What is the point of the circle on Netflix?

The circle on Netflix is ​​a competitive reality show that has been compared to a mix of Big Brother AND Catfish. Players stay in apartments alone (though some play in pairs or even with furry friends) where they communicate with others via text and emojis. They can only use a virtual AI called a Circle and screens throughout the apartment. They see limited profiles of each other and try to make friends, alliances, and good impressions. The twist? No one knows if they’re actually talking to the person listed on the profile or a “catfish,” someone pretending to be someone they’re not. Each week, two players are named “influencers” based on an aggregate of everyone’s rankings. These individuals choose one person to block from the Circle and are eliminated from the game. There are plenty of twists throughout each season that shake things up and add new elements.

Watching people dictate audible messages that appear on a screen, doing puzzles to pass the time, or finding any activity they can to fill the hours of the day while talking to themselves isn't exactly compelling. However, there's something about the show that keeps fans glued to the screen. But some still wonder, what's the point of the show, really?

The Circle is a thought-provoking and moving social experiment

In his heart, The Circle, One of Netflix's best reality shows, it's a social experiment. The show reinforces the adage of not judging a book by its cover. Players from all walks of life, ages, sexual orientations, and personalities participate. People who would never meet in the same social circles outside of the game communicate and form meaningful friendships and bonds that transcend the confines of the game.

Each player has the option to play as themselves, showing their photo or someone else. Some play as someone of a different gender, age, sexuality, or even occupation. Some use a photo of someone more conventionally attractive, but still play as themselves inside. The idea is to eliminate preconceived ideas and has led to surprisingly refreshing and positive results.

One of the show’s most enduring friendships, for example, was between season one winner Joey Sasso, an extroverted jock from New Jersey, and Shubham Goel, an introverted, self-proclaimed nerd from California. However, the two formed a close friendship and cared for each other in the game. After the finale, the pair reportedly stayed in touch. Yet they are two people who, on the surface, would have nothing in common in the real world.

In season two, Lee Swift, a 58-year-old writer from Texas, played a 24-year-old gay student named River. He formed many close friendships with people half his age, including Courtney Revolution, 28. Thinking he was much younger, players discovered that age is just a number after he was revealed to be someone old enough to be their grandfather.

One of the more interesting players was DeLeesa St. Agathe from season two, who started playing as her husband Trevor, using his photo and pages of notes about things he likes so she could impersonate him. She played flawlessly as a man, joining the guys' alliances. She even struck up a flirtatious relationship with Chloe Veitch, who also appeared in Too hot to handlewhich ranks as one of the lowest-rated Netflix original TV series. DeLeesa’s ability to pretend to be someone else is also a reminder of how easy it is to be fooled in the real world through online chat rooms. In season one, Shubham was shocked to discover that the young woman named Rebecca, who he thought of as his sister in the game, was actually Seaburn Williams, the real boyfriend of the woman in his profile picture.

What is most touching about the show is that by letting down their guard and eliminating face-to-face conversations, people tend to open up and talk about their personal struggles and pain. Several players spoke about close family members they have lost. Some spoke about the challenges they have faced in coming out to family and friends. Players provide a listening ear with uplifting messages and motivation. There is not as much backstabbing in The circle as happens in other similar reality show series, despite the premise being based on playful manipulation.

There is also a strategy behind it: the players are there to win

Despite the touching nature of the show, it is still a competition. At the end of the game, When only five contestants remain, players give their final rankings of the other players. The player with the highest ranking wins $150,000. For this reason, players do their best to come up with strategies that will help them win. It could be finding common ground to connect with another player, based on where they come from, their mutual love of dogs, the loss of a parent, or even a mutual interest in a sport.

Some make it a point to connect with people they believe to be the strongest and most influential players. Others try to find ways to turn others against those people. The voting aspect is also an interesting option: players can deliberately downvote their allies to force them to rank lower. By the end of the first season, while favorite players Joey and Shubham both knew that ranking high would reduce their chances of winning the game, they chose to do so anyway because of the deep loyalty they had built between them. Yes, even if it was just behind a screen.

The game often includes quizzes or questions with settings similar to those you might see on game shows. The idea is to bring out aspects of a person's personality. Some people lie, saying what they think others want to hear or what they think the person they are making fun of would say. Others are brutally honest and are rewarded or punished for it.

There is also a strategy involved for those who are blocked and voted out of the game. Each person can visit anyone they want before leaving the game. It can be an enemy or an ally. Not only can they finally see if the person is who they say they are, but they can also reveal information that could help that person as they continue in the game. So, forming close bonds even with unpopular players can yield useful information, not just for getting votes. It's a delicate balancing act.

Finally, the role each player chooses to play in the game is also part of their strategy. People who work in demanding, intellectual careers, or who have a specific stereotype, might say they do something else for a living so they aren't seen as a threat. In the final seventh season, for example, Kevin Fernandez decided to say he was a less intimidating lifeguard rather than revealing he was a sales rep, a career that comes with the stereotype of having the gift of the gab. Self-proclaimed nerds like Alex Lake in the first season, for example, started playing a more classically handsome man named Adam to avoid prejudice based on his looks.

Twenty-four-year-old John Franklin thought he could get acclaim playing his 63-year-old mother Carol; in season seven, Heather Richardson decided that because she talks more like “the boys,” she would play his friend Andy to keep people from thinking she, as herself, was actually the catfish.

Why is The Circle fun to watch?

It's like a car accident

When something is so horrible but a person can't turn away, we use the expression “it's like a car accident.” It's kind of like The circle it's like. At first, it seems monotonous to hear people constantly calling “Circle, message…” and dictating a missive complete with various descriptive hashtags and emojis.

But as conversations deepen, play gets deeper, and players reveal more of their personalities, it becomes akin to live feeds in Big Brother. For the most part, it's like watching paint dry. But as on Big Brother, where live feeds can capture some interesting moments, even those that led to Big Brother contestants are removed from the gamefans are waiting for that revealing conversation. In The circlehis a shift in power or a touching moment of connection that thrills viewers as much as the show's ever-energetic players.

The circle added elements to make the show more interesting each season. In season two, Lisa Delcampo came into play as Lance Bass, a member of the band NSYNC, for whom she actually works as a personal assistant. In season three, a twist had a player (actually, a couple) clone the profile of 52-year-old Michelle Rider, fooling other players into believing that the fake Michelle was the real one and that the real one was a clone. In season four, Emma Bunton and Mel B of The Spice Girls played for the first half by a 28-year-old children's book writer named Jared, which added a fun element to the concept.

The biggest twist came in season six, when an AI Bot joined as a player, pretending to be a 26-year-old veterinarian named Max. The machine used intelligent algorithms and analytics to help it learn what people like in the game and what strategies to use when conversing. Its mission was to create the ideal player who could win the game.

“Max” was doing pretty well, and no one suspected at all that there was no human behind the text messages. This essentially took the experiment to a whole new, if scary, level. “Max” was eliminated from the game, but it sparked a conversation about how far Max could have gotten if the experiment hadn't been purposely interrupted.

Overall, The circle It's touching. It shows those who feel marginalized or misfit that they have something to offer. He also warns people that not judging a book by its cover works both ways: sometimes, the intimidating jock is a kind-hearted softie, while the gorgeous blonde bombshell is a real sweetheart.

The circle It takes time to blossom. But with the deeper meaning behind it, coupled with Michelle Buteau's hilarious voiceovers and what is arguably one of the best soundtracks on television, it's easy to see why fans have been hooked on this reality competition sensation.