I was a little down on the last episode for being a bit formulaic and a bit to reminiscent of Air Part 3.  In hindsight, i guess it was an alright standalone episode.  Maybe my expectations were a bit too high, but I love Stargate and always am wanting more and better episodes.  I really wasn't quite as down on the episode as it might have seemed, but i want more from this show.  I don't think that's too much to ask.  I also have to say, with a name like Earth, I'm a little scared of what this episode has to offer me.

So here's what i was thinking while watching Episode 7 for the second time:

+ Episode starts with TJ touching Young's head tenderly.  Ummm what?!  Holy crap.  Young saying, "You're so beautiful.  I never meant to hurt you."  They're kissing OMG!!...oh it's a dream.  Very interesting.  That's the way to start a non adventurous episode.  I'm in, Episode 7, let's see what you got.

- I noticed on the wall Homeworld Command.  I must have missed that before.  It's not the SGC (Stargate Command) anymore.  Please don't keep trying to distance yourself from SG-1, SGU, I have fond memories there.

- Richard Dean Anderson pulling Young into his office and telling him Carter saved my ass all the time, but let us decide what's best for you.  OK, I'm always excited to see RDA again, but the RDA I remember was a little more fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants maverick than the RDA I'm seeing here.  It's alright, I guess, if the issue of him becoming a corporate pansy is brought up, but i hope that isn't just the standard RDA now.

+ I like how Young stood up to RDA though.  Damn straight!  Don't settle for this crap of him pulling rank.  Do what you know to be right, Young!

+ Interesting side story here with Ming Na being bribed to get the plan of Homeworld Command put into action.  She has pull with the people on the Destiny.  I can see why having her on your side would be a good idea.

+ "I'm not entirely convinced Rush wants to come home."  Still an interesting idea.  I hope more happens with this than just him set up as Young's antagonist, but I like the idea of it.

+ So Homeworld Command's plan is to use a star to power the Gate to the levels needed to dial home in much the same way that the star recharged the Destiny's power supply.  Interesting idea.  It sounds reasonable enough.

- Rush is a dick.  Him saying "Just choose who you want to believe."  Ok, I understand that he feels unappreciated and superior to everyone, but he should be able to realize that saying Believe me doesn't carry as much weight as, I don't know, how about a reason why?  Or at least the reason you think it will be happen.  There's no need to be a dick just to be a dick, dick.

+ Young, Eli, and Chloe use the communication stones (ugh) to go back to earth.  Now don't get me wrong, I think the communication stones are the worst thing about SGU, but I also think that Eli and Chloe are two of the most underdeveloped of the main characters and welcome a chance to flesh out their stories.

+ Telford assuming command as soon as he arrives on the Destiny.  Clearly there's been some tension there between the two.  This open defiance could lead to an interesting confrontation, and hopefully some fisticuffs.

+ Eli saying Live it up while you can.  I can assure you that in his situation, most people I know would take full advantage of having a brand new body to run around in.  This could be interesting.

+ After taking command, Telford proceeds to throw Greer in the slammer.  Whoa.  Now there's two people that should give his face a punch.  I guess he deserves to be locked up?  We still don't know why though.

- Ming-Na giving in to the political pressure and trying to convince the weary travelers to jump at this opportunity to return home.  Take a page out of Young's book and grow a spine.

+ The plan is explained a little more thoroughly.  The Destiny's power reserves will be drained by firing off the weapons which will direct it to a star to recharge.  Hmmm.  Yeah, it makes sense to me I guess.

+ Eli visits his mom, but decides that he can't tell her about his situation i.e. He's wearing someone else's face.  I can understand this.  His mother seems a bit fragile, and he isn't the most comfortable with what's happening.  Overall, I think these scenes were rather well handled.  It would be very cool to look into your life from the outside in this way.

- Chloe visits her mother, and unlike Eli, she tells her what is happening and who she is.  They spend some time crying over Chloe's father the Senator.  I don't know what it was about this scene.  I didn't hate it, it just came off a little flat to me.

+ Telford pushing Rush and others to get the necessary repairs done.  They didn't hold.  Riley was injured.  Telford blames Rush, but at least Rush was vindicated.  I like the tension.  Telford decides to proceed anyway.  That's Telford for you.

+ Chloe called Eli to hang out.  I could see this.  I thought it felt a touch contrived for a split second, but then she's in such a precarious situation being unable to tell any of her friends that I could totally see her wanting an outlet and someone to talk to, which is Eli's niche for her.

- Young went to see his wife.  Oh boy.  I'm not going to say much more about this.  I've said it before.  This is my least favorite interaction of this show.  Please please end it.

+ Back to Chloe and Eli in the bar.  The band they are watching is terrible.  Eli is getting some action.  I can dig that he is happy about that.  I felt good for him, like he was on a short vacation.  Chloe's friends really were pretty douchey.  They seemed a bit cliched and one dimensional, which almost ruined the scene for me, but it wasn't really about them so I can let it go.  Another thing, I think Chloe was a hypocrite for complaining about her ex boyfriend being with someone else when she was knocking booties with Scott on the Destiny.  pfft. 

+ Best moment of the episode.  Young has made up with his wife and they are enjoying a little afternoon delight.  The ship drops out of FTL severing the communication stone connection...and Telford is back in his own body with Young's wife on top of him.  BAM!  Holy crap.  How incredibly awkward!  I thought this was a good way to break up the trip home a little bit, but I didn't expect to see that coming.

+ Eli helping out Chloe by driving her home.  It resonated when Chloe said "Why do you enjoy this body?  Doesn't it bother you that she didn't really want you?"  Definitely a valid perspective and Eli thought about and came down off of his high a little.  I think this was one of the most grounded and least ridiculous conversations that they have had.  Especially when Eli imagines them making out...and then is just there for her to lean on.  Classic Eli.

+ Back on the ship says "Lot's of people play the lottery, just not with their lives."  Good line for the situation and well delivered.

+ The Destiny is flying into the sun, recharging it's reserves.  Getting ready to dial home...lots of rumbling and shaking...lightning arcing from the Gate...overflow capacitors are filling up...shield is failing...they need to abort the experiment.

- The three from Homeworld Command cut and run to sever the connection with the stones and return home.  Chickens.

+ Rush reveals that he orchestrated the failure to get rid of the outsiders because he knew that it was too dangerous to try and actually dial.  Again maybe he's right and saved their lives...or maybe he doesn't want to go home.  Either way, I'm glad he dealt with Telford and his gang.

+ Real glad to see Young take charge and tell Earth what's up and when he will and will not attempt to do things.  He does have some balls.  Again though I wasn't happy with RDA backing Telford for leaving the Destiny.  He said that they might as well save those three lives.  The RDA I know would have stuck with it until the end.  What happened to you O'neill??

+ Young gives a motivational speech.  Good for him.  Maybe they will cut him some slack.  I like his character.  He's a good guy without being as corny as say Scott Bakula was in Quantum Leap (which I also love immensely but can acknowledge its corniness).  Eli played a little more Eli at this point again by watching Scott and Chloe holding hands and not saying anything.  Inappropriate time, I understand, but you had better say something at some point.

+ End of the episode shocker.  Telford shows up and Young's wife's house.  BAM again!  What a dirty backstabber.  He certainly has no love lost for Young, but that's over the line.

     All in all, I'm not sure how I felt about this episode.  I feared the worst when I realized that it was called Earth and they would be using the communication stones to "travel" home.  I thought it was fairly well handled though.  We got a little fleshing out of a couple over used and under developed character, we had some rather heated Telford / Young tension, and we had a couple of bombs where Telford is a douchebag and is seemingly trying to get with Young's wife.  I would certainly like to see some more adventure in the series as a whole, but for a character driven exposition filled episode, I thought this was rather well done.  I'm still waiting for this show to break out and really make me happy, but this episode was good enough to keep me around.  It was slow, for sure, but it wasn't bad.

     Any thoughts or comments?  Do you agree or disagree with anything i have written?  Please let me know.