
Tomica’s exit line, as quoted by the AV Club, was: “I flew my plane a little too close to the sun and I got burnt, because I’m a Traitor.” Clyde Moser, her closest ally in the castle, was visibly upset at her exit, as reported by the AV Club.
Game State After Episode 8
Catching a Traitor added $15,000 to the prize pot, as reported by NorthJersey and TV Insider. The pot now stands at $127,300, up from $112,300 after Episode 7.
Two Traitors remain: Joe Vanella and Katie Fites. Nine Faithfuls remain alongside them, which leaves 11 players in the castle.
| Player | Role | Status after Episode 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbey Benjamin | Faithful | In the game |
| Ben McDonnell | Faithful | In the game |
| Clyde Moser | Faithful | In the game |
| Jay Vinnedge | Faithful | In the game |
| Joe Vanella | Traitor | In the game |
| Katie Fites | Traitor | In the game |
| Kriste Lewis | Faithful | In the game |
| Morgan Cook | Faithful | In the game |
| Shane Beatty | Faithful | In the game, held the Pardon |
| Victor Vollbrechthausen | Faithful | In the game, pardoned |
| Wyatt Gillespie | Faithful | In the game |
Season exits so far (11): murdered – Kim Daily, Xavier Scruggs, Logan Smith, Niyyah Hayes, Mark Zgoda, Abby Lee; banished – Madeline Kostopulos, Arisa Thomas, Sherry Kuehl, Michael Foote, Tomica Adams.
What This Changes
Victor was right about Tomica, and the castle finally acted on it. His pardon saved him, and it also gave him Shane as an ally and a second Round Table in the same episode to finish the case.
Joe is now the exposed Traitor. He named Tomica himself at the table, and Victor has already turned his attention to Joe, which the episode ends by setting up as the next clash.
Katie is the quiet risk left in the game. Nobody at the table treated her as a suspect in Episode 8, and she voted against Tomica twice without drawing a vote herself in this round.
Where to Watch
The Traitors: New Blood airs Thursdays at 8 PM ET on NBC, with episodes streaming the next day on Peacock. Episode 9, “Playing Chess”, airs Thursday, November 5, as reported by NorthJersey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who held the Power of the Pardon in Episode 8?
Shane Beatty held it. He earned it as the top personal banker in the Episode 7 scarecrow mission, and he used it to save Victor Vollbrechthausen.
Was Victor Vollbrechthausen banished?
No. Victor received the most votes in Episode 7, but Shane pardoned him at the start of Episode 8, so the banishment did not stand. Victor then received only two votes at the Episode 8 Round Table.
Who was murdered in Episode 8?
Abby Lee was murdered by the Traitors. Her absence was revealed at breakfast, and she left still pointing at Wyatt Gillespie.
Who was banished in Episode 8?
Tomica Adams was banished in a 10-2 vote and revealed as a Traitor. It was the first Traitor banishment of the season.
Was there a mission in Episode 8?
No. The AV Club, CarterMatt and realityblurred all note there was no mission in this episode: the players went from breakfast straight to a second Round Table.
What is the prize pot after Episode 8?
$127,300. Banishing a Traitor added $15,000 to the $112,300 pot from after Episode 7, as reported by NorthJersey and TV Insider.
Who are the Traitors left in the game?
Joe Vanella and Katie Fites. Tomica Adams was the third Traitor, and her banishment cut the turret from three to two.
When is Episode 9?
Episode 9, “Playing Chess”, airs Thursday, November 5 at 8 PM ET on NBC, with streaming on Peacock the next day, as reported by NorthJersey.
