*Spoilers Ahead*

The Circle is a Netflix reality show about social media popularity. Netflix describes the show as, “Status and strategy collide in this social experiment and competition show where online players flirt, befriend and catfish their way toward $100,000.” Each participant is limited to their apartment, where they spend most of their time talking to themselves as cameras and mics sense their movement and follow them by recording everything. Until the finale, the only way the cast interacts with each other is through a constructed social media network called “The Circle,” which takes them to private messages, a group news feed, and sometimes even icebreaker games that creates drama and makes it or breaks it for a few contestants throughout the show. Each of the players has to rank each other, and the top two “influencers” decide who to “block” (send home). Variety Magazine writes, “In short: it’s a literal popularity contest that somehow, incredibly, manages to be more fascinating than annoying.” 

Even after two seasons, I find myself wanting more. The way the show was produced makes viewers stay till the end to see who wins the $100,000. The twists and turns that occur are unexpectedly thrilling and very fun to watch. Season two released twelve episodes in a span of three weeks and unlike in the first season, season two had a 13th episode where all of the characters came back together for the reveal of the winner. In the beginning, I watched the show solely because Savannah Palacio, a real-life influencer I love, was a participant in the second season, but seeing the other players and their strategies made me want to continue watching, even after Sav was unfortunately blocked. I loved all of the players except Teralisha. To me, she gave off some bad energy to the group and I personally did not like the way she played the game. Chloe from Netflix’s Too Hot to Handle also appeared on this show and she was the only girl who made it to the finale! I loved her and her personality and I believe her strategy to flirt with all the guys was really smart. However, Deleesa, who catfished as her husband, Trevor, was one of my favorite characters from the beginning! She played an amazing game and I really do think she deserved the $100,000 she won! I was extremely satisfied with the results and could not be happier for Trevor/Deleesa!

There were some other fantastic players too; Courtney, one of the players who made it to the finals, was a fan favorite. He played the game how it was intended: befriending everyone he could, but exiling the people he thought were threats, like Khat. Khat, a professional volleyball player, came into the game later than the rest of the players, which I saw as a disadvantage. She was late to make friends and allies, which allowed Courtney and other players to be quick to block her. Mitchell came into The Circle at the same time as Khat and was eventually blocked too. The main significance of Mitchell is that he grew up in Conshohocken, PA, just a couple of miles away from Abington! Mitchell’s brother and mom were actually on season one of The Circle. A fun fact about this Circle family is that Mitchell’s brother Ed, who was in the previous season, attended La Salle College High School, a private school located right near Abington. 

Lastly, I want to highlight the lovable player, River, or should I say Lee. Lee, a 58-year-old man, catfishing a 20-year-old, River. Even though the other Circle players don’t get to meet Lee until the end, the audience of the show gets to know the goofy Lee. I think the producers bringing in Lee was a great decision because he is a bit older and has a great personality. Most of the show’s viewers are young people, who most likely have little exposure to older generations. Lee allows a connection between different generations through his amazing personality that is difficult not to love! 

All in all, this show is an explosion of big personalities competing to be most liked. Through this, viewers get an inside look at how people act when they strive for popularity. This show is full of entertainment because of both the production of the game and especially the amazing people playing!