“The Circle” 30th-anniversary reflections

The plans of the Bajoran group known as The Circle become clear thanks to an unexpected source—Quark—who has been newly christened Odo’s number-one deputy (Quark’s words). The group is being supplied with weapons by another unexpected source, the Cardassians. Who’s running The Circle? Well, that’s also a bit unexpected. But one thing that is clear from the start is that Vedek Bareil has the hots for Kira. It’s all setup in the middle part of Star Trek’s first three-parter.

In this episode of The Orb, hosts C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing continue our 30th-anniversary retrospective that will take you through all of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, one episode at a time. In this installment, we discuss “The Circle,” how the Kira/Jaro story mirrors the start of Season 1, the timeless commentary, our fondness for middle stories, and Vedek Bareil's disturbing gaze.

Chapters
Intro (00:00:00)
Timeless Commentary (00:02:41) 
Blinded by the Light (00:06:20)
Mirroring Season 1 Kira (00:09:53)
Major Bye Bye? (00:13:46)
Counting on Quark (00:16:29)
Bareil's Gaze (00:20:50)
Winn and Jaro Got It Goin' On (00:28:26)
A Fondness for Middle Stories (00:32:39)
Final Thoughts and Ratings (00:36:58)
Closing (00:54:20)

Hosts
C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer)