Michelle Buteau (pictured above) is the host of “The Circle.” Buteau is a comedian, adding more comedic relief in the show (Courtesy of MaryAnne Ventrice on Flickr).
There doesn’t seem to be a group of people or facet of human existence that has yet to be exploited by reality television. From “The Real Housewives” and “The Bachelor” franchises, to “Survivor” and even “Breaking Amish,” it’s difficult for producers to create original content that’s both interesting and entertaining to keep viewers tuned in week after week.
Enter Netflix’s “The Circle,” a new reality series that checks off a majority of the reality-show-success boxes, with a never-before-seen concept and 12 episodes released over a three-week period, which made the cliffhangers a little easier to deal with.
The premise of the show has been compared to a crossover between “Big Brother” and “Catfish” in that it combines a group of people living in close proximity, but with social media as their barrier to meeting one another in person.
The show begins with eight players moving into separate apartments in the same building. Their only form of communication with their castmates comes from a new social media platform created for the show, known as The Circle. The Circle is entirely voice activated and players, when prompted, instruct it to update their status, post new profile pictures and send chat messages to the other users.
A majority of the players who enter The Circle in the first episode are playing as their true selves—using honest photos of themselves and communicating as they would in real life. Other players, such as Karen and Seaburn, come in as catfishes. Karen, a 54-year-old woman, pretends to be Mercedeze, a 27-year-old woman. Seaburn, a man, pretends to be his real-life girlfriend, Rebecca. As the early episodes progress, the players must use their first impressions and interactions to rank their contestants. Those who get ranked the highest become “influencers” and have the power to block other players, which sends them home from the game.
As players are eliminated, new players are added. These new players must make up for lost time by quickly forming new relationships and deciding which components of their lives they want to share that are either honest to who they are or that will make them appear the most appealing to other Circle users.
The show’s appeal lies in two things: its captivating premise and the relationships between the players. As a series revolving around a social media site, each episode gives viewers different components of social media to think about—from how much is too much to share about yourself, to whether you really know someone solely through their online profile. The show does this, however, without being too in your face about it, allowing you to enjoy what’s unfolding without experiencing an existential crisis about your own social media use.
Overall, the relationships are really what make the show. In the series finale, five players from the original episode were still left and it was clear from the way they spoke about one another, even before the big reveal, that they had formed genuine connections during their time on “The Circle.” Most of the original players were playing as their true selves and they had been open and honest with each other. Their honesty gave viewers a reason to root for them.
As silly as the show seems on first glance, it offers an honest look into real people’s social media use, the thoughts they put into status and profile picture choices and their opinions on other Circle users—whether to trust that they’re who they say they are or to not trust anyone at all.
With the entire first season now available on Netflix, you’re able to binge all 12 episodes to find out who comes out on top of “The Circle” and fall in love with a number of contestants, even those deceiving their fellow players.