The Last Twists Cut The Deepest as Season 1 of THE TRAITORS CANADA Concludes

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede There was heartbreak, humiliation, hubris, tears, turmoil, and triumph in the Season 1 finale of THE TRAITORS CANADA tonight on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. Heading into the climactic episode, which was titled “Trust Your Instincts,” there were five players with very different personalities and strategies remaining in the manor: Donna Hartt from Calgary; Gurleen Maan from Abbotsford, B.C.; Leroy Fontaine from Halifax; Mike D’Urzo from Toronto; and Travon Smith from Toronto. The players were reminded by host Karine Vanasse that if only one Traitor was left standing at the end, regardless of how many Faithfuls were still around, the Traitor would take home the entire prize, and everyone else’s pockets would be left empty.   SPOILER ALERT: Details about what happened in the finale follow.   Travon was the first to be voted out, but there was a twist as he departed: he was told by Vanasse not to reveal whether he was a Faithful or a Traitor (he was a Faithful), leaving even more guesswork for the others. Donna exited next, leaving Gurleen, her supposed ally Leroy, and Mike as the final three. But, Gurleen wavered on her alliance, and voted for Leroy to be banished. Gurleen’s world crashed down around her when a betrayed Leroy revealed that he was, in fact, a Faithful. That left only Gurleen and Mike, and when Mike ultimately declared that he had been a Traitor from the very beginning, Gurleen knew what that meant. “I feel like an idiot,” a teary Gurleen said. So Mike D’Urzo, an award-winning magician/mentalist, claimed the entire prize of $94,500. Here’s what Mike had to say about his victory in Season 1 of THE TRAITORS CANADA:   Q: At the moment you were declared the winner, it seemed as if you weren’t sure how to react, because Gurleen was still standing there, devastated. You had to wait until you were alone to be happy. MIKE D’URZO: “I remember it very clearly, and I honestly felt so bad for what I did! I’m like, ‘oh, I can’t celebrate this right now.’ ”   Q: As Gurleen was about to reveal which way she was going to vote, how much confidence did you have? A lot? A little? Something in between? MIKE D’URZO: “So I had one plan, and that was to kind of get into Gurleen’s head. That was my objective. And I didn’t know where I stood, because I knew Leroy and Gurleen obviously had this amazing connection from the start. I was like this guy coming in and trying to break it up. So to me, throughout the whole day, it was 50/50. I knew the game was going to come down to her vote. In that moment, though, I think it was when she said, ‘I’m going with my mind and not my heart,’ or something like that, I realized, ‘I got it.’ When she said that, I was like, ‘done.’ ”   Q: Was there anything in the game that was harder than you expected? MIKE D’URZO: “First off, I don’t think this is a game that you can go in and prepare for, because it’s based on the situation, and things change so quickly. I think I played a good game from the start. And to be honest with you, I never felt throughout the game that I was going to get banished. I felt pretty confident. I always felt like I was one step ahead of things. And I did feel like I had control of the game. Although looking back and watching the episodes now, I’ve been like, ‘wow, was I really under that much suspicion throughout the entire show?’ Because I didn’t feel it! But, it clearly was the case. I just didn’t know. I feel like there were always bigger things going on that kind of allowed me to slip through the cracks.”   Q: So you’re saying that a certain amount of obliviousness can actually help? MIKE D’URZO: “Yeah, exactly. If I were to hear people talking about me, or saying my name, I would become so paranoid, I wouldn’t be able to focus. That would totally distract me from what I was trying to do. At the beginning of the game, I felt like I was more quiet. But I did want to make a couple of bold moves, which I did, but in a very subtle way that wasn’t enough to get me banished. It was only later that I became more vocal, because I felt I needed to be. I couldn’t sit back like Mickey (Henry, from Bala, Ont.) and just be clueless. So I did have to take some sort of stance at that point. I think that’s ultimately what led me to where I was at the end.”   Q: In all reality competition shows, there’s a certain cachet about being the Season 1 winner. MIKE D’URZO: “I’m so grateful for it. And I’m super thankful for the opportunity to even be on a show like this. Because, being a magician for one, I felt like that everybody was going to be like, ‘obviously, he’s a magician, he makes a living deceiving people and manipulating people.’ I almost felt like I was on that level with Kevin (Martin, from Calgary) as a poker player. But, in my case, for whatever reason, people didn’t really seem to think that meant anything. The fact that I make a living doing this kind of thing just didn’t cross people’s minds at all. I don’t even think it was brought up.”   Q: So this was actually a big sign of disrespect for the magicians’ industry. Everyone should have been terrified of you the whole time. MIKE D’URZO: “They should have been! At the start, I did that one card trick. And I think that kind of set the tone. Everyone was like, ‘well, this guy is good at card tricks. He’s fun. But that’s not threatening in any way. And maybe it’s a plus to have him around, because maybe he can help us find the Traitors.’ ”   Q: So perhaps they saw you as more useful than a threat. But, it burned them in the end. MIKE D’URZO: “That’s it.”   Q: Any advice for future competitors in this franchise? MIKE D’URZO: “I think in order to be successful in a game like this, and we saw it with all the people who were left at the end, they played a more quiet game. They were good listeners, they were smart, they were attentive, they knew exactly what was happening in the manor. The more vocal people, the ones who were making accusations and coming up with theories, those were the ones who started getting eliminated right away, whether it was by banishment or murder. Obviously, I feel like I had an upper hand being a Traitor, although that is also very challenging because now you’re constantly living a lie – a lie that just doesn’t end, it goes on day after day. But, it’s super important to just realize that everyone’s being hunted. Essentially, it’s like The Hunger Games, and you need to be ready for it.”   Q: Are people in your real life instinctively going to trust you less now? MIKE D’URZO: “I thought about that. I might have to go into hiding for a couple of weeks. I think I took magic and manipulation to the next level.”   Q: Disappearing should be no problem for a magician. MIKE D’URZO: “It’s what I’m best at.”   billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv