Stargate SG-1: Cor-ai Rewatch
November 6, 2024 12:42 PM - Season 1, Episode 15 - Subscribe
SG-1 travel to a planet where Teal'c is recognised as once having been head Jaffa to Apophis. He is arrested for the murder of a villager and put on trial for his life. Then other Jaffa attack the village. Will SG-1 be able to save Teal'c and prove that he has changed allegiance?
SG-1 is captured by the inhabitants of Cartago. They particularly want Teal'c; while he was still First Prime of Apophis, he was responsible for the death of the father of one of the men, Hanno. The inhabitants prepare Teal'c for Cor-ai, their version of a trial. Despite being told by Teal'c not to interfere, Colonel Jack O'Neill does not want to go along with the process. Soon, Jaffa loyal to Apophis arrive to take some of the inhabitants as hosts.
SG-1 is captured by the inhabitants of Cartago. They particularly want Teal'c; while he was still First Prime of Apophis, he was responsible for the death of the father of one of the men, Hanno. The inhabitants prepare Teal'c for Cor-ai, their version of a trial. Despite being told by Teal'c not to interfere, Colonel Jack O'Neill does not want to go along with the process. Soon, Jaffa loyal to Apophis arrive to take some of the inhabitants as hosts.
Yeah Daniel and Sam both seem to have been clobbered by the Dumb stick this ep, but I really like that they dealt with Teal’c’s war criminal past.
And while this planet’s culture was very “look what treasures we found in a costume and props closet” I appreciated that they tried to have some unexplained “this is our practice” bits - namely the pre-execution body painting.
posted by janell at 6:25 PM on November 6 [2 favorites]
And while this planet’s culture was very “look what treasures we found in a costume and props closet” I appreciated that they tried to have some unexplained “this is our practice” bits - namely the pre-execution body painting.
posted by janell at 6:25 PM on November 6 [2 favorites]
I agree, it's always interesting when they focus on Teal'c's past as Apophis' Prime and it isn't just brushed away immediately in the show in that "No, he's a good guy now!" (Sorry Jack, SG-1, didn't quite hold up until action translated into understanding). The Cor'ai system definitely stacks it against the accused. I suppose there's some unmentioned law about it not being abused or useful in specific circumstances, only. I could see it also being a very heavy threat toward anyone thinking of wronging someone else.
Biggest annoyance is the contrivance that Teal'c didn't think to explain why he chose to kill the villager when he admitted to doing so.
I think until we get to the Ancients, we don't really touch upon any more Latin based languages going forward.
posted by Atreides at 7:22 AM on November 7
Biggest annoyance is the contrivance that Teal'c didn't think to explain why he chose to kill the villager when he admitted to doing so.
I think until we get to the Ancients, we don't really touch upon any more Latin based languages going forward.
posted by Atreides at 7:22 AM on November 7
When this watch through started I didn't join for a while as if seemed too much of a commitment. After a few weeks I thought, eh, why not give it a try. Now I'm halfway through season 3 and can't pick out anything specific to say about season 1 episodes.
posted by biffa at 1:17 AM on November 8 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 1:17 AM on November 8 [1 favorite]
I started to do that and really had to pull the reins back on watching additional episodes.
The last time the person who became the 45th president, and now will be 47th, I started a Star Trek rewatch from TOG through current stuff. I'm feeling now that I may be leaning into SG-1 for this same comfort food. ... and that might break my resolve not to fly ahead.
It may be helpful to check out the wiki info on each episode when the post goes up to jog your memory.
posted by Atreides at 8:18 AM on November 8 [1 favorite]
The last time the person who became the 45th president, and now will be 47th, I started a Star Trek rewatch from TOG through current stuff. I'm feeling now that I may be leaning into SG-1 for this same comfort food. ... and that might break my resolve not to fly ahead.
It may be helpful to check out the wiki info on each episode when the post goes up to jog your memory.
posted by Atreides at 8:18 AM on November 8 [1 favorite]
Hmmm, I'm not entirely sure how to react to this one. The basic framework is just weird. It's like they want to do a courtroom trial episode, but then they just go totally off the rails from that. Jack is trying to use all the stuff he learned watching lawyer shows on TV, and nobody's paying any attention to him, so he spends most of the episode being really indignant. And yelling. He yells at the Byrsan until he gets so frustrated that he goes home to get more guys and guns, and yells about it there. He yells a lot in this episode.
And the worldbuilding is just shit. I know they've got budget limitations, but god, nothing about this planet makes any sense.
So it should be a complete waste of time. And yet. And yet, somehow there's some really nice character stuff in the midst of all this. Not from Jack, obviously, and Sam may as well have just called in sick and taken a mental health day. But Daniel gets a nice scene where he picks apart Teal'c's thinking during the incident.
And Teal'c himself gets some good writing. It not only addresses his guilt over what he did as a Jaffa, but it does something even better. The logic of his choice is really good. Someone has to die or they all will, and if one of them has to die, it should be the guy with one leg, because otherwise he'll slow everyone down and they'll all get caught. I think Hanno's father even understood and agreed with that. I read the imploring look and reaching out toward Teal'c as showing that he gets it and agrees. Unless you kill someone, my son's going to die, and killing me gives him the best chance of surviving. He's begging Teal'c to do it to save Hanno.
This is not only a nice piece of writing, but it shows the seeds of Teal'cs change. That was one of my main issues with the pilot, that his defection to save Jack and the team wasn't earned. It just came out of nowhere as a deus ex machina plot device. This goes back to show us that Teal'c is someone who might credibly do that.
And yes, Hanno's final speech is really nice.
So a weird combination of good writing and really bad writing. I guess I come down slightly on the thumbs up side.
posted by Naberius at 8:54 AM on November 8 [2 favorites]
And the worldbuilding is just shit. I know they've got budget limitations, but god, nothing about this planet makes any sense.
So it should be a complete waste of time. And yet. And yet, somehow there's some really nice character stuff in the midst of all this. Not from Jack, obviously, and Sam may as well have just called in sick and taken a mental health day. But Daniel gets a nice scene where he picks apart Teal'c's thinking during the incident.
And Teal'c himself gets some good writing. It not only addresses his guilt over what he did as a Jaffa, but it does something even better. The logic of his choice is really good. Someone has to die or they all will, and if one of them has to die, it should be the guy with one leg, because otherwise he'll slow everyone down and they'll all get caught. I think Hanno's father even understood and agreed with that. I read the imploring look and reaching out toward Teal'c as showing that he gets it and agrees. Unless you kill someone, my son's going to die, and killing me gives him the best chance of surviving. He's begging Teal'c to do it to save Hanno.
This is not only a nice piece of writing, but it shows the seeds of Teal'cs change. That was one of my main issues with the pilot, that his defection to save Jack and the team wasn't earned. It just came out of nowhere as a deus ex machina plot device. This goes back to show us that Teal'c is someone who might credibly do that.
And yes, Hanno's final speech is really nice.
So a weird combination of good writing and really bad writing. I guess I come down slightly on the thumbs up side.
posted by Naberius at 8:54 AM on November 8 [2 favorites]
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I get why they did it, but you'd think that Daniel of all people would understand that 'trial' means something very different across cultures, and acting as if this were a common law court room was going to be off. Nice to see them try and defend Teal'c though, helps give their depth of teamwork.
The last lines though are great about how he's no longer that Jaffa.
posted by Carillon at 12:47 PM on November 6 [1 favorite]