Did the right player win the prize on The Circle season 2?

ALERT! Another season of Netflix’s wildly popular social media reality competition The Circle is in the books. The final ratings have been entered, the catfish revealed, and a winner crowned. But did the right person win The Circle season 2? That probably depends on what kind of gameplay you want from the person who sits atop the ratings board.

From a purely tactical standpoint, it’s hard to argue that Deleesa Carrasquillo – who catfished as a single dad version of her husband, Trevor – played an incredible game. She had everyone fooled, and even when players might waver on whether Trevor actually was who he said he was, she pulled it out and kept up the false identity.

After all, she did what Jack couldn’t – believably demonstrating a task (sports trivia knowledge) that pretty much any guy would know, rather than completely blowing up her spot by getting it wrong. (Truly I will never be over that mannequin make-up challenge. N e v e r.)

Plus, Deleesa rolled to the final Circle Chat in a true winner’s outfit. She looked incredible! There’s a strong argument to be made that she more than deserves the $100,00

That said, we at least have to acknowledge that DeLeesa played a pretty dishonest game. To their credit, the other players forgave her for it, but listening to some of the things Chloe said in the finale, about how Trevor made her feel like she already won, just. That’s a lot.

Yes, it’s a game, and everyone taking part knows that. But using the clearly genuine nature of Chloe’s feelings  – feelings that Deleesa not only recognized but took advantage of? It’s an undeniably great game move. But it’s not a great life move. And it’s hard not to feel sorry for Chloe, who dreamed of a real future with a guy she liked, even if she handles her shock at Trevor’s real identity well. (Better than I would, just saying!)

And if Chloe doesn’t hold a grudge about it – should viewers? Probably not. Heck, maybe the realization that Trevor’s not real will push her to give hunky Mitchell a chance now that the season’s over.

Did the best player win The Circle season 2?

Perhaps Deleesa/Trevor was strictly a better player than Chloe was when it came to manipulation and keeping a complex story spinning with multiple people. But Chloe made it all the way to the finals – to the final two, come to that – simply by being mostly charming, very dorky self. People voted for her simply because they liked her, and she was true to her real self. (It’s not an accident that exactly zero people thought Chloe was a catfish even though several recognized her profile photo from her time on Netflix’s other reality series Too Hot to Handle.) It’s hard not to want to reward that kind of authenticity.

But maybe authenticity was the name of the game during the series’ first season when the show was relatively unknown. But catfishing certainly seems like the way to go in The Circle these days. (There were so many more than season 1!) Maybe that’s a sign that the game is changing, and players will have to adapt accordingly. If that’s the case, there’s certainly no better champion than Deleesa, who played her false role to the hilt. (Versus, say, someone like Lee, who ended up creating a catfish version of his 24-year-old self who was able to be open about his sexuality when his real self couldn’t.)

But no matter how you feel about whether the right person took home the prize – it does seem like the players got the top two 100% right, and the real question might just boil down to how you yourself would play the game.

Do you think the right person won The Circle season 2? Why or why not?