This post contains spoilers for Circle Part 5.
Let’s get this out of the way: Yes, Shubam Goel—aka “Shooby,” a.k.a. Circle Part 1His most dedicated catfish hunter—still in touch with his show’s BFF, Joey Sasso. “We actually kicked it a couple of weeks ago in New York,” Goel said in a recent interview with The Daily Beast, tied to his return in Season 5. “We had some fun activity… went to the ice rink.” He then shared that he recently went out with his friends. Circle Courtney Revolution alumni, Daniel Cusimano and Jack Atkins.
Goel completed his first cycle through Circle, even if he admits he doesn’t like social media. While he didn’t win, he came in second to Sasso and became the fan favorite. This season, Goel is getting a second chance to take home the grand prize. In a change of strategy, he appears as a catfish: a young Indian woman named Sasha. But the game has become much more strategic since Goel first played, a far cry from the naive bewilderment of Season 1.
Although Goel believes this season’s contestants played a sincere game, this time he faces an uphill battle. “This time the profiles have more layers,” he said. “It feels like everyone has a lot of different things like they’re out there. But I would say, this season in general? It reminds me a lot of Season 1. I think a lot of people, especially people from the roots, have a deep and strong connection.
Shubham returns in Season 1.
Mitch Jenkins/Netflix
Goel’s anxiety was evident as he wandered into his new workplace. Circle apartment. When the screen loads his new profile, he humorously begs for a cute character. He told The Daily Beast: “I really didn’t think I could be so good at catching catfish. “You know, I’m a catfish hunter – not catfish.”
However, it is not difficult to guess why trying to catch catfish seems more advantageous. “If I were to go back to being myself… I just think maybe people would have hunted me down right away,” he said.
However, Goel only has so much control over his character this season. The game picked certain biographical details (age and relationship status “single”) for him, as well as pictures for his profile picture (ah, of Sasha). In an attempt to merge himself with Sasha and become, as he calls “Shu-Sasha,” Goel has transformed his character into a tech blogger—which at least reflects his own interests.
As Goel had predicted, catfish fishing proved to be a challenge for him. After all, it’s hard to speak up in fast-paced group chats when you’re constantly monitoring and monitoring your fake profile. Add in making sure you stay true to your personality with each answer, and you begin to see a dilemma. In the case of Goel/Sasha, he said, “I think the hardest thing is the gender difference… just joking around with a girl my age, obviously there are a lot of differences. “
Brett Robinson and Xanthi Perdikomatis, who started playing together as “Jennifer” after they were eliminated on Day One, ended up being the “Sasha” baggage claimant. Apparently, it was a certain outburst—in which Goel responded to accusations that Sasha was a catfish by writing, “I’m not a damn man!”—that was sealed. style it.
“I want people to see that Sasha is a leader and that she is ready to unite to the end,” Goel said. This caused “Sasha” to try to lead a revolution—new players versus old ones.
“The way I see it, when I walk into it, I feel like the original [players] running this thing,” he said. “Every ranking, every move, every point of this season is driven by OG.”
The relationships he sees forming between the first set of players remind Goel of how tight the Season 1 cast is — so he knows that if those relationships continue to deepen, the Newer players will toast. “I feel like I know where the ball is going,” he said. “So I feel like there’s a big moment where the newcomers can really start to assemble the army, and we can change the course of this game.”
Sasha’s rallying cry proved a bit… intense to some. The proposal to deliberately vote new player types, combined with some extremely sketchy distributions, gave up some players — even if it intrigued others. It eventually blew up in his face, ending his run on the show.
However, Goel insisted that the failed revolution was a “great move”.
He said: “There is always a ‘should, can, will be’. “Perhaps if I said something in a different way. … There are many classes that all players have to deal with in that game. Some people have a connection to the original. Some people don’t know how they feel about the other newcomers in the revolution.
“Maybe in another universe, somewhere else, it worked.”
Either way, “Sasha” left the game with no regrets — not in the first season, and not now. Instead, he finds himself once again contemplating the real relationships players can form in the game. “When you’re in there, you have nothing else,” he said. “And the connections you make are pure. I think the most interesting thing is, like, coming out of Circle, those relationships translate to the real world.
