In a surprising twist, my strategy to pinpoint the Secret Traitor on The Traitors by tracking the contestants on the nightly murder shortlist has been upended. Just three episodes into the new season, the show’s big reveal—that a Secret Traitor exists, hidden from both contestants and viewers—has already been uncovered. (SPOILER ALERT for those who haven’t watched episode 3!)

On the second morning of the competition, the contestants were still processing the shocking murder of Survivor alumni Rob C. when host Alan Cumming introduced a dramatic new twist—an immediate banishment before the day’s challenge. This unexpected development sent shockwaves through the group, sparking a frenzy of speculation and alliances.

In a bold move, the contestants zeroed in on Donna Kelce, widely known as “America’s Mother” for being the mom of NFL stars Jason and Travis Kelce. Despite her lack of connections with the other participants, she became the prime suspect. Meanwhile, Michael Rapaport fixated on Yam Yam, trying to provoke him with a playful chant, “If you’re a Traitor and you know it, clap your hands.” Although Michael is a Faithful, his antics made many wish for his banishment instead.

Leading the charge against Donna was Colton Underwood, sporting a striking Princess Diana-inspired black sheep jacket. Surprisingly, many contestants were swayed by Colton’s conviction. Donna attempted to redirect suspicion onto Michael, but ultimately, the vote was nearly unanimous, with all but two casting their votes to oust her.

Given the track record of the Faithfuls often missing the mark, the group’s cohesion and accuracy were astonishing. As Donna entered the Circle of Truth, her initial disappointment turned to triumph as she revealed, “You got yourself a Traitor!” Her unexpected admission left the remaining players in disbelief, proving that sometimes, collective intuition can indeed hit the mark.

Further proof that I would be terrible at this game, because I really didn’t think the group made the right call, but it sure made for a thrilling and satisfying moment of TV. I’d like to assume that even the other Traitors, who all voted for Donna and were cheering at her banishment, were reacting genuinely since they had no idea about her identity and probably felt a hint of satisfaction that their own trio would be undisturbed and able to kill without having to defer to the Secret Traitor from here on out.

For the players’ challenge, they must first pair up with the one person they trust the most in the group. While most of the pairings seem to make sense, the fact that Tiffany Mitchell and Michael Rapaport immediately team up raises a few eyebrows. For Tiffany, this is pure strategy, she admits she’s playing a “keep your enemies close” game, later admitting to the group that she’s suspicious of Michael, Ron Funches and Yam Yam.

Unfortunately Ron is the odd man out with no partner (he assumes he’s still got a target on him for putting Porsha up for banishment), and this puts him at an immediate disadvantage because of the nature of the challenge. The teams of two are led into the woods where one teammate is placed in a locked cage, and the other is tasked with finding ten animal skulls hidden in a watery marsh. The skulls must then be stacked perfectly so they don’t fall, after which point the cage will unlock. Not only will the group earn $5,000 for every cage that’s successfully unlocked, but both partners will be shielded from that night’s murder. Anyone inside a cage when the challenge ends will be on the shortlist to be killed. This is where the trust comes in, because those stuck inside the cage are the most vulnerable. Because Ron has no partner to let him out, he is automatically on the murder shortlist, a disadvantage that seems cruel and random, like being picked last in gym class and also getting put up for murder.

If I can throw a conspiracy theory out there, I’m genuinely curious if this episode was supposed to include the early banishment followed by the challenge, or if there were production complications that forced them to change the order (maybe Donna has mother-of-the-groom wedding duties to attend to? I’m speculating!) because it’s not sitting well with me that Ron was immediately shortlisted. (Why not give the odd man out the chance to flip a coin to secure their immunity or not?) Traitors challenges don’t usually put specific players at this much of a disadvantage, so it all feels a little off.

The challenge seems like one of the most basic ones they’ve had to play, and yet the tension was real as most of them tried and failed many times to successfully stack their skulls. And pokey lil’ puppy Johnny Weir never even made it out of the swamp to start stacking, so his caged partner, Eric Nam, was shortlisted for murder, along with Caroline Stanbury, Kristen Kish, Lisa, and Ron.

Not only are these folks shortlisted, but they also much suffer the indignity of being tied to a tree for the rest of the night (“That is messed up,” Eric says), awaiting their fate, because on this night, they’ll be killed by the Traitors face to face. But we won’t find out who’s killed until next time.

I like that Lisa and Candiace were open to killing Caroline when discussing who should get murdered in the turret, because one of the issues I have with the show is the unwavering trust and loyalty between Housewives. I’m happy that they’re not so precious about that. But I also dread seeing any of these shortlisted victims go, mainly because I think we haven’t seen Kristen or Eric do anything yet, and Ron was a sacrificial lamb, given no real choice in this challenge but to get in the cage and deal with it. Alas, that’s just how the game goes sometimes.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.