‘The Circle’s’ Clone Saga Actually Debuted in the UKand the Brits Fared Way Better – Decider

The Circle just loves to pull stunts. Anything that makes the already trying experience of total isolation even more stressful and/or ridiculous, thats what The Circle is here for. And now that were in Season 3 of the Netflix reality series, we know that this show rarely pulls the same stunts twice and players cant predict which way the Circle is gonna zig or zag.

But if youre a US fan and have figured out how to watch the hard-to-find original UK Circle seasons (were still waiting, Netflix!), then these twists will look awfully familiar. One of The Circle USs Season 2 twiststhe merging of Emily/Jack and Lance Bass/Lisa into psychic gay Santa Claus Johnoriginated in the UK, and the same is true of Season 3s big twist. SPOILERS AHEAD for The Circle US Season 3, Episodes 1-4 andif you can find itThe Circle UK Season 3, Episodes 1-4.

The US Season 3 premiere ends with blocked sisters Ava and Chanel given a chance to re-enter the game. The catch: they have to clone one of the players still in the game! Ava and Chanel pick 52-year-old Southern mom/stand-up Michelle because she ranked lowest and because people already suspected her of being a catfish.

Players last season thought a gay, psychic Santa was real but a country lady cant do stand-up? Come on. Anywaythe players wake up to a surprise: theres a Blue Michelle and an Orange Michelle.

This moment sent a chill down the spine of everyone who watched The Circle UK Season 3 when it aired just six months ago, because this cloning madness debuted on that series when the first-blocked player, Yolanda, chose to clone Tally.

But even though the stunt was the same, the outcome was drastically different. Frustratingly different. Horrifically different. I thought that Tallys experience was an existential nightmare until I saw what happened to Michelle. Lets compare and contrast, because some fatal mistakes were made.

First, Tally and Michelle are about as different as can be. Theres the UK/US thing, sure, but Tallys 29 years younger than Michelle. Youth and Tally being way more used to emoting through text helped gave her an advantage. In the first group chat after the clone reveal, Tally came out swinging and Michelle forgot a key bit of punctuation that is essential to emoting online: an exclamation point.

Tally also had one advantage that Michelle ultimately didnt have: an ally. This proves how important those day one interactions are! Tally had already formed a crazy close bond with Manrika, her fellow geezer bird. Checking the ol Too Hot to Handle dictionary: geezer bird means a babe whos into bro-y dudes. Manrika clocked that Blue Tally was the real Tally from that first message and did not waver. She even got chat requests from Orange and Blue Tally at the same time and she chose to talk to the right Tally! #GeezerGirlsOfTheCircle!

Michelle, however, didnt have such a strong, immediate bond with any player. There was a potential regional connection with Kai, since Kais from Nashville and Michelles from South Carolina. Ava and Chanel are from New York City! Surely Kai could ask some deep-fried country questions that only Michelle would know. But that opening message made Kai doubt the real Michelle, and when Ava and Chanel used bless your heart incorrectly, Kai somehow didnt clock that!

Bless your heart is the worst thing a Southern woman can say to someone! Blue Michelle used it sincerely! Things went from bad to worse when Michelle used her first post-Circle Chat DM to hit up Daniel instead of Kai. Remember, Tally went straight to Manrika. That solidified Tally and Manrikas alliance further. Daniel wasnt exactly a bad choice for Michelle. He did come in third in the first ratings. But Kai placed first and, again, the Southern connection. Michelle at least convinces Daniel that shes the real deal for now.

Even though she had someone in her corner, Tally wasnt having a good time being duped. Her responses to all of Yolandas saccharine and earnest Orange Tally comments were downright iconic.

Yolanda even DMed with Tally and did not cop to being a catfish. She kept playing as Tally to Tally in a Tally on Tally chat. Real Twilight Zone moment, and Tally was not having it.

Fast forward to the US Season 3, and Michelles private chat with her clone was also heated.

You gotta give Ava and Chanel some credit here. They at least didnt act like Michelle while chatting with Michelle. And credit where its due: Yolanda did drop the act in her second private chat with Tally. Oh yeahthey talked twice in the UK. They dragged this drama out even longer than in the US!

Now were at the point where Michelle gets absolved of all blame and the look of scorn targets the other US players. In both seasons, the Orange and Blue players had to share the story behind one some of Tally/Michelles profile photos. The UK players used their heads. Tally gave them personality and solid details, like knowing the breed of her dog Cleo and the correct driving time from Manchester to Brighton. These Brits loved the details.

The Americans? Netflix owes me a new television, because I threw mine out the window. Michelles cast thought that she was giving too many detailseven though the whole point of this photo game is to share details. Truly maddening! Even worse was the wedding photo that somehow everyone thought was a prom picture? Because they could not believe that this photo was taken circa 2000.

Do people not remember what photos looked like before we all had iPhones or digital cameras? They looked like this. The quality of consumer-level photography did not drastically increase all that much until well into the 2000s. The only way to tell the difference between a 1980s photo and a photo from 2000 is the clothesand everyones calling Michelles dress and hairdo straight from the 80s? Do all of these 20-somethings seriously think that Pacolet, South Carolinaa town with a population of one large apartment building in Queensis on the cutting-edge of fashion? So many people in my Tennessee hometown are still rocking the old Paige Davis cut today! What are we doing here, people?!

And that game seals their fates. In the UK, Tallys emotionally draining clone saga had a happy ending; four players voted to block Yolanda, the clone Tally. Only two players voted to block the real Tally. Tally did it, with the help of an exclamation point, a ride-or-die named Manrika, details, and players who understand that details are a good thing when you are trying to prove you are not a clone!

But Michelle? God, what a heartbreaker. Every single one of these people voted to block her, even Danielthe one person who Michelle thought she had definitely convinced. Seeing a gosh darn delight like Michelle get taken out in such a surreal, hopeless way really stung.

Michelle deserved better, and at least Ava and Chanel felt bad about taking part in this grueling game within a game.

As for everyone who voted to block the real Michelle, well bless your hearts!

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'The Circle's' Clone Saga Actually Debuted in the UKand the Brits Fared Way Better - Decider