There's Nothing Like a "Circle Alert" Twist To Throw Off Everyone's Game on 'The Circle'

Every player on The Circle, and every viewers for that matter, knows that something is about to go down as soon as you see the "message alert" notice on the many TV screens in their individual apartments on the show. So when the Season 6 contestants get that announcement and they're told there is a twist called "ride or dies" that will shake up the game, they're all, well, shook, to be honest. And viewers are too.

But with every season of the Netflix reality competition show comes twists and surprises that keep the game interesting. So the "ride or dies" twist was expected, in a way. But what it actually means could have lasting effects on the alliances and friendships that have formed up until this point.

During one of the many team-building games that are actually more like drama-building exercises, the players' answers are used to actually see who is more compatible with each other. Unbeknownst to them, they're each paired up with a secret partner whose fate is toes to their own.

And no one is allowed to reveal the identity of their "ride or die" partner to anyone else. So if a not-so-loved player is targeted as someone to block and their "ride or die" happens to be one of the more loved players, that beloved player will also get the boot.

It's a pretty wild twist meant to shake up The Circle game in a major way. In the idle of this twist, we have rankings. And the lowest rated player is said to immediately be blocked, a long with their "ride or die." Again, it doesn't matter if the other player in the twosome is at the top of the rankings.

They'll automatically be tied to the lowest rated blocked player. And at the end of Episode 8, we see that both Kyle and Paul (aka Caress, who is playing the game as her brother Paul) are fated to get sent packing.

When Kyle and Paul are told that one of them was ranked the lowest, we know that one of them will be blocked. But what's this? As yet another Circle twist, Caress/Paul and Kyle are given the chance to change the hand that fate has dealt them. If they can both privately agree which one of them should remain in the game, then only one of them will be blocked.

But that means that one of them also has to agree that they don't belong in the game themselves. We have a hard time believing that will happen. And unless they can agree on who should stay and who should go (without knowledge of what the other is saying), then they'll both be blocked anyway.

And in the preview after Episode 8, we don't see Kyle or Paul/Caress in any of the remaining episodes for Season 6. That could just be a way for production to make sure we don't know which one stays and which one is blocked. But it's hard to believe that Paul/Caress or Kyle would fall on their sword for the other person and willingly leave the game.

Watch The Circle on Netflix.