‘The Circle’ Season 6 review: A decent game in need of fire emojis

New building. New cast. Same lovable game, but was it a great season? The Circle Season 6 on Netflix ushered in a new era of the social media-based reality show. Particularly, a version of the game played in a new location set in the U.S. as opposed to the previous U.K. apartment building. Many of the familiar mainstays carried over to the sixth season, like catfishes and truthbomb games. But new elements were introduced too, like the first appearance of AI. It’s a fresh start for the franchise that has adapted itself for a new season, while still holding reverence to seasons past. However, while the spirit of the game still felt like The Circle, a lack of excitement and fire seemed to be missing in its energy.

The newly redesigned building captured the essence of The Circle. To have a successful building, you need blocked-off apartments, colorfully decorated rooms, and a giant metal circle framing the side of the building. If the building is missing the outside circle, then it’s not a real Circle building. (You laugh, but you know it’s true!) Plus, the apartment layouts were much bigger this time, so that was a huge benefit for the players. Let’s not forget the contestants are confined to the apartments and unable to open a window/use their balconies. These layouts gave the players more breathing room and didn’t feel as contained. And with the return of the side rooms (e.g., the gym, the hot tub rooftop, etc.), The Circle building still had some places for players to stretch their legs and play the game.

A cast ready to play

Speaking of the cast, The Circle Season 6 had a decently balanced group of players. We had gameplay-focused contenders, like Quori-Tyler, Jordan, and Myles. Emotional underdogs, like “Olivia”, Lauren, and Autumn. And a mix of eclectic personalities and fodder, like “Paul”, Cassie, and more. On paper, the cast covered all the archetypes you would expect to see on a Netflix season of The Circle. The pleasant surprise came to be how the players grew further than our early assumptions and developed into well-rounded “characters.” Granted, not every player got fully showcased, but the majority stood out one way or another.

Olivia, played as a catfish by Brandon (for the remainder of the review, all catfish players will be listed as their profile identity), had a beautiful season-defining story arc. She started down in the dumps from a poor showing on the first day to soon rising through the ranks as one of the most beloved profiles. She was genuine, kind, and vulnerable to her fellow players. Many could never see themselves blocking her after having a chat with her. Her eventual win was one of the best endings this season could’ve imagined because it blended both worlds of catfish and personality. Olivia is one of the strongest catfishes The Circle has ever had.

It’s an interesting story arc when you compare it against other players, like Lauren or Steffi, who equally tried to be genuine and vulnerable but were dismissed as being “fake” or “shady.” The catch here was both Lauren and Steffi were original profiles playing themselves, yet everyone thought they were fake. Olivia stayed true to Brandon’s personality, but it was still a marvel to witness a catfish gain so much respect and adoration with little pushback. This development hasn’t happened much in previous seasons of The Circle.

But what did return is the fine balance of players focused on playing the game vs. those who just wanted to be themselves. Quori-Tyler was a great surprise because she emerged as the most game-focused profile this season. She was fun, upbeat, and felt for the players, but she had her mind stuck on the outcome. Myles’ romance distracted her (and it could’ve sunk her game), but she persevered to keep fighting. Her toe-to-toe battle with Jordan in the influencer suites was a chef’s kiss moment in alliance-saving. We never knew someone could leave the influencer chat, but Quori-Tyler made it happen.

Other surprising yet memorable cast moments came from Myles discovering Jordan plotted against him, Kyle’s flirtmance with Olivia, and Steffi’s battle with Paul, to name a few. Jordan’s entire war to get Myles out is a masterclass in tunnel vision (we’ll get to this later on). But from a casting standpoint, this group was a small yet mighty team. They’re not the best cast that The Circle has placed together on Netflix, but it has a few names that stood out and will most likely appear in future reality shows. Just imagine Quori-Tyler on The Trust or Jordan on The Mole? The drama alone will keep us full.

AI took over The Circle

One player new to The Circle Season 6 was “Max”, the AI-generated profile. Max was programmed as a combination of every player and scenario from past seasons of The Circle to create his persona. To put it bluntly: I loved the AI twist! Max so easily folded himself into the fabric of the group — Lauren was ready to claim him as her BFF to the end. While he played a little too in the middle, his stance worked so well that he could’ve easily made it to the finals. However, I agree with the fan notion that Max’s AI presence was too distracting to play The Circle. The profiles would’ve been too hyper-focused on finding the AI instead of building their relationships and becoming influencers. We see this every season when people get too focused on finding catfishes; it stalls the game and sabotages those trying to play.

The second big twist came in the “Sacrifice or Stay” dilemma. It was an interesting notion to place two players against each other and put their fates in their hands. There was no guarantee that Kyle and Paul would choose the correct combination to avoid both being eliminated. And for someone to choose to sacrifice themselves, it’s a move that goes against the cutthroat vibe of reality TV. It would be interesting to see this twist return in a future season. Would someone choose to sacrifice again? Or would this end in a double-blocking because no one would want to leave?

The final big twist was the “Ride or Die” partner rounds. I loved this twist because it shook up the entire game and forced players to think differently. For example, you had Olivia change her morals to play Myles’ cutthroat game, and you had Autumn doubting the trustworthiness of her partner, Lauren. Plus, players would be automatically eliminated if their partner got blocked. It’s a shame we didn’t get more of this twist because it worked well and had lots of potential. Just imagine how it could’ve rocked the building with many shocking blockings! Instead, we only got a taste of what this twist could be (no pair was ever actually blocked together).

A game of going through the motions

The lack of forward momentum sums up the issue with The Circle Season 6. The different decisions and twists never felt like it was building up to satisfying and explosive climaxes. As mentioned above, the Ride or Die twist didn’t get used to its full potential, and the sacrifice didn’t do much to leave a lasting note. Max, the AI twist, held the game hostage for four episodes until the first official player (Steffi) got blocked. To put this into perspective, Steffi got blocked on the fifth episode – in a reality TV competition, no one got eliminated for five episodes! People need to leave the game. There were barely any influencer suite eliminations or turnover of the cast.

The cast we had did their best, but there were still noticeable and troubling actions. For instance, Autumn getting bullied as a “strategy” during one of The Circle’s games doesn’t leave a good taste in anyone’s mouth. Piling on someone to isolate and pin a target might help for the short-term game, but the long-term effects leave a lasting mark (both for those in the game and watching at home). And let’s not forget Jordan’s baffling urgency to get Myles blocked. Sure, Myles was one of the biggest targets, but Jordan sabotaged his game by being so focused on his one target. You need to build relationships and learn the nuances before making the strike.

If Olivia hadn’t become the Super Influencer and blocked Myles, Jordan’s entire effort would’ve been for nothing. And he had been exposed for his scheming too, by Lauren and Quori-Tyler. His days were numbered! The problem is keeping to a core cast for too long keeps everyone contained and stuck in their roles/focuses. If new profiles had been spread out, the game could’ve gotten more bursts of energy and new mindsets to consider.

And why were there barely any new cast introductions or catfishes? There were only two moments when new profiles were introduced. Beyond players doing altered versions of themselves, there were only two catfishes (three if you count Max). The fun of The Circle is seeing how players react when they discover someone is pretending to be someone else. Everyone playing as themselves felt less like a rounded game of The Circle and more like an average reality show. For a game that has had blocked players come back as new profiles or The Spice Girls as a catfish, The Circle Season 6 didn’t give us much. This season felt more like a palette cleanser with its momentum than hitting new heights.

The Circle Season 6 balanced a fine line between carrying on the game we know and continuing to grow for the future. New elements and twists were introduced that added some fun to the gameplay. The cast had standouts that pulled us into their stories and made us root for them. However, The Circle Season 6 could best be described as an average game of The Circle. It’ll be remembered more for being the season with the AI player than anything else it did. There was nothing else that kept us at the edge of our seats or raised the bar high; it lacked the fire and energy we needed. It’s a middle-tier season that has its fun moments, but it won’t be as memorable in the long run.

The Circle is available now to stream on Netflix.

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Images courtesy of Netflix.