# The Trust: A Game of Greed

The Trust: A Game of Greed is an American reality game show broadcast on Netflix in 2024. Eleven strangers are offered $250,000 split equally among themselves and have to decide whether to eliminate each other and whether to accept offers that affect the money in the prize pot.

## Format

A communal pot of $250,000 is initially shared equally among 11 contestants who socialize together in a luxury villa. Trust Ceremonies are held in which each contestant is given the opportunity to vote a contestant out of the game. The person who receives the most votes is eliminated, but there is no elimination in the case of a tie or no votes.
Participants play games that can add money to the prize pot. These include games that reveal secrets about each other, games that ask them to rank each other based on personality and games that ask them to reveal their voting history. Some contestants are offered access to The Vault, which gives them the opportunity to take an offer, which could benefit themselves or the group. The series is hosted by journalist Brooke Baldwin.

## Contestants

| Name | Age | Occupation | Result | Winnings |
| Brian Firebaugh | 42 | Rancher | Winner | $78,600 |
| Tolú Ekundare | 26 | Marketing Manager | Winner | $73,600 |
| Julie Theis | 28 | Businessperson | Winner | $63,600 |
| Gaspare Randazzo | 33 | Teacher | Winner | $48,600 |
| Jake Chocholous | 37 | Military Contractor | Winner | $48,600 |
| Lindsey Anderson | 43 | Business Coach | Eliminated | $0 |
| Winnie Ileso | 31 | Bartender | Eliminated | $20,000 |
| Jay Patterson | 70 | Retired | Self-eliminated | $25,000 |
| Bryce Lee | 22 | Realtor | Eliminated | $0 |
| Simone Stewart | 55 | Unemployed | Eliminated | $0 |
| Juelz Morgan | 32 | Police Officer | Eliminated | $0 |

## The Vault

Color key:
Vault history :
| Episode | Recipients | Offer 1 | Offer 2 | Result | Trust Total |
| 1 | Juelz Simone | $5,000 added to the Trust, block two people's votes. | $2,500 each from the Trust, if someone is eliminated. | Bryce and Tolú's votes were blocked, $5,000 added to the trust. | $255,000 |
| 2 | Bryce Gaspare | $10,000 subtracted from the Trust, give one person immunity. | $5,000 each from the Trust, if they cast a vote for the same person. | Julie received immunity, $10,000 subtracted from the trust. | $245,000 |
| 3 | Bryce Jake | $2,000 added to the Trust for each person who does not vote. | $10,000 each from the Trust, if someone is eliminated. | $18,000 added to the trust. | $263,000 |
| 4 | Brian | (Blind offer) Offer was not revealed. | None | Offer declined. | $248,000 |
| 4 | Julie | (Blind offer) $15,000 taken from the Trust if the next person they vote for goes home. | None | Julie voted for Bryce, and Bryce went home. $15,000 subtracted from the trust | $248,000 |
| 5 | Winnie | (Blind offer) $20,000 taken from the Trust; they are eliminated if no one else is eliminated. | None | Winnie was eliminated. $20,000 subtracted from the trust. | $228,000 |
| 6 | Jay | $25,000 subtracted from the Trust, they are eliminated immediately. | None | Jay self-eliminated. $25,000 subtracted from the trust. | $203,000 |
| 7 | Brian | (Blind offer) $30,000 taken from the Trust; three random votes are blocked. | None | Julie, Jake, and Brian's votes were blocked. $30,000 subtracted from the trust. | $173,000 |
| 7 | Everyone | $60,000 added to the Trust if everyone reveals their voting history or $5,000 per person. | None | Everyone revealed their voting history. $60,000 added to the trust. | $268,000 |
| 8 | Everyone | An amount up to $25,000 taken from the Trust and given to the highest bidder. | None | Tolú accepted the offer with a bid of $25,000. | $243,000 |

## Voting history

Color key:
Voting history :
| Episode | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Brian | No vote | No vote | No vote | No vote | No vote | Winnie | Blocked | No vote | Winner (Episode 8) |
| Tolú | No vote | Blocked | No vote | No vote | Bryce | Lindsey | Lindsey | No vote | Winner (Episode 8) |
| Tolú | No vote | Juelz | No vote | No vote | Bryce | Lindsey | Lindsey | No vote | Winner (Episode 8) |
| Julie | No vote | Juelz | Immune | No vote | Bryce | No vote | Blocked | No vote | Winner (Episode 8) |
| Julie | No vote | Juelz | Simone | No vote | Bryce | No vote | Blocked | No vote | Winner (Episode 8) |
| Gaspare | No vote | No vote | No vote | No vote | No vote | Winnie | Lindsey | No vote | Winner (Episode 8) |
| Jake | No vote | No vote | No vote | No vote | No vote | Winnie | Blocked | No vote | Winner (Episode 8) |
| Lindsey | No vote | Juelz | No vote | No vote | Bryce | Winnie | Tolú | Eliminated (Episode 7) | Eliminated (Episode 7) |
| Winnie | No vote | Juelz | No vote | No vote | Bryce | Lindsey | Eliminated (Episode 7) | Eliminated (Episode 7) | Eliminated (Episode 7) |
| Jay | No vote | No vote | Simone | No vote | No vote | Accepted Offer (Episode 6) | Accepted Offer (Episode 6) | Accepted Offer (Episode 6) | Accepted Offer (Episode 6) |
| Bryce | No vote | Blocked | No vote | No vote | No vote | Eliminated (Episode 5) | Eliminated (Episode 5) | Eliminated (Episode 5) | Eliminated (Episode 5) |
| Simone | No vote | No vote | No vote | Eliminated (Episode 3) | Eliminated (Episode 3) | Eliminated (Episode 3) | Eliminated (Episode 3) | Eliminated (Episode 3) | Eliminated (Episode 3) |
| Juelz | No vote | No vote | Eliminated (Episode 1) | Eliminated (Episode 1) | Eliminated (Episode 1) | Eliminated (Episode 1) | Eliminated (Episode 1) | Eliminated (Episode 1) | Eliminated (Episode 1) |
| Eliminated | None | Juelz 3 of 3 votes | Simone 2 of 2 votes | None | Bryce 4 of 4 votes | Winnie 4 of 6 votes | Lindsey 2 of 3 votes | None | Brian Tolú Julie Gaspare Jake |

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Original release date |
| 1 | "House of Lies" | 10 January 2024 (2024-01-10) |
| 2 | "Why Is Everyone Being so Frickin' Emotional?" | 10 January 2024 (2024-01-10) |
| 3 | "And That Changes Everything..." | 10 January 2024 (2024-01-10) |
| 4 | "My Integrity Can't Be Bought" | 10 January 2024 (2024-01-10) |
| 5 | "Selfishness Is NOT Black And White" | 17 January 2024 (2024-01-17) |
| 6 | "Snake In The Grass" | 17 January 2024 (2024-01-17) |
| 7 | "The Snake Is Slithering" | 17 January 2024 (2024-01-17) |
| 8 | "The End of the Rainbow" | 24 January 2024 (2024-01-24) |

## Production

The series was filmed over roughly three weeks in Casa Kimbal, Cabrera, Dominican Republic.

## Analysis

The series drew comparison to The Traitors, a Dutch reality game show franchise that divides contestants into Faithfuls, who aim to win games, and Traitors, who aim to sabotage and eliminate people. The Trust explores human behavior and psychology: alliances form immediately on the basis of gender. Mistrust is sewn by the production by revealing that one contestant is a millionaire and using divide-and-conquer tactics, such as singling people out to receive Vault offers. Judy Berman of Time said the program was edited to portray meritocracy: in this view, each contestant is equal and their choices determine their success. Nonetheless, there is significant wealth inequality between contestants and the black women are seen as threatening by white contestants or treated as an "exotic other".

## Reception

The series has a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on seven reviews. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the show a positive review, writing "We know what to expect, and 'The Trust' delivers, from the suspenseful techno-beat soundtrack to the swooping overhead drone camera shots to the 'confession room' interviews." Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian gave the series 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "a budget bootleg version of The Traitors". Steve Greene of IGN wrote that the premise was unoriginal but the show had "tiny flashes of something interesting under the surface that keeps The Trust from feeling completely unnecessary.