编者注：这个故事包含“圈子”第四季的破坏者。
The latest season of the hit Netflix competition series “The Circle” crowned a new winner during a dramatic season finale episode released Wednesday, May 25. Though San Francisco native Yu Ling Wu made it to the final stage of the competition, her gameplay did not garner enough votes to secure the win. Looking back though, she’s not upset with the outcome.
The Lowell High School alum always led with the most authentic version of herself, a trait that helped her gather many alliances and frequently landed her at the top of player rankings throughout the season. Though some of her decisions landed her in trouble with her allies during the game, her personality resonated with viewers both in the Bay Area and beyond.
Players in this season of “The Circle” competed for a $150,000 prize in a social competition where they aimed to become the most popular player in the game. Some, like Wu, chose to come in and play as themselves, while others made fake profiles and “catfished” their fellow players over chat (like this season’s John Franklin, who impersonated his mother, Carol). Every week the competitors rated each other from most to least liked. The most popular players of the week, known as “influencers,” decided which of their competitors to “block” or eliminate from the game.
在最后一集中激发了紧张关系，因为玩家开始对彼此之间的互动更具战略意义。During a portrait drawing game, where the artists anonymously showcased their interpretations of the other players, Wu was called out as a fake flirt by fellow player Everson Bevelle in an attempt to knock her down in the ratings, but it didn’t quite work out that way.
就在决赛之前，一个惊喜的转折在最后一个盖帽中立刻淘汰了两名球员。约书亚·布鲁贝克（Joshua Brubaker）（BRU）因成为比赛中评分最低的球员而被淘汰，而内森（Alex Brizard）在弗兰克·格里姆斯利（Frank Grimsley）成为顶级影响者之后被封锁，并有机会阻止他想要的任何人。尽管Wu和Nathan在比赛中都在战略上互相调情 - 甚至在他们的泳衣中互相发送照片，但似乎并没有为他们俩赢得胜利。
After the final ratings, Wu came in third and Trevor St. Agatha came in second, making Grimsley the top influencer and winner of the season.
WU先前讨论过在纪事中，本赛季的一些最大时刻，包括在游戏的病毒毛刺扭曲期间，选择其他球员雷切尔·埃文斯（Rachel Evans），而不是她的盟友Alyssa Ljubicich之间的选择，这导致Alyssa从圈子中被封锁。随着Netflix的结局，这是该对话的更多亮点：
这个S.F.如何当地人被香料女孩聊天，并在“圆圈”上搅拌了锅
Q: In the finale you were so close! What do you think might’ve changed the outcome? What would you have done differently to get to that winning spot?
A：我认为，如果我在最后的收视率中将Bru提高了，这主要是因为他那天被阻止。我只是在想，“这是我绝对需要拯救的人”，当然是弗兰克和瑞秋。但是，知道我们会互相评估，所以我本可以将Bru提高一点，因此至少他不会立即进行第一次削减。然后，我最终对内森失去了很多信任，因为我们从未谈论过策略。
So I would say that if I changed that, perhaps the final ratings could’ve gone differently, if Nathan and Bru were in the final five. Simultaneously, I don’t think I would’ve changed anything, because the person that I really was obsessed with, Frank, deserved (the win). We’re all so happy, everyone in the cast, it’s just like, “Yes. Yes. We’re so happy that he’s walking away with that.”
You can’t even be mad. The fact that I was even on the show is a blessing in and of itself.
问：卡罗尔（Carol）呆了这么长时间真是太疯狂了。当您是一个影响者时，她两次在那里。
A：我成为Alyssa的影响者的第一个晚上，我实际上是为Carol的枪杀。但是，您知道，人们说：“嗯，她不忠诚，她没有选择艾丽莎，她把crissa扔了。”但是事实是，卡罗尔救了一次，所以她说，但是当我得知她对艾丽莎说同样的话时，我就像，“嗯。”
我的整个事情是我忠于您，直到您给我一些不忠诚的理由。
问：让我们与Nathan谈谈您的调情游戏，因为它从零开始，很快。我从未见过圈子中的某人直接将照片发送给另一个玩家。
A：我问我是否可以这样做，他们是，就像，“好，是的。我们可以让您发送图片。”我当时想，“正在发生，我们正在发送照片。”我调情游戏的最大事情是我不打算与内森调情。我不喜欢，“我在这里是为了爱。”我想，“我在这里获胜。我勒个去？”如果调情是把我带到那里的方式，好吧，我的名字是调情。我的中间名是调情的。
It did go from zero to 100, but here’s the thing: If I’m gonna flirt, especially if I’m gonna be on a show and people are gonna see, then I’m giving you 150% flirt.
问：这种关系改变了什么？目的是什么？
A：对我来说，内森正在玩他的比赛。从来没有感觉像我与弗兰克（Frank）和雷切尔（Rachel），阿丽莎（Alyssa）和布鲁（Bru）之间的联系。更像是：“很好。我想他会为我击球。”就是这样。在您的好处比坏人更多。
问：即使他是cat鱼……
A：In the back of my head, I was like, “He could be, but if he’s voting for me then who cares?” I mean, that’s the difference in this season. We actually didn’t really care if they were a catfish or not, up to a certain extent.
问：与cat鱼的事情是，是有人在玩游戏，骗人，欺骗他们，不真实地玩耍并让您感到难过吗？还是他们只是扮演角色，但是这个角色的真实性仍然存在？
A：Exactly.The difficulty with the catfish scenario is that you do need to balance it. To make it believable that you are that person, you do need to have a bit of that genuineness come through or the performance of it at least. Otherwise, people are going to see right through it.
问：埃弗森（Everson）的肖像画在我看到它之后被卡在我的脑海中。那是恶毒的。我觉得那是：“哦，她有点失望。人们正试图欺骗她。”
A：That’s so funny because I wasn’t thinking I’d lost my popularity. I was just like, “Ew. Someone doesn’t like me.” But who?
When I chose Frank and Rachel, I was thinking, “These two have me. Never once did their loyalty waver. And that’s the best way it could’ve gone because even Bru wavered when I chose somebody else. I was like, “All right. That means that you don’t have enough trust in your own thing to choose who you wanna choose, so I need people who know for sure.” I know Frank and Rachelle didn’t do that. And as long as they didn’t, it didn’t matter who did.
问：你真是个强大的球员。我不敢相信游戏的一开始，人们说你很害羞。
A：我的感觉完全相同，这就是为什么我如此困惑。第一天，我想，“什么？”我是如此不知所措。我以为我做了太多事情，因为当我们必须进行评分时，我觉得我说了很多。这款游戏有趣的是，如今我们还要说社会是您所说的是您所说的，以及您如何表现，每个人都会以不同的方式解释。
Some people probably would’ve been like, “Wow. What a strong character. Relax.” Other people are like, “Wow. She says that she’s a strong character. Why is she not yelling 24/7?” And the case is like, yes, I’m usually yelling but also, there are days I don’t yell. That’s the Bay in me.
“The Circle”(TV-MA) is available to stream on Netflix.