If you didn’t watch Million Dollar Secret, stop what you’re doing, head to Netflix, and watch. It’s an exceptional binge-watch. If you have already, which I’m assuming is why you’re here, you’re eager to learn why the show was near-perfect, and when it does come back for a much-deserved second season, it must include this major change.
Like The Mole and The Traitors, Million Dollar Secret is a game where holding onto a secret determines your fate in the game. Unlike both of those games of deception, Million Dollar Secret allows players to earn clues as to the identity of the secret millionaire. Once you enter the Trophy Room, host Peter Serafinowitcz will offer a Hunter the chance to learn something about the target. The problem is the clues and their rollout need improvement. Peter, ya gotta make them harder!
‘Million Dollar Secret’ Is a Game of Deduction
Having just completed a triumphant debut season, Million Dollar Secret has given reality television fans a reason to be excited. On the heels of other social games of deception, Million Dollar Secret flew its players to the stunning locale of British Columbia, where they were tested on detecting truth through lies. The game is simple: identify the individual who is holding the million-dollar prize. Through high-stakes challenges, brutal elimination dinners, secret agendas, and blatantly obvious clues, Million Dollar Secret‘s slow-burn tone provides strategy enthusiasts an opportunity to analyze every move of the twelve contestants.
The Million Dollar Secret required activities to help guests understand the mindset of the various players and deduce their role in the game. While there is only one millionaire at a time, having the chance to see how players act out in the wild is telling. It’s why the millionaire, with their wealth of knowledge, is a masterful yet treacherous power. The big production games were exceptional, but some of the other elements became filler.
Though the final challenge was a major letdown, nearly every other element of the game fulfilled a rush of adrenaline for the players. The energy was palpable, which helped balance out the slower, more mysterious deduction that the players engaged in. While the secret agendas range from dangerously corny and pathetically silly, it’s fun to watch the secret millionaire forced to navigate the high-stakes game with adolescent antics because the advantage they earn is potentially game-changing. While we can forgive that, the clues from the Trophy Room require some reworking.
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Why ‘Million Dollar Secret’ Needs Harder Clues
The array of clues that Peter Serafinowitcz divvied was sadly dismal. Some of the clues pertained to previous secret agendas, which defeated the purpose and secrecy of said agenda. The primary objective of the secret agenda was to execute it successfully. And when they do, having another mechanic of the game pull the rug out from under them and expose them is simply unfair. I will forever be a Lauren Trefethren apologist. I think she was playing an exceptional game. While I don’t agree with her revealing her identity once the money was transferred to another’s account, exposing her game with a clue that revealed her secret agenda of dropping song titles during breakfast was beyond damaging. The same could be said of Phillip Rountree, who had to get the group to scream for his agenda. The trophy room clue directed the Hunters to horror movies, which blatantly exposed Phil’s game.
Others were hints to personal information about the players. And here’s why that was a problem. While they may have filmed hours upon hours of footage, revealing some of those facts, ensuring they were properly included in the edit for us as viewers wasn’t always the case. While we knew that Sam Hubbard was a former police officer, she concealed that fact from the group. So, when the Trophy Room secret agenda clue required the guests to say police-related words, the storyline suddenly turned into a barrage of learning about anyone who may have ever had any relationship or run in with the cops. It was similar to how the clue was about how the secret millionaire had two sisters. While it was a damaging clue, the only reason why it worked was that there were a few individuals to whom it could pertain. And that’s how the clues have to be. They need to implicate multiple individuals, forcing the deduction to be amplified.
With the sister clue, it was meant to reveal Cara Kies‘ identity, but there were some other players, like Corey Niles, who had half-sisters that could have fit the bill. Because the symantics were for Cara, because she kept it quiet, and Corey was a bit more open, it allowed Cara to keep cover while doubt was tossed onto Corey. It was brilliant gameplay and something that needed to be introduced sooner. But that’s how Million Dollar Secret felt overall. It was flying by the seat of its pants. For Season 2, once the clues are fixed and the final episode is reworked to be grander, Million Dollar Secret will have the ability to dethrone The Traitors as the top-tier strategy competition show. Just keep it to civilians, please.
Million Dollar Secret is available to stream on Netflix.
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