The Circle Recap: Roasts, Hosts, and Viruses (Season 4 Episodes 5-8)

Sizzling hot roasts, two new players, and an ominous virus causing mayhem in The Circle leads to a shocking showdown.

The Circle Season 4 Episodes 5-8 does not let up on the drama and thrills. These episodes mark the middle of the season, but there’s nothing middling about them, the excitement is only increasing. 

Jaw-dropping votes bring unexpected contestants to the chopping (blocking?) block, and battle lines are drawn with some catastrophic consequences for alliances and friendships. Helping all this along are little challenges that create big ripple effects. A comedy roast hosted by Roast Queen Nikki Glazer, parties hosted by two new players, and a host virus loose in The Circle’s mainframe are a few of the disruptions that upset the delicate balance of the social media game show.

Let’s recap this wild portion of an already wild season of The Circle!

ALERT! Spoilers ahead!

The Library is Open!

This roast game is perfect for The Circle! Not only is it really difficult to write good comedy, but it’s even harder to have a joke hit over text (and then delivered by a proper comedian). So much can go wrong—subtext can be misconstrued, the desired tone might not come across, either, and a comment said in jest can be taken personally and even offend. 

Yu Ling: I mean, I’m mean but I don’t know if I’m funny is the problem here.

You’re hilarious, Yu Ling, own it. Although, her jokes do have some trouble landing. 

Nikki Glazer: Yu Ling, listen, roasting isn’t for everyone, and it’s definitely not for you.

If you’re a catfish in The Circle your task here is triply hard. Writing jokes in disguise can be tricky—you want to be funny and believable.

John as Carol is bizarrely good at imitating his mom. He might want to get that checked out, actually. 

Nikki Glazer: Just the way you wrote your jokes read like a text I got from my mom.
John: I wrote a literal roast as my mom! It was supposed to read like it was a mom sending a text message!

Mama Carol even goes so far as to ask Alyssa for sex advice on behalf of his parents. John is in it to win it, and is proving to be a strong competitor. But will he be strong enough to make it through the blocking cliffhanger that ends Episode 8, “Circle Cyber Attack?”

Anything is possible in The Circle.

Like dueling parties hosted by the newest and last to join The Circle. 

Mermaids vs The Greeks

Eversen, a 35-year-old cruise director, is new to The Circle and already playing host with an Under the Sea theme party. He’s certainly got the enthusiasm and charisma that would make a good cruise director, but it might not translate to a social media environment.

Eversen: I am the voice of entertainment. Literally, I am in charge of all the fun.

His personality could come off as brash and cocky, but Eversen seems to be a genuine guy, just a little high-energy is all. However, it does little to win over guests to his party: only Rachel and Bru join the merman hostest with the mostest (and the leastest).

Bringing in the numbers already is another newbie. Well, newbie-ish.

Trevor’s wife Deleesa, won Season 2 of The Circle by catfishing as him. Trevor wants a go at that prize money, too, and he’s going to catfish like his wife did before him.

Trevor: DeLeesa may be the Queen of The Circle, but you’re about to see the King. 

In The Circle, Trevor becomes Imani, and throws a toga party that gets the most guests, and gains a bit of an advantage. However, both players are granted immunity by anti-virus protection, leaving the rest of the contestants vulnerable to being blocked.

Data Breach!

After the unexpected face-to-face blocking of Crissa by Yu Ling on Episode 7, “The Party Divide,” alliances are tested. The sneaky Circle adding in a virus only calls attention to cracks that were already there. 

And someone is about to get blocked from The Circle, cutthroat playground-style—the last player at the end of the saving chain will be sent packing. It amazingly comes down to Bru’s decision on whether to give the immunity to his bestie Mama Carol or one-third of his throuple, Alyssa.

Both John/Carol and Alyssa have been smart competitors, and it’s so interesting to see them at the bottom, at risk of being blocked. 

My money is on Bru saving Mama Carol, but I’d rather he save Alyssa. While I’m impressed with John’s clever game play, Alyssa has been killing it, and all by being her genuine self.  

What did you think of these episodes of The Circle? Who do you think will be blocked? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The Circle streams 4 new episodes on Wednesdays on Netflix.

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