The Circle is back on Netflix, and since we have already met the contestants, it’s time to delve into the first four episodes and find out who got blocked and eliminated. There’s plenty of drama here thanks to some new twists on the old formula, which injects a bit of excitement and complexity into matters that’s welcome for a reality show getting a bit long in the tooth.
And these first four episodes weren’t exactly pulling any punches. Nobody is ever safe in The Circle, but necks are on the chopping block from the jump this season, even if some of the new twists mean that being blocked isn’t quite as permanent as it once was.
Anyway, here’s a brief refresher of who’s who. There’s technically only one person properly catfishing, which is Matthew, who’s posing as his soulmate best friend, Ashley, so as not to intimidate people with his personal trainer physique. There’s also Ava and Chanel, who’re sisters playing the game as just Ava, and Nick, who’s really an MIT computer boffin who’s downplaying his intellect and playing as a drummer. Calvin, Michelle, Kai, Ruksana, and Daniel are all playing as themselves, straight-up.
One of the major new wrinkles is the fact that there will only be one influencer to start with, and that ends up being Kai, who is voted into the top spot after the first ranking. But being the influencer also means wielding the block button, and the first victim of that was Ava. But a sister team is obviously too interesting to let go so early, so Ava and Chanel are given the opportunity to save themselves by cloning another player’s profile and trying to convince everyone that the original was the fake all along. They choose Michelle, and after a tense Q&A manage to convince the others to block the real Michelle, continuing the game in her place.
But the second doesn’t last long – barely an episode, in fact, since Ava and Chanel were blocked and eliminated after all.
You can stream The Circle Season 3 right now exclusively on Netflix.
