At the start of The Traitors Season 1, three Traitors are selected by the host Alan Cumming. These Traitors are Cirie, Christian, and Cody, who meet in the Traitor Turret to discover each other's identities and begin their secret mission to eliminate other players nightly.

The first Traitor to be successfully banished from the game in Season 1 was Cody.

Alan Cumming’s haberdashery closet is the setting for the first group challenge where players must solve three math-related riddles to open luggage pieces. This challenge is stressful and tests the players' mental skills under time pressure. After this challenge, the Traitor performs their first murder on a player, which affects that player's ability to compete effectively.

In Season 1, six players volunteered to be buried alive underground: Amanda, Arie, Bam, Kyle, Shelbe, and Stephenie. The remaining players split into three teams to find and rescue them. The Yellow Team, consisting of Brandi, Christian, Cody, Rachel, and Ryan, successfully rescued Bam and Kyle, adding $10,000 to the prize fund. They also helped the Red Team free Amanda and Shelbe, adding another $10,000. The Blue Team was unable to rescue any players and did not add money to the pot.

In the early episodes, the Traitors debated whom to murder to avoid suspicion. For example, in episode 4, they considered murdering Shelbe or Amanda because they were mentioned on Kate’s paper, but ultimately chose to murder Azra, who had defended herself to Kyle. The Traitors avoided murdering male players or framing Kate, indicating a strategic choice to minimize suspicion and maintain their cover.