This season took away its exciting new twist just when audiences were beginning to get excited about it.
The Big Picture
-
The Circle’s
innovative twist of introducing an AI chatbot as a contestant intrigued audiences. - Max, the AI contestant, provided insight into social dynamics but was eliminated early, disappointing viewers.
- The show missed an opportunity to explore the impact of AI on social interactions by removing Max too soon.
The best reality shows are the ones that can always keep their contestants (and everyone watching at home) on their toes. Those that incorporate twists into their strategy excite viewers as they watch players try and adapt to these shocking new obstacles in their fight to win. This is why audiences were especially excited about the newest season of The Circle, created by Tim Harcourt on Netflix, which promised to incorporate one of the popular program’s wildest twists yet: having an AI chatbotcompete against its human contestants.
For a game of online profiles and popularity, it was an intriguing shift in the series’ usual setup that promised some interesting gameplay and some great critiques on modern social platforms. It promised to be an ingenious twist for the show, which makes the series’ inability to commit to it so disappointing. The Circle is a game where catfishes can win, where people lie to gain favor without actually following through on their claims – a good tactic for the players, but not one for the show with its audience.
The Circle
Participants enter a unique competition where they communicate only through a social media platform, isolated from each other. They must choose to either present their true selves or create a persona, as they vie to be voted the most popular by their peers and win a substantial cash prize.
- Cast
- Michelle Buteau
- Main Genre
- Reality
- Seasons
- 7
- Distributor
- Netflix
‘The Circle’ Is a Game of Popularity and Perception
While almost every reality series interrogates some aspect of modern culture, very few do it as successfully as The Circle. The series spotlights how important social media and online connections are to modern society, how virtual spaces create some of the strongest bonds, and just how much online popularity can impact someone’s daily life. It represents this effectively by featuring mechanics that people will recognize from their own time on social media, primarily in how it allows people to catfish (pretending to be someone else by using their pictures and fake language) to reflect just how easily it can be to fake everything about yourself online. It shows the positives and negatives of social platforms in a refreshingly honest way that tries to stay current with this constantly evolving online landscape. This is why audiences were thrilled – and slightly terrified – with the franchise introducing its first non-human contestant.
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Life as a catfish is hard. But at least Brandon is learning something from it!
The Circle season 6 introduced viewers to Max early into the season, a sweet-looking young man who loved nature and his puppy – who was completely controlled by an AI chatbot. This was an innovative twist for the series to implement; it’s unfortunate how many online accounts today are run by AI bots, these programs creating fake profiles complete with false images, and even some of the more nuanced ones sending auto-generated messages to other users on their platform. It’s a scary fact of the internet that many people have to contend with, which makes The Circle’s choice to feature an AI player so innovative. It was surprisingly interesting to watch the bot in action, the small box of circuits and microchips constantly informing viewers about the complex social dynamics that can factor into something as simple as sending a private message. It showed great prowess in maneuvering around the other people, excelling in the game while serving as an education aspect that drew viewers deeper into the complex gameplay on display – which made it such a disappointment when the show cut it from the competition so early.
‘Max’ Gives ‘The Circle’ a Scary Dose of Reality
While most audiences were hoping to see a warm-blooded contestant thrive and win, many found watching Max begin to take over The Circle season 6 hilariously intriguing. The show informed everyone that one of the other players was an AI, but even with this knowledge out there, Max largely skirted suspicion; the players allowed their feuds to fuel accusations rather than any analytic thought, allowing Max and its perfectly structured messages to easily make it through the early season. It crafted a genial personality the others enjoyed and even formed a ‘close’ bond with fellow player Lauren LaChant, setting itself to go forward at least a few more rounds in the competition – which made it such a shock when it was revealed to be the robot immediately after successfully evading one elimination. This revelation was a shock for all, and it spoke to the show’s biggest flaw: not being able to commit to its own concept.
‘The Circle’ Cast Breaks Down That Wild A.I. Twist [Interview]
’The Circle’s first influencers, Lauren LaChant and Brandon Baker spoke to Collider about A.I. bots and fake profiles in Season 6.
Max’s reveal as a robot not only removed some of the thrilling mystery that the show’s marketing had promised, it also deeply hurt players like LaChant’s who’d invested their valuable time in someone – or rather, something – that was yanked out of the game at no fault of their own. This early reveal detracted from what could have been an invigorating plotline for the show and left many watchers baffled as to why, then, had the series made such a big point of emphasizing the importance of Max’s inclusion before the season began. It’s especially unfortunate because it erases the real topic of how much AI affects modern online interactions, which the show could have touched on throughout its runtime. While unnerving, watching how seamlessly this robot integrated itself into a group of humans could have been an amazing chance to spotlight the impacts of this new technology and how people react when they come into contact with it. No matter what it could have touched on, The Circle deliberately misled audiences into what this season could be by removing the amazing twist that many had come to watch – turning the series into the biggest catfish.
‘The Circle’ Takes Catfishing Too Far
While The Circle tries to stay current with its intense strategy and twists, a reality series should be a space where only real people can win. Many people were actually frightened when it was announced that an AI robot would be competing as they feared this signaled a horrific turn for television that could allow more ‘technical’ contestants to replace the real people on shows like this. It’s this fear that held The Circle back from committing to having Max play for more of the season, and while it was always good to be hyper-aware of this twist’s repercussions, it shouldn’t have held the creators back from having fun with what could have been an immensely innovative twist. By allowing the AI to exist longer in the game, the program could’ve continually highlighted just how scarily real the effects of programs like these are on those trying to be their authentic selves online.
Even more, they could have fulfilled the promise the show’s promotion had made to its watchers, allowing the robot to impact other contestants for much of the season (as had been promised) instead of removing its interesting element only a few days into the game. The other players this season are fascinating and promising their own intense drama and game styles, but audiences can’t help but wonder how much more entertainingly chaotic this season could have been with just a little more time with this robotic rival.
The Circle is Available to Stream on Netflix in the U.S.
This article was originally published on collider.com