While on winter break, I was looking for new shows on Netflix to watch before returning to school. In the beginning of January, Netflix delivered with the new reality show The Circle. I was shown the first episode as an ad for another video on Youtube. Instead of skipping the ad, I watched the entire 33 minutes. I was immediately hooked!
The Circle just finished its first season. More seasons are bound to come as the year continues. There are 12 episodes, each episode lasting around 50 minutes, with the first episode being 63 minutes.
The reality show gives eight people a chance to win $100,000. All the contestants have to do is stay locked up in their apartment rooms with no access to the outside world. They only way they can communicate with each other is through a voice-activated social media platform called The Circle. On the platform, the players can either be themselves or they can be a catfish by pretending to be someone different than who they actually are.
At the end of each day, the players rate each other’s profiles. The lowest rated player gets blocked from The Circle and loses the chance to win the grand prize. The blocked player is allowed to meet with one other player in person before they leave. This leads to some drama and sweet moments on the show. The next day a new player is added, bringing the total number of players back up to eight. This continues, with a twist or two, until the finale, where there are five players left. Only one can win the $100,000.
The show is hilarious and I was obsessed with seeing the new episodes come out each week. I was on the edge of my seat, hoping my favorite players stayed and my least favorite were blocked. The show has an amazing cast of people from all different walks of life and different views on social media. While the show is fun to watch, and is a must-see, it also shows how we really don’t know other people based on their social media.