Cor-ai

Plot: SG-1 arrive on a planet that Teal'c had visited as a Jaffa. There, one of the villagers recognises Teal'c as the murderer of his father. Teal'c must then stand trial, with the likely punishment of death looming.


Following on from yesterday's post on General Hammond, this is a perfect example of him having to make the crappy call. It was good to see the SGC respecting the laws of other cultures, even if it did mean that Teal'c was to be left for the dogs. It's interesting as he could genuinely be considered a war criminal. We all know, however, that he has a greater destiny than standing trial for those crimes, even if he would do so willingly.

I felt that Jack was somewhat out of his depth in this episode. This was never an appropriate situation for him to start taking some names. The only decision that he could ever come to was to try and break Teal'c out, even though that would have done little good. Fortunately, Daniel really comes in to his own to help Teal'c. Daniel was excellent as the diplomat, articulating his thoughts and beliefs about his friend in a beautiful way.

Daniel mentioned during the trial that he wanted to hate Teal'c for the fact that he chose Sha're to be a host. I don't think we ever really saw that at the time, which is understandable considering the myriad plot threads that were being laid down at the start of the series. However, it was interesting to see that extra dimension added to Daniel's relationship with Teal'c. This episode also served to flesh out Teal'c's character. His regret for his past crimes and willingness to do the honourable thing for absolution.

This is an intriguing juncture in Teal'c's development as a character. We've so far seen his remorse, regrets and sacrifices. It'll soon be time to see him rise above that and really start to show that none of his actions were in vein and that he can make a difference.

Despite those points, this is a reasonably dull episode. There's little in the way of action for the first 30 minutes and it feels like the episode is treading water after the first ten.

6 out of 10