On December 28, 2022, Netflix released the fifth installment of the reality competition series The Circle. The Circle is a competition based in an apartment complex in London, England where players compete under a profile. These profiles can consist of more than one player and players are not obligated to play as themselves, as they can play as a catfish if they choose. Every few days the players must rank each other based on the limited interaction time they have. Following each ranking, the results will be revealed to all players and the top two players will become influencers. The influencers have the power to block one player. After twelve episodes, the remaining players move on to the finals where the final ranks and winner will be revealed.

When the cast was initially revealed three weeks prior to the season’s release, it was widely praised for its diversity and inclusion of the first deaf player. It also faced criticism for casting more social media personalities than average everyday people, including a former reality television personality.

In the premiere episode, there was an immense twist that took place by the end of the players’ first day in the circle. Instead of just a normal blocking with two influencers in power, each player publicly revealed who they would block if they were a sole influencer. If they were ranked as one of the top two players, the person they chose would be blocked, or so they thought.

During the public announcements, it was revealed that players Chaz and Raven were the top two. This resulted in both Brett and Xanthi supposedly being blocked by the two of them. However, both of them were given the opportunity to return to the game together under a catfish profile named Jessica. Both of them agreed to the challenge nearly instantly.

By the conclusion of the fourth episode, another cycle of rankings went through the circle chat. The rankings once again resulted in Chaz and Raven becoming the top two and this time, they became influencers. Unfortunately for catfish Brittney played by her father Brian, he was blocked.

This particular blocking did not appear to be a surprise among the viewers as Brian struggled to balance the challenge of playing his daughter whilst simultaneously trying to open up to the other players.

In the fifth episode, a surprise was revealed as a former player returned to the game from the show’s inaugural season. Shubham returned to The Circle challenged with playing as a catfish under the name Sasha. New player Tamira also joined the game alongside him to help create the season’s next big twist.

In this twist, the original players still in the game must choose to follow one of the two new players. Whoever receives the most followers will not only earn their safety from the next blocking, but everyone who follows them will also be safe. The player who receives the least amount of followers will be challenged to block one of the players that followed them.

Ultimately, newbie Tamira played by Tasia received more followers than Shubham. This resulted in both Chaz and Raven becoming safe, as well as original players Marvin, Tom, and Sam. Shubham was then tasked with choosing to block either original player and catfish Billie Jean, or newly catfish duo Brett and Xanthi. He ultimately chose to block Billie Jean. It was a bit of a surprise among the viewers as both Billie Jean and Shubham had multiple open conversations including Billie Jean sharing stories about her troubles in the modeling world.

Episode seven is where the season really began to take off. Over the course of the season original players Marvin and Raven had been having multiple flirty conversations. They both appeared to be quite genuine with each other. However, it all changed after a friendly children’s game, it all came crashing down for Marvin. Tamira, played by Tasia, won the game and chose to take Marvin on a date to learn a little more about him. However, things got a little too flirty on this date as Marvin began to call Tasia his queen, something he had told Raven numerous times. The next morning, Tasia began a girls chat with original players Raven and Sam to discuss the festivities of her date. However, after revealing all the flirtatious things Marvin said, Raven began to question Marvin’s trust. It is safe to say that they are no longer a ride or die pair.

In amore game related form of drama, returning player Shubham formed an alliance with all the new players including Jessica played by Brett and Xanthi, Tasia, Tom, and brand new edition to the group, Oliver. In a “go for broke” attempt to change the course of the game, he openly stated that the new players needed to get out the original players. Let’s just say that did not go over so well for him, as a majority of them did not trust him after the shade Billie Jean threw his way in her goodbye message.

In this particular ranking, Chaz was for the third time ranked as an influencer, along with Tom for the first time. In an unsurprising turn of events, Chaz wanted to block Shubham after all the drama ensued and Tom just went along with it. Shubham’s blocking was not a surprise to the fan base although a lot of tension ensued when the ranks were being revealed. Most viewers wondered if the new players could actually come out on top. 

The following blocking in episode ten was also pretty predictable. Marvin, who was already on unstable ground with Raven and a majority of the players, was blocked by three time influencer Raven and first time influencer Sam. The viewers claimed this blocking was more personal than not. Many wanted Brett and Xanthi to be blocked, as many grew irritated by Xanthi’s constant screaming and Brett’s somewhat unappealing personality.

The final cycle of rankings was one of the more intriguing moments of the season. It was clear that the original players were not going to turn on each other as they all got along and had a mutual trust. Brett and Xanthi had one of the biggest targets on their backs, as they were one of the only profiles who vocally supported Shubham’s self-claimed rookie revolution. They made a bold move to turn on their ally Tom after all the players discovered that the lowest rated player would automatically be blocked. Knowing he was not high on the totem pole, Brett and Xanthi rated him last to avoid being at the bottom. To their credit, it worked and Tom was blocked. It was also revealed in the twelfth and penultimate episode that Chaz was the top rated player and the sole influencer. He was challenged with blocking the final player. The reception was relatively respectful to the move made by Brett and Xanthi, but also negative because they were also not a liked duo among the fan base.

After the cliffhanger episode, it was revealed in the thirteenth and final episode that Chaz chose to block Oliver and not Brett and Xanthi. The remaining five profiles were informed that they made it the finale and would be able to meet each other face-to-face at the roundtable.

It was interesting seeing players like Chaz, Raven, and Sam meet as the three of them had a strong bond and mutual respect for each other since the beginning, as well as players Brett and Xanthi, as they were believed to be blocked in the premiere episode. The players then went to the penthouse where the final rankings and winner were revealed.

No surprise to the fan base that Brett and Xanthi were ranked last as they did not have the social bonds to be ranked higher. Same situation for Tasia who was ranked fourth. The final three is where it got interesting. Raven ultimately came in third place after Brett and Xanthi purposefully ranked her low as she was one of the most popular players. In a shocking turn of events, Chaz was ranked second and Sam came out as the victor for season five of the circle! This was positively received from viewers as many enjoyed Sam’s hysterical commentary and relationships with fellow players.

Overall, this season was positively received from fans. Many enjoyed the trio of Chaz, Raven, and Sam as they all brought something different to the screens. There was a lot of discussion about the diverse cast with many of them having unique and entertaining personalities. There was also a lot of discussions about LGBT+ members from Chaz and Sam and relationship drama between the love triangle of Marvin, Raven, and Tamira.

Overall, this season brought drama, important conversations, and entertainment.