The Circle Season 2: 10 Best Strategic Moves Made In The Game
Season 2 of Netflix's hit reality competition show The Circle ended with the catfishing DeLeesa St. Agathe, AKA Trevor, taking home the $100,000 prize. Over the course of the 13 episodes, several of the players demonstrated strategic gameplay that often allowed them to stay in the house longer than they otherwise would have. Sometimes, what seems like a smart strategy ends up blowing up in a player's face and directly leads to their elimination from the competition.
All told, eleven competitors participated in The Circle Season 2, four of whom played as catfish while the other seven played under their true identity. And just like any other reality show competition, some made far more strategic moves than others.
10 Terelisha's Truth
In the first episode, Terelisha and Savannah won the popular vote to become Circle influencers. After three weeks of companionship, the two had a major falling out, leading to Terelisha's most devastating strategy: the honest truth.
During a game of Truth or Dare, Terelisha let the others know that she felt Savannah was a conniving game player who cannot be trusted. By airing out her grievance, Terelisha exposed Savannah's true nature to the others, which directly led to Savannah's eviction and eliminated Terelisha's biggest threat.
9 Savannah Visiting Courtney
While she may not have known it at the time, Savannah visiting Courtney following her elimination was a brilliant strategy. When Savannah expressed that Courtney had the greatest potential to win the game, he was immediately given top-secret access to the Inner Circle.
As a member of the Inner Circle, Courtney had access to intel and influence that the others did not possess. This allowed him to ramp up his own strategy, forge a strong alliance with River, and continue to operate behind the scenes undetected.
8 Lee Playing as River
Playing as a catfish is one strategy, but who a player chooses to play as is another altogether. While Jack failed to pick a catfish he could credibly pull off in Emily, 58-year-old romance novelist Lee Swift chose to play as an affable twentysomething named River.
Lee did not just choose a random stranger to play as. Instead, he was already a good friend of River in real life and used his niece's knowledge of social media to learn as much about River as possible to convincingly play him. As such, Lee made it to the final table undetected.
7 Chloe's Cordial Alliance
Despite having a knack for flirtation, Chloe demonstrated one of the best gameplay strategies by playing a romantic angle with Mitchell and Trevor. Instead, she wisely joined a platonic alliance with Courtney and River, which carried her all the way to a second-place finish.
As the only authentic celebrity on the show (Lisa played as her boss, Lance Bass), Chloe had a target on her back from day one. However, in convincing the others that she was who she said she was, Chloe managed to choose the right players to link up with and was rewarded as a result.
6 Courtney As Joker
One of the most effective moves made in the show includes Courtney's deft navigation to keep his status as the Joker a total secret. Once Courtney was named the Joker, he was able to message new contestants to spread gossip, stir the pot, and do so anonymously.
As such, Courtney's main strategy as the Joker was to place blame on the other contestants and drive a wedge between their alliances. Courtney wasted no time throwing players under the bus when speaking with new entries Khat and Mitchell, claiming "lots of lying, lots of name-calling."
5 Courtney Choosing River As Influencer
Another privilege Courtney was given as The Joker was the ability to secretly choose the next Circle influencer. He not only chose his closest ally in River, but he also did so just before Mitchell suspected Courtney to be the Joker.
Therefore, in one fell swoop, Courtney bestowed ultimate power to his best friend, who in turn blocked Mitchell and got rid of Courtney's biggest threat. It was a masterful move from Courtney, who proved to be one of the most strategic players of the season.
4 The Trifecta Alliance
Once it became clear that Courtney and River were simpatico, eventual winner Deleesa mounted a plan to break up their alliance. To do so, she formed the Trifecta Alliance with Mitchell and Chloe.
DeLeesa managed to convince Mitchell to become closer with Chloe, which he did by opening up to her, confessing he's a virgin, and lament how he's always misjudged. Although the Trifecta Alliance did not block Courtney or River as intended, the team fortified DeLeesa's ranking.
3 Trevor's Guilt Trip
During Episode 8, the players engaged in a "Don't @ Me" game where they were allowed to ask personal questions to the others. When River secretly wondered whether Trevor was a catfish, Trevor (DeLeesa) engineered reverse psychology that got her back in River's good graces.
Unaware of who asked the question, Trevor contacted River to vent over someone calling him a catfish. On the off chance that it was River who asked it, Trevor put a guilt trip on River, who immediately felt bad for asking the question. As such, River no longer targeted Trevor for elimination.
2 River As Superinfluencer
In the penultimate week of the competition, the players ranked players without the results being made public. The secret winner was named Superinfluencer, which went to fan-favorite River unbeknownst to the rest.
As the Superfinfluencer, River had the sole decision on who to block next. After much deliberation, River opted to block Mitchell due to his limited time in the house and his lack of alliances. By doing this, River also inadvertently saved his closest ally in Courtney, who Mitchell was getting ready to expose as The Joker.
1 DeLeesa Playing As Her Husband
The number-one best strategy employed in The Circle Season 2 was DeLeesa's decision to play as her own husband, Trevor. With intimate, firsthand knowledge of who she pretended to be, DeLeesa was able to convince her fellow players that she was 100% authentic.
As a result, DeLeesa went undetected as a catfish for much of the show. She was able to channel her husband's knowledge of basketball to ace a sports quiz and avoid suspicion. At the same time, she was able to apply makeup to a mannequin in a way that was neither too expert nor too amateur, which also kept her free of suspicion as a catfish.