Yahoo News The Trust Series Premiere Recap: The ‘Game of Greed’ Gets Off to a Savage Start — Grade It!
Your next reality TV obsession is here.
Welcome to Netflix’s The Trust, where 11 strangers are given a quarter of a million dollars to split evenly and everyone is a winner! Well, sort of. The allure of a larger share of the cash will soon test its players, as lucrative offers are made and accepted, and friendships are put to the ultimate test.
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At the top of the premiere episode (Episodes 1-4 are now available to stream; three more episodes follow Jan. 17, with the finale dropping Jan. 24), host Brooke Baldwin makes it crystal clear that nobody has to be eliminated. The group can always choose to continue sharing the trust by individually opting not to vote. But if just one single vote is cast at a trust ceremony, that person will be immediately eliminated and cut from the trust. But if there is a tie, no one will leave the game. In the very first minutes of the show — before the cast can even meet each other properly — Brooke offers them the chance to take a shot at someone. They all smartly remain quiet.
But they won’t remain quiet for long.
Tolú and Winnie hit it off right from the jump, and Julie is immediately attracted to their “alpha energy.” The three decide to room together and soon after, form an alliance.
Juelz, a police officer, lies to the group and tells them he’s a stripper. It’s a strategy, but one that almost immediately backfires. He admits to being a “hustler,” and right away Julie is sketched out by him.
THE FIRST TEST | The game’s tests are created in order to let the cast get to know each other better, so they can decide who they ultimately want to split the money with. Brooke delivers boxes of secrets to the group. They must read all of the cards out loud, but nobody has to confess. They’re left to speculate on who cheated on a former spouse with their current one, who slept with 150 people, who frequently lies about their occupation and more. Jay, a 70-year-old grandma, cracks a joke about being the one to shag 150 partners (it wasn’t her), and right away, we know this foul-mouthed granny is one to keep an eye on! (Is it too early to pick a favorite?)
The most shocking revelation: One of them became a millionaire at just 21 years old. Mic. Drop. It changes everything for the group. Why would they want to split a quarter mill with someone who’s already hella rich!? Everyone guesses that it’s the 22-year-old luxury realtor, Bryce. It is. But he lies about it. The deflection works for now, but in a private conversation, Lindsey and Julie still think that it could be Bryce.
THE VAULT | Below the house is a vault, where select players will win a chance to make very important life- and game-changing decisions. Brooke brings a set of keycards to the group. Whoever selects the cards with a silver stripe on them get to be the first ones to receive a special offer. Those two are Simone and Juelz. They’re presented with two offers: Offer 1: They can each take $2,500 from the trust IF someone is voted out at the next ceremony. Or: $5,000 can be added to the pot, IF they block two people’s next votes. They also don’t have to tell anyone about what happened or what they decided.
They elect to bank the five grand and block Tolú and Bryce’s votes, and Tolú is not happy about it. As a first generation African female immigrant, she says she had to claw her way out of poverty and alienation, and feels like she always has things stripped away from her. “The same old s–t just keeps happening and I cannot seem to escape it,” she says.
TRUST CEREMONY | It’s time for their first vote. One by one, they meet Brooke at the cliff’s edge where they must decide whether to vote or not. There’s a big consensus, led by military dude Jake, to start and leave the experience as a family. He pleads for everyone to not vote, since no one really has a reason to eliminate anyone.
Juelz, Jake, Brian, Bryce and Jay opt not to vote. Julie’s the first one to throw a dagger, voting Juelz out of the trust, along with Winnie and Lindsey. (Winnie says she calls BS on everything the guy says.) Brooke asks Tolú if she would like to vote. When Tolú asks if she has voting power, Brooke says, “It depends on if you believe what they’re telling you or not.” (INTERESTING!) Since she’s still feeling some type of way about losing her vote, she throws a Hail Mary vote Juelz’s way. Her gut is telling her he’s not who he says he is, and she’s sticking with it.
Brooke delivers the news to the group. No one had to vote, but “at least one of you did,” she says. “The trust has been broken and someone is going home.” She announces Juelz’s elimination, and the rest of the group is pissed. There’s a liar among them. Multiple, in fact. Let the games begin.
So what did you think? Grade Episode 1 of The Trust below, then let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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