Shows / The Circle

The Circle

7 seasons. One app, one rating system, zero face-to-face contact.

7seasons aired

July 2026Canon revised

Strangers move into separate apartments and only ever talk through a single social app — rating each other, deciding who gets blocked, for six years of Netflix's sharpest social-strategy format.

No spoilers. Every page is reviewed before it goes live.

The canon, top to bottom.What readers are voting on.

One editor's ranking, written by an editor who has rewatched every season at least twice. The community argues back in the next tab.Each season carries a yes/no vote — does it belong in the community top 10? — and the share of “in” votes orders every season 1..N below. Updated every Thursday at 9pm ET. Until enough votes land, this mirrors the canon — be the first to move it.

01 · WHO

Who ranks it

tiered.tv's editor. The Circle US ran seven seasons on Netflix and only its founding season is ranked so far, weighed for how clearly the show's core mechanic — rating strangers you never meet — generates real strategy rather than just chatter. The point isn't to be right; it's to be honest about what's actually on screen.

02 · HOW

How I weigh it

Weighing centers on three things: whether the format's core tension — rating people you'll never meet in person — produces genuine strategy, whether the cast commits fully to either playing themselves or building a persona, and whether the season's shape holds up as a season of television, not just a premise.

03 · WHEN

When I revisit

With only the debut season ranked so far, this canon is early. Six more seasons aired across the show's full Netflix run, and each will earn its own slot as the ranking expands. Expect real movement once the fuller run is seeded and weighed against this founding entry.

The seasons that defend the show.

Seasons where the app's rating system and the personas players choose collide into something genuinely strategic — the format at its sharpest.

01 · one entry

S01

Season 1

Season 1 · 2020

The founding season that built the app-only format from scratch.

Season one is the only entry ranked so far, and it takes the top slot by default — it's the blueprint every later season builds on. The format arrives fully formed: separate apartments instead of a shared house, a single app instead of face-to-face conversation, and a rating system that turns every message into strategy. The choice to appear as yourself or invent a persona gives the show its central tension, and the debut cast commits to both approaches without hesitation. There's a rawness here later seasons polish away — no returning host, no franchise shorthand, just strangers figuring out how much of themselves to show through a screen.

Community◆ hold

#01

Why this slot

Separate apartments, one social app, no face-to-face contact until someone gets blocked. The debut cast plays it straight and plays it as a persona in equal measure, and the show never blinks at either choice.

livelast update · votes pendingnext update · Thursday 9pm ETvoters this week · 0status · mirroring the canon

open to anyone

What moved this week.

Top changes

Movers populate once weekly updates start producing deltas. Until then, the community rank mirrors the canon and nothing has moved.

this week’s question

Does Season 1 still set the standard for how The Circle's rating game should feel?

Your vote feeds the next update. One vote per reader; change your mind within 72h.

votes pending · closes Thursday

The full ranking.

Mirrors the Editor's Canon until enough community votes land.

RankSeasonApproval%7dVotes

Season 12020