The Circle - who’s watching?

[Standrewsschool]

The first three are wannabes.

Hunter - trying to revive his career.

James AKA Sammi got a lot of hate for this last year tbf. He made it up at the final when he realised that Tim, Woody etc were real and became more likeable - it will be interesting to see if similar happens here!

Just caught up... Wow that Manrika is a piece of work isn’t she! She’s like the evil love child of Freddie from series 1 and Sammie from Series 2. She’s playing a brilliant game though, I’ve got to give it to her. I don’t think she’ll be winning the viewers vote though (if there is one this year) but she looks likely to win the 100k. I hope it’s worth it for her with how much of a nasty character she’s publicly made herself out to be (or been made out to be?). The newbies have been totally sucked I haven’t they! I agree with previous comments that unfortunately it seems to be going the way of big brother where it’s less about fun and friendship and more about winding everyone up to such a point that they end up at each other’s throats. Some may think that’s good TV but I’m not one of them, I don’t blame people for switching off. I certainly won’t be looking forward to future series if they are done like this.

@KarensChoppyBob

Would he be called 'bitchy' or a 'bully' ?

A bully certainly and likely an alternative word to bitchy. Like InglouriousBasterd said, James/Sammie in season 2 got heat because of some of his comments and he did seem to realise before it went too far and adjust his behaviour. Manrika has gone further than that and seems not to care how she affects others, sometimes even taking pleasure in it. She doesn't deserve the comments and threats over social media, in any way, but should this behaviour be called out as manipulative and bullying? Yes.

I do agree about reality tv changing as it goes on - BB a prime example.

Oh for the days of Nasty Nick and Alison Hammond breaking a table ... just would be so heavily edited now.

@KarensChoppyBob

Just a question, don't shoot me, but if Manrika was an attractive man who was proud of overcoming a damaging past and 'playing the game' cleverly...would he be receiving as much hate as she does?

Basically that’s James/Sammie from last year, and I didn’t like him as much as I don’t like Manrika. The thing was that James was diluted by some really genuinely lovely people last year, not so much the case this year, or the producers are just focusing too much on Manrika and not enough on the nice ones, which would explain why Vithun got left behind.

I also don't understand the obsession with finding catfishes.

The entire premise of the show is that it is a popularity contest. Whether you go in as a catfish, yourself or some version of yourself depends on whether you will be more popular as a catfish or as yourself.

I don't get why people (Andy) think catfishes shouldn't win. It is literally part of the point of the show. You wouldn't argue someone cheated at snakes and ladders because they used a ladder to get to the top of the board!

To me, being a catfish and being manipulative and two faced are two entirely different things. What matters most is kindness, dignity, honesty (in the sense of honest feelings being communicated) and, dare I say it, integrity. Manrika is NONE of these things and is way more two faced and dishonest than any catfish. Yet she had the nerve to label Gemma as a snake and get on her high horse during their confrontation. The way she acted towards Gemma from the start showed how she is a bully. She had no idea that Gemma was a 6ft tall Gladiator. She thought she was a NHS nurse FGS and still mercilessly victimised her. I get that the producers are structuring a narrative but I think it is clear she has a nasty, mean, bitchy personality nonetheless.

Although the other players were taken in at the time, I hope they see her for her true colours now. Especially Syed/Hashu.

I am still hooked and will keep watching, but I am getting increasingly riled only because I can't stand watching her and watching her vile manipulation working. I hate seeing everyone else being taken in by her as well. It is infuriating seeing the bad guy come out on top but sadly I think she will win.

Of course, no one deserves death threats. That is completely abhorrent and ridiculous. But I really hope she thinks the £100k is worth it for her complete loss of dignity and irreparable damage to her character in the public eye. If not, she has all the comeuppance she needs.

I couldn’t abide James/Sammie last year.
I hated his tactics and the way he got his little trio set up to gang up on Tim, Woody etc and take them out.
But I think Manrika has gone even further than he did.

@19thNamechange

As this is all pre recorded this series, there won't be a viewer vote, so how do they pick a winner? If it's just based on the usual way of rating, then won't everyone just vote the popular ones lower, to give themselves more of a chance of winning? For example, if everyone believes Manrika is really popular, won't they vote her near the bottom? Someone not as popular would therefore win almost by default.

That's how every series has gone. The person who won series 1 scraped into Rey final in last place and won because most others voted tactically.

Alex also won the viewer's vote though, because the viewers liked him.

The craziest thing about James / Sammie’s behaviour was that it led to a surprise winner in Paddy. Paddy was a late entrant and was consistently middle rankings, but because Sammie was determined only Tim and Woody were competition he tried to influence the final vote, leading to the middle ranking player winning!

I also could not stand Sammie/James last year although I do think Manrika is much nastier.

If viewers were voting I don't think Manrika would stand a hope in hell of winning but not sure with the circle players voting how it will go. Hopefully they will all see Manrika as being popular and therefore likely to win so vote her low. Surely each person in there wants to win themselves not for one of the others to win

It sounded as though Manrika is going to up the "poor me" factor next week. Another reason for me not to watch. C4 should decide if they want a popularity contest or a sob story contest

Hope you don't mind me joining in, I've never watched before and caught some of the celebrity circle.

I'm enjoying it, filled a gap after married at first sight

Manrika is playing a very good game, she's determined to win at any cost, but I also think Andy is doing the same, he's just not as vocal as her.

We haven't really found out anything about Natalya/Felix because of the boyfriend/girlfriend thing, but I'm not convinced Manrika completely believes that Felix is a bloke, I don't know why but I think Manrika has her doubts but is going along with it for now (I'm probably wrong though)

Not sure if I like Dot or not

Femi and Pippa haven't grabbed my attention either

I can't remember why Manrika took such a dislike to Gemma at the beginning but they certainly didn't like each other at the end.

Syed/Hasu is nice but he's too bloody loud and the shouting is annoying me, but he does come across as a nice person both in and out of character

@InglouriousBasterd

The craziest thing about James / Sammie’s behaviour was that it led to a surprise winner in Paddy. Paddy was a late entrant and was consistently middle rankings, but because Sammie was determined only Tim and Woody were competition he tried to influence the final vote, leading to the middle ranking player winning!

Yes exactly this! And we’ve seen it again with multiple people voting Andy low because they thought he was so popular that their vote wouldn’t bring him down, and he ended up 5th. Now Manrika has manipulated Femi and Pippa, I don’t think Andy has long left in the Circle, although I would like him to be in the final. Syed to win!

elanora7 series 1 and 2 are available on catch-up. You’ll see how different it has become. Agree with your analysis.
At the date manrika said out loud very quickly something like ‘this could even be a girl’ !

In both previous seasons the winner basically blindsided other players, someone none of the other players really thought had a real chance of winning it. I still remember Freddie rating Alex/Kate top in the final just to push Sian down, thinking everyone else will rate him/her low.

Going by that I think it could be Dot or possibly Syed winning this. Surely as soon as she gets rid of Andy and takes the boss position, Manrika's days are numbered, simply because she's the most obvious threat. Whereas someone who's not in any conspiracy alliances but also not stepping on anyone's toes (Dot and probably Syed) is likely to blindside other tactical players.

Manrika reminds me (or the way she's edited) of Khaleesi and Syed of her Jon Snow. I wonder if he'll have to do the same when he realises the extent of manipulation... he genuinely seems to place quite a bit of importance on integrity.

In the context of the game I don't really mind Manrika's tactics, it's a legitimate way to win and she's a better player than others. It's just that it's painfully familiar of the high school mean girl, Regina George kind of bullying, and it seems to come easily to her, at least by what is shown to us. Members of her clique get ostracised and replaced without even knowing what is it they did to displease the queen bee.

Also, yesterday Syed/Hasshu made a point about going into the private chat with Manrika to warn her that her tactics are going to turn other players against her, I thought "oh boy, that's him being put in the blocking queue now"
But at least from what we were shown of the chat, he said no such thing that I remember, he just basically said "I get you and I want you to win"

I’m very surprised that the other players haven’t noticed that manrikas ‘best friends’ are dropping like flies

There's two new players going on!

Circle Spy @circlespy
Another twist is also imminent in #TheCircle as Emma Willis pays her latest visit - in a new trailer she teases: "For one day only, the rules have changed…"

This is where I go "oh ffs" isn't it?

I don’t understand why they are introducing new players now when we are presumably getting quite close to the end; it feels like we’ve hardly managed to get to know Femi and Pippa let alone having another new pair. After introducing Felix & Dot in episode 5 we didn’t get any new players until episode 11. I feel like the game started to feel stale and they should have introduced the new players sooner. It looks like we’ll now be getting two more potentially in tomorrow’s episode (episode 16) when the final is less than a week away. Surely there’s no chance of properly getting to know them and, should a player who’s only been on air a few days win, I doubt it will feel satisfying for many viewers.

I also don’t know like that they have only introduced new players in pairs this time, I feel like it makes it harder to get to know the newbies if there are always two of them although maybe the theory is that it stops a single new player being an obvious target for blocking?

For one day only, the rules have changed…

And there will be no irritating twists.
That would be a massive blessing.
New players now. Why? As a PP said we don’t even know Pippa or Femi, let alone these two. What a load of wank.

@BillyIsMyBunny

I don’t understand why they are introducing new players now when we are presumably getting quite close to the end; it feels like we’ve hardly managed to get to know Femi and Pippa let alone having another new pair. After introducing Felix & Dot in episode 5 we didn’t get any new players until episode 11. I feel like the game started to feel stale and they should have introduced the new players sooner. It looks like we’ll now be getting two more potentially in tomorrow’s episode (episode 16) when the final is less than a week away. Surely there’s no chance of properly getting to know them and, should a player who’s only been on air a few days win, I doubt it will feel satisfying for many viewers.

I also don’t know like that they have only introduced new players in pairs this time, I feel like it makes it harder to get to know the newbies if there are always two of them although maybe the theory is that it stops a single new player being an obvious target for blocking?

I think its silly to bring new people in so close to the end. If one of the new ones were to win though I would laugh because I can just picture Manrika's face!

The smug sneer on her face the other night showed she is convinced she is the winner.

@jay55

I think the nastiness might work and be popular in normal times. But right now it doesn't fit, and we want to see people making friends, and forming positive relationships because we can't at the moment.

For me the best parts of the celeb version were between the pairs, or when Denise would bring up a real life memory of herself with one of the contestants, a lot of the fun came from the non circle bits.

As below I wish we were hearing about Natalya's life, not her just being reduced to a catfish love rat. Even if that is her life via Felix's fake experience.
It would have been great to hear how Scott has coped with theatres being shut, how Andy and his family have dealt with homeschooling etc etc

I love Syed, Dot and Andy being all positive, even if it's fake. I want something nice to end the day, not a pretty girl's hubris spilling over.

Spot on, @jay55.

Where is the humanity, where can we identify positive experiences through these people? The constant emphasis on conflict is unpleasant and, frankly, I have enough of it in real life to want to watch it when I am trying to relax.

I feel like the contestants are being strongly manipulated now and struggle to be themselves (even if catfishing). Its all false, and for what? Ratings? I hope the producers read this thread and make adjustments to the next Circle because I probably won't bother switching on in the first place (and I was so looking forward to this one ).

I will continue to watch to the end, probably .

Yep, we know nothing about them. Even getting them to change their profile pictures would be interesting.
I missed Felix and Andys intros, and I literally have no idea if the kids in Andy's photo are his, as they are never ever mentioned by anyone. Why not?! And Felix - are the photos someone that Natalya knows, or just some random?