‘The Circle’s’ Alex Evades Detection in the Most Nail-Biting Catfish Showdown Ever

Being a catfish is hard work. When a player chooses to go into The Circle as someone else, they are choosing stress unlike any felt by anyone just playing as their regular-ass selves. Even though The Circle is not a show about hunting catfish, and even though there are no rewards for ousting catfish, nor are there any penalties should a catfish make it to the finale, so many decisions are based around whether or not someone isn’t who’s pictured on their profile.

Over the course of the first three seasons, the hunt for catfish has led to all sorts of nail-biting close calls or tiny slip-ups that sealed a player’s fate. Remember when Seaburn (a.k.a. “Rebecca”) said she only felt cramps on her left side? Or when Jack (a.k.a. “Emily”) said that “her” favorite makeup brand was Collection Co.? Or how Sophia (a.k.a. “Isabelle”) had to steer clear of all Seattle-centric convos, since, uh, that’s where Nick actually lived? We even saw an epic blunder in the Season 4 premiere when 21-year-old party girl Parker didn’t know what a memoir was… and she was catfishing as her 56-year-old father Paul. These were all moments where a catfish was either caught or managed to wriggle their way free, and they make for great TV. But none of them compare, or even come close, to what Alex/”Nathan” just went through on The Circle Season 4.

In Episode 8, the Circle (the game) experiences a CYBER ATTACK that puts all of the contestants’ data at risk. Okay, in reality, the CYBER ATTACK is an excuse for everyone to ask shady questions anonymously. This is kinda like Lana’s “malfunction” in Too Hot to Handle Season 3, except no one in The Circle actually thinks the game has actually been hacked. Anyway — the “breach” allows each player to scroll through someone else’s photo albums and make one pic public, paired with an anonymous question. Catfish accusations are lobbed at “Carol,” Yu Ling and Bru both avoid answering a question about who they trust most, Frank gets called “Mr. Nice Guy” — it’s all tame as hell until Alex gets involved. He picks a photo from Alyssa’s album of her on a trip to Europe and then anonymously asks Alyssa why she lied about having never traveled internationally. Alyssa, an obsessive note-taker, quickly shuts this line of questioning down, because she knows what she’s said to everyone in the Circle and knows she’s never said that. It’s a tense moment — and then Alex gets what he just gave.

Bru shares a photo with the cast of baby Nathan — actual baby Nathan and not Yu Ling’s nickname for Alex’s character — with some golf clubs. Anonymously, Bru asks “lifelong golfer” Nathan a very simple question that even someone who hasn’t played golf since they were a baby would know the answer to: “How many shots under par do you need for an eagle?” This has the potential to be another Collection Co. incident and, if Alex answers incorrectly, his game is done. And he knows this.

The panic on Alex’s face is plain to see, as is the unfiltered frustration. He’s played the game so well so far. He’s made solid alliances, he’s even got a #CircleGirlfriend (which is the weirdest thing that a successful player needs to have but, hey, that’s the game). But if he blows this question, he is done for. Making matters worse, everyone else either knows the answer or knows what this means for Nathan’s game. Alyssa even clocks that Nathan is taking too long to respond to such a simple question! Alex starts rattling his notebook, as if the answer might just fall out if he shakes it hard enough. He shouts, “I took notes! I took so many notes before this and I didn’t write down what an eagle is?!”

When Alex starts to dictate an answer, he starts with “My dad is huge…” and leaves it at that for a second, trying to figure out how he can answer the question without answering the question. Although it makes me wonder what the reaction would’ve been if he just sent the message “My dad is huge.” Really confuse everyone. That’s a strategy!

But Alex is a master strategist (remember his #strategicAF shirt?) and knows that he has to commit to an answer. Anything less than a decisive response will send off catfish alarms. He replies: “My family loves to golf, we live near a lot of golf courses. I wish I was better, but I usually end up drinking too much. [laughing crying emoji] An eagle is two shots under par.”

It’s not only the right answer, it’s the perfect answer. It covers all the bases. It reveals something personal about Nathan, sticks to his frat bro cover story, and it directly answers the question correctly. But Alex doesn’t know that yet. He’s still convinced he just blew up his entire spot. It’s not until Bru checks in after the game that Alex finds out that he nailed it. The victory, it feels so sweet — and Alex has a hilariously great reaction to finding out his bluff “squashed any suspicions.”

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate what Alex managed to do. He handled one of the most stressful situations that a Circle player can endure and, while he was definitely freaking out, he managed to remain calm and have a rock solid response that not only kept him in the game longer, it also made people trust him — even root for him! And after that, I’m rooting for him too. That’s a level of finesse that’s not required of people who are just hanging out in the Circle, being themselves, keeping up with zero fabrications. This is a game, Alex is playing it on EXPERT mode, and he just leveled up.