'The Circle' Season 4: The portrait game raises some serious questions regarding Nathan's true identity
The fourth season of Netflix's 'The Circle' premiered on May 4. Previous seasons of the show, in which non-celebrities competed for social-media popularity, have featured shenanigans, strategy, and lots of catfishing. Fans are well aware that even seemingly benign cast members aren't usually whom they seem to be — at least online. Alex Brizard, a 22-year-old fresh-out-of-college frat guy, is the smartest Season 4 contender to adopt catfishing as a strategy, establishing an alter ego named Nathan. We've seen Nathan manage to maintain his identity intact in tough situations throughout the last three weeks.
Alex aspires to be the brightest player in the reality show and refers to himself as a catfish in real life due to the disparity between his personal and professional lives. He doesn't mind getting his hands filthy to advance in the game because he isn't here to make friends, but rather to make money.
RELATED ARTICLES
'The Circle' Season 4: Bru slides into Yu Ling's DMs before the influencers' ranking
'The Circle' Season 4: As the Spice Girls depart, contestants are on lookout for another catfish
Alex works as a commercial banker in Scottsdale, Arizona. If he won, he'd probably put the money toward a down payment on a house. And we've seen him throw other contestants under the bus to make that happen for him and his girlfriend. However, in the ninth episode of the new season, a simple game of "portrait making" puts his real identity under the radar. Each player is given art supplies and 30 minutes to complete a portrait of a contestant assigned to them for the game. Even though the game begins with a few nice moments, it doesn't take long for things to turn sour.
We watch Eversen pull off a Yu Ling portrait with a twist, shortly after Nathan throws Frank under the bus and forces him to defend himself. After learning about John, Eversen intended to instill fear in others by asking, "Will they be saved by Yu Ling when needed?" However, Nathan does not want Yu Ling to believe he did this because of the "fake flirt alert" tag in the photo. Yu Ling claims to have only flirted with Nathan on the show, which keeps him under the radar.
The one unexpected twist was Imani's attempt to reveal Nathan's true identity. In the portrait, she wonders about the true age of the show's catfish. For someone like him, who has been extremely cautious with every move to gain trust along the way, this did not meet the criteria. Nathan tried to maintain positive relationships with everyone he thought would be useful to his game. But now that everyone is questioning his identity, he might as well hurl himself into the pool. Bru, who had grown close to Nathan, began to question if his newest ally in the game was also a catfish (his earlier ally being Carol). Rachel, who had a trusting affiliation with Nathan, began to have reservations as well. The worst blow, though, was for Yu Ling, who had been flirting with Nathan since he first appeared on the show. With the newest seed of doubt put in her mind, she began to wonder whom she was talking to and subsequently fell for.
The show's anonymous games have a history of bringing out an unseen side in the competitors. In recent episodes of 'The Circle,' identities are disclosed, tactics are revealed, and a Catfish nearly pulls off the biggest move he has ever attempted. With the Spice Girls increasing the prize pool to a whopping $150,000, contestants are going all out to win it all.
Check out the latest episodes of 'The Circle,' which are now available on Netflix.