Stream It or Skip It: ‘The Circle’ Season 5 on Netflix Adds a Flirty Hook to the Catfish Competition

The Circle is back for Season 5 — and the game has never been this steamy. Netflix’s reality competition show drops players (usually models and/or influencers) into separate apartments where they create a profile — either real, tweaked, embellished, or totally fabricated — and then compete to see who can be the most popular player in the game. The players’ profiles all say they’re single this time around, which just might lead to some of the most flirtatious alliances in Circle history. 

THE CIRCLE SEASON 5: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We’re back at that one particular apartment building in Manchester, England, the same building that’s hosted every season of every Circle series since fall 2019. And there’s narrator/host Michelle Buteau welcoming us to another season of the social media competition before disappearing until the season finale. How has this show not yet figured out that we need more of Buteau onscreen?

The Gist: This is The Circle that Circle fans know and love. Eight players move into their apartments, set up their profiles, and make impossibly shallow — yet necessary — snap judgments about total strangers in order to decide who should get the boot first. The first episode gives us high-energy intros to the cast, which includes the usual mix of models, influencers, and reality TV personalities. The catfish include a 47-year-old investigator playing as his 27-year-old daughter, which — if previous seasons are any indication — is a recipe for disaster; and there’s a 25-year-old model named Billie-Jean who’s playing as a 25-year-old model named Bruno, because male models have it easier than female models.

The cast does include a major first for the series in Raven, a deaf contestant who’s entered the competition alongside her interpreter Paris. But just to be clear: Paris is only interpreting. The gameplay is all Raven, and she’s here to show that — as she signs — deaf people can do everything except hear.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? This is The Circle through and through, and it honestly may be the most Circle-y Circle season yet. Seasons 2 and 4 made big splashes with their premieres by introducing pop stars Lance Bass and Mel B and Emma Bunton into the mix. Bass was, of course, a catfish profile created by his real assistant Lisa and the Spice Girls entered the game as a pair playing one catfish profile. There’s none of that tomfoolery this time around, although we know from the Season 5 trailer that there are a few twists on the way.

Our Take: We’re at Season 5 and, as with any reality competition show, The Circle has moved from massive cultural event (a phenomenon no doubt boosted by Season 1’s proximity to the start of the 2020 quarantine) to a show for die-hards. That’s not a problem, either. That’s just the trajectory that these shows, shows ranging from Survivor to RuPaul’s Drag Race, tend to take. The longer these shows go on, the more they attract viewers who are as obsessed with the strategy and gameplay and production of it all as they are with the actual cast members.

As someone who has spent an unbelievable amount of time writing about The Circle, I do wish that Season 5 had more in the way of surprises right out the gate — and not surprises in format, either. To get it out of the way, the “Singles” branding amounts to no change in the actual gameplay and, so far, no real change in how the players are approaching the game. As we see in every season, most people choose to play single so they can flirt their way into alliances.

Anyway — the format is very ain’t broke/don’t fix. However, I wish there were more surprises in the cast. Once again we have a cast of hot people in their 20s and one person over 40… who is catfishing as a hot person in their 20s. God bless Sam, the 34-year-old freelance makeup artist from New York City who says she’s on the show to rep for all the other women out there who shave their big toes. That’s the kind of chaotic yet relatable energy I want!

It’s a little frustrating because this is one of the only reality shows on-air that is built to challenge all the norms that we’ve built up around beauty and age and gender, and I love when the show digs into that (see: Seaburn/”Rebecca”, Lee/”River”, Sophia/”Isabella”, John/”Carol”). So far in Season 5, we have Brian/”Brittney”… and then one model playing as a schoolteacher and another model playing as a male model. That’s not to say that either of these players don’t deserve a spot on The Circle! The Circle is great because it eventually gets everyone on the same level, no matter who they are outside the game. Ultimately everyone ends up being seen with no makeup, in sweatpants, screaming at a TV. I’m just saying, y’know, maybe we could go a season with only one model/influencer wanting to shake off the expectations that come with being gorgeous?

I guess, yes, this is where I should disclose that I have auditioned for The Circle twice and made it far along in the casting process both times. Let this color my take however it may.

That’s not to say that Season 5’s premiere is any less compelling than previous seasons of the show. It would be nice to see more than one player over 40, sure, and it would be even nicer to see them play themselves for once, but it’s still entertaining to watch these strangers play a toothless game about picking adjectives and then all turn on the one person just because she said she’d rather be successful than happy. The Circle is all about holding petty grudges and I love it.

Sex and Skin: Marvin, a chemical engineer who’s playing as a fitness instructor, never wears a shirt for obvious reasons. And you know how Circle players think: the less clothing they can wear in their profile photos the better. To quote Sam after picking her profile photo, “the tits are titting — I look tit-tastic, actually.”

Parting Shot: One player has already been BLOCKED from the Circle, and another’s fate hangs in the balance. No matter what I say in this review, you’re going to be compelled to watch Episode 2 because if there’s one thing The Circle knows how to do, it’s leave you hanging off a cliff.

Sleeper Star: I’ve talked a lot about Sam already, so let’s give it up for Raven. She’s the twerk-master general and she is leading the charge for deaf representation. She’s charismatic and captivating and hilarious all without saying a word, and I really hope we get to spend the whole season with her.

Most Pilot-y Line: You gotta love the moment when all the players realize that everybody in the chat is single. Brian: “Is this the Circle love cruise? What’s going on here because every single person here is single.” And that’s about the extent of this “twist’s” impact on the premiere.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Circle Season 5 may not be the best place to jump into this game, but the die-hards (like myself) will find it impossible to not watch all four episodes in one sitting.