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'The Circle' Season 4: Contestants enraged after Alyssa casts doubt, viewers ask 'why be mad?'

Other candidates thought it was impolite for Alyssa to throw shade on Carol, a catfish, while she plots her own strategy

Finally, the wait is over! Season 4 of 'The Circle' has officially premiered on Netflix, and the fight between contestants is already heating up. It appears that even viewers are already taking sides.

To briefly describe the concept, 'The Circle' is a unique reality competition show. Rather than vying for one person's favor or performing dangerous acts, players must aim to appear friendly and famous on social media. They risk being blocked (aka eliminated) if they don't do so. But there's a twist: not every candidate competes under their own name. In fact, like a real life catfish, participants may adopt a completely new personality — and in certain cases, a player playing as a catfish may be able to connect with others better than those who are repping themselves. 'The Circle' is really about strategy and how one presents themselves and interacts with others through digital messages.

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There are a total of four catfish profiles in Season 4. We were introduced to two catfish profiles and one "celebrity" catfish profile before the first elimination round. Carol is the first character, and she is played by John, a 24-year-old New Jersey-based social media content developer. She is, in fact, John's mother. As a catfish, John is the first player to enter 'The Circle.' The second character is Paul, who is played by Parker, a 21-year-old Miami college student. In real life, he is Parker's father. Finally, the faces behind the "Jared" profile are none other than Melanie Janine Brown and Emma Bunton, both of whom were members of the highly popular female music band called the Spice Girls.

Before the introduction of another catfish profile at the end of episode 3, the show had two more catfish profiles left after Parker was eliminated in the first round of the competition. After the first elimination, all the contestants try to figure out who the other catfish profiles are and Alyssa Ljubicich's profile drew special attention. Alyssa had a good start as one of the candidates who chose to play themselves in 'The Circle,' building deep ties with almost all the other players. Although Alyssa's occupation as an assistant to a sex coach caught a few individuals off guard, the rest of the Circle immediately warmed up to her ability to make sex conversation light, amusing, and accessible while staying informative. Nevertheless, things appeared to be going downhill when the season's spicy bombshell had a few contestants wondering if she was sneakily a catfish.

Alyssa wanted to learn more about the other catfish profiles when it was revealed in a group conversation that Paul was a catfish profile run by his daughter, Parker, who'd been eliminated. When John, posing as "Carol," inadvertently confesses that he was paid a visit by Parker, she immediately connects the dots and deduces that Carol is the second catfish profile. Parker sends a message to the other candidates before leaving, warning them that not everyone is whom they appear to be and that they should keep an eye out. This could only suggest that the contestant Parker paid a visit to before leaving was also a catfish.

To draw more information out, Alyssa criticizes the cake decorating skills of someone (Carol/John) who didn't do a particularly good job, even though her profile stated she enjoyed baking. The other candidates thought this was a bad approach, and John/Carol didn't like the remarks either.

Fans, on the other hand, believe John dug his own grave with this one because he claimed to be visited by Parker. One of the fans rushed to Twitter to express his displeasure, writing: "Not Carol EXPOSED. Why would you admit Parker came to you???? #THECIRCLE"

Fans rushed to Alyssa's defense, when other contestants were mad at her for sowing doubt about the catfish profiles. Since being a catfish isn't a crime on the show, the viewers were perplexed by the backlash she was receiving from the other players. One user wrote on Twitter: "Not they're mad because Alyssa decided to shake the room by casting doubt #TheCircleNetflix #THECIRCLE"

Season 4 of 'The Circle' is currently available on Netflix, with new episodes slated to premiere on May 11th