How ‘The Circle’ Producers Trick Players After a Blocking
The players in The Circle on Netflix have huge personalities. If they didn’t, producers would never have cast them in the first place. But sometimes, even the most charismatic and expressive people need a little push. And that’s why the producers have to fool The Circle contestants occasionally.
Blocked players can visit another contestant before leaving ‘The Circle’
The way to win The Circle is to convince other players to rate you highly. The people with the two highest ratings typically become influencers and then have to make a mutual decision about who to block from the game.
The two influencers go to the hangout, where they discuss who they want to leave. Once they agree on a target, they inform the other contestants of their decision. And producers immediately boot the blocked player from the chat. However, they also allow the eliminated cast member to visit one of the other players before leaving The Circle.
Of course, the reality competition series has to make things as dramatic as possible, so they show the blocked contestant walking down the hallway on their way to an unknown person’s apartment. Then, they knock on the door, and the editors cut to every cast member turning their heads toward their entryways with shocked expressions.
Finally, The Circle reveals which player the blocked contestant chose to visit. And they scream, exchange niceties, and talk about the game before parting ways.
Producers knock on everyone’s doors
The Circle fans have always wondered why all players look like someone has knocked on their door when the blocked contestant has only gone to see one of them. Well, the answer is that they do hear knocks. But it’s usually just the producers tricking them into getting a reaction.
“They pretend to knock doors, or the producer will say, ‘We’re knocking at the door now’ — so you look,” The Circle Season 2 cast member Lisa Delcampo told Buzzfeed. “I mean, how else are you going to get the shots of everybody?”
The Circle players are constantly being messed with in the game, and we love it.
[Spoiler alert: The following contains spoilers from The Circle Season 5 Episode 5 through 8.]
Which players got blocked in ‘The Circle’ Season 5?
Eight players entered The Circle during the season 5 premiere, and almost immediately, two of them were blocked from the game. They had to rate one another and enter the name of the person they would block if they were an influencer. Afterward, the game revealed that the voted influencers’ picks would be eliminated from the show.
Raven Sutton was one of the influencers, and she blocked Brett Robinson. Chaz Lawery also had power, and he blocked Xanthi Perdikomatis. However, The Circle had a trick up its sleeve and brought the two players back to the game as “Jennifer,” a 51-year-old dog trainer.
In episode 4, Raven and Chaz became influencers again. But this time, they had to agree on one person to send home. And they chose “Brittney,” aka Brian Clark.
After season 1 contestant Shubham Goel re-entered The Circle as a catfish named “Sasha,” the show immediately threw him into the hot seat. Since he had the least amount of followers, Shubham had to block one of the people who followed him — “Jennifer” or “Bruno,” aka Billie-Jean Blackett, in episode 6. And he sent “Bruno” packing, which turned out to be a controversial decision.
In episode 8, Chaz and Tom Houghton became influencers and blocked “Sasha,” aka Shubham, from The Circle.
New episodes of The Circle Season 5 air Wednesdays on Netflix.
