22. The Circle

Summary

As Kira's friends react to her reassignment, Vedek Bareil appears to invite her to spend some time in reflection at his monastery and she accepts. The situation on Bajor worsens...the populace is armed and reactionary and the Bajoran Military seems unwilling to confront the Circle, fueling supposition that if a coup takes place, the military would side with the Circle instead of the Provisional Government. Minister Jaro is revealed to be behind the Circle's activities, and he has Vedek Winn on his side. Odo receives intelligence from Quark that the Circle is being secretly armed by the Cardassians through the Kressari. As he and the Chief try to prove this, Sisko goes to Bajor to confront General Krimm about the military's seeming shifting loyalties and ask him to help get Kira reassigned to DS9. At Bareil's monastery, Kira has an Orb Vision (including, among other things, Bareil as her lover) and spends time in reflection...which is cut short when she is kidnapped by the Circle. At their headquarters, Jaro demands information from her about the Federation's response to a coup on Bajor and Sisko in general. She refuses and he has her led away to have the information beaten out of her. Quark tells the DS9 staff that he's learned where the Circle is headquartered and they set off to rescue Kira with Li Nalas' help. Back on the station Li suggests that if he speaks to the Bajoran people he might be able to avert the impending coup, but all communication to Bajor has been cut off. Odo has obtained hard evidence that the Circle is being armed by the Cardassians, but they can't get it to the Chamber of Ministers. Bajoran fighters approach the station, giving all non-Bajorans seven hours to evacuate. Sisko is ordered to comply, but he is unwilling to abandon the station to the Circle.

Analysis

Of the three Circle episodes, this one has the most going on, therefore it seems sort of fragmentary and transitional. On the other hand, in tone and plot it's the most evenly written and moves the story forward the most effectively. The presence of both Winn and Bareil bolsters this episode and the scenes at the monastery are very important to Kira's character and some developments that are soon to befall her. The truly momentous plotlines for the series are sort of buried here beneath the more momentary story of the Circle's coup...Winn's elected as Kai, Bareil's relationship with Kira and Sisko's connection to the Bajoran people would all have a lot more long-term implications than would the brief Circle takeover, which was destined to become a historical footnote, it seems. Some things here just don't track, though. Quark's exaggerated "we gotta get out of here" hysteria is very contrived, and he miraculously comes into vital information not once but twice...and why was it necessary for Odo to make him a deputy? If he was going to blackmail him for information anyway, why bother? After his big buildup in The Homecoming Li Nalas is a very small presence here, almost to the point of feeling shoehorned into the episode...a feeling that continues into the next episode. It would almost have been possible to do this trilogy leaving him out altogether, and perhaps it would have been a better, tighter two-parter if they had. Nevertheless, the episode's packed-to-the-brim plot has some great moments...the scene in Kira's quarters at the episode's beginning, in which her crewmembers come to see her one at a time to bid farewell, is a delight.

Rating: 6.0

Memorable Quote:

"We've gotta leave! Well, I do, anyway. You can just turn into a couch." --Quark

Classic Scene:

The abovementioned Noel-Coward-esque sequence in Kira's quarters is great.

Sexually Slanted Line 'O the Episode:

"Now I suppose they'll expect *me* to break in a new man." --Odo

The O/K Status Report

Odo is the first to appear at Kira's door after she's reassigned, and many have noted that he is unusually angry about her apparent indifference to this insult. One might take it as an indication of the extent of his attachment to her that he gets so worked up.

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