Television Tuesday: "The Trust," On Netflix is a Fun Game of Greed

"The Trust," is a gameshow where everyone has already won. Seriously, everybody gets a cut of $250,000 just for showing up as long as they don't get voted out of the house. Ah yes, because there has to be a twist, and in the end, this is a game of greed. All the folks in the villa are quite different from each other too. We've got folks of assorted backgrounds, sexualities, races, and body types. Some people defy initial stereotypes you might have about them regarding how they treat others and the possibility of screwing over teammates for a bigger piece of the trust. Some contestants are eager to throw anyone they can under the metaphorical bus. It makes for entertaining television knowing all everyone has to do is basically nothing and they can all get a piece of the pie. Still, with only a single vote needed to eliminate someone (votes are anonymous too) and the fact that makes your chunk of cash bigger, you do the math.

"The Trust," is by no means perfect. Host Brooke Baldwin gives everyone little games to play that seem designed to piss everyone off with each other at a rapid speed instead of letting tension develop naturally (which it does too, thankfully). Some contestants are a bit bland and I practically forget they are on the show with how little screen time they get. Other contestants get more attention than they really need, with a vague romantic connection between two people being boring as Hell yet getting a bunch of minutes. That said, you quickly find yourself rooting for the individuals who seem genuinely kind and caring with an interest in sharing money and booing the others who have little hesitation in acting nefariously to get what they want. This is a reality show at the end of the day and it thrives off drama, but the concept that everyone has already won if they can just avoid metaphorically shooting each other in the foot is a great hook. That is because, of course, we as human beings are going to screw up something that seems simple. The first half of the episodes were released by Netflix with another chunk coming out this Wednesday, the 17th. I look forward to tuning in and seeing just how badly everyone continues to make a seemingly good situation worse.

4 out of 5 stars.