Netflix’s new reality competition show,Million Dollar Secret, is starting to gain momentum asthe new must-watch reality competition series. In the first few episodes,a contestant, Lauren Jean, revealed her identity as a former millionaire, but her admission wasn’t enough to save her from elimination. Despite being forthcoming about her identity, the other contestants felt they couldn’t trust her, since she’d lied up until that point about her status. Lauren was eliminated and, as the game dictates, had to reveal that she truly wasn’t the millionaire, butit was too little, too late for her.
Million Dollar Secretseason 1is turning out to be the show that fills the void left by shows likeThe TraitorsandThe Trust.
It’s a deceptive game of building trust and manipulating relationships to end the show as the person (out of 12 contestants) holding the million-dollar prize.
In the end, only one person will be the millionaire, butit won’t be an easy road for them, as Lauren can attest.
Lauren Was First Millionaire
Lauren Was Openly Uncomfortable
Lauren, a mom from the Midwest, put her life on pause to compete onMillion Dollar Secret. Lauren became the series' first millionaire by opening a wooden box in her room on the first night, butshe wasn’t as excited about it as one might think. Instead, she felt immense pressure. In fact, she wished she hadn’t been made the millionaire so early on in the season.
“I hate lying, so I’m struggling with the morality of it. And yet, that’s the game.”
After completing a secret challenge, Lauren was able to pull a move that removed the money from her possession and randomly redistributed it to another cast member. For Lauren, it was a way to ease the complexities involved in lying to everyone. She would be able to get the money again in later episodes, if she survived eliminations, It was a risk Lauren was willing to take, but it ultimately cost her her spot.
Lauren’s Status Was An Asset
Lauren Knew Secrets About Being The Millionaire
It’s easy to see why Lauren’s admission that she had been the millionaire at one point in the game put a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.Lauren basically proved that she’s capable of lying and acting deceitful by admitting that she’d been doing that the whole time to hide her identity. Despite her protestations that she didn’t like lying, she was obviously good at it, since nobody suspected her of being the millionaire.
After Lauren confessed, she tried to make a case to keep her on the show by reminding everyone that she had insider info because of her status. She knew, for instance, that the millionaire had secret challenges occurring, unbeknownst to the rest of the group. Lauren made a good point, since she could share some of that information to help the rest of the team figure out who the next millionaire was.
ButLauren underestimated how guilty she lookedin the eyes of everyone.
How could they trust her now that she revealed she’d been lying?
She also wasn’t revealing everything, claiming there were certain things she intended to keep private for her benefit. The writing was on the wall for Lauren.
Sydnee Is Deceptive, But Savvy
Sydnee Uses Looks To Her Advantage
At the end of episode 3, it came down to Lauren and fellow player, Sydnee Falkner, for elimination. The cast was split on who to eliminate, especially in light of Lauren’s admission that she was the millionaire at one point, but wasn’t any longer. Eliminating Lauren wasn’t because everyone thought she was the millionaire.It was because they couldn’t trust her moving forward.
Lauren’s strategy backfired on her.
Sydnee was up for elimination because the cast had suspicions about her, aided by Lauren, who put a target on Sydnee’s back, and Sydnee did little to dissuade them. After surviving, Sydnee’s strategy became more clear. She’s not above using manipulative tactics in order to win. In episode 4, Sydnee cozied up to fellow contestant, Chris Allen, in order to attempt an alliance, saying, “I am single and not unattractive. It would be foolish not to use what you have as an advantage.”
Sydnee is proving herself to be a skilled gamer who might use her looks to gain favor, or to make people think she’s harmless and underestimate her. She should have been eliminated over Lauren, because she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with moving forward. If she succeeds, nobody will see it coming.
