Why so much faith in Eli?

[wargrafix]

the boy got skills and he doesn't bend under pressure.

[Captain Obvious]

Rush's entire philosophy is that other people are just a means for his own ends. It's a great inconsistency (some would say hypocrisy) in his logic that he's unwilling to undertake the very risks he deems necessary for the "greater good."

I challenge this assertion! It is not that Rush is unwilling to take risks with his own life, but that many times it is more advantageous to the crew to have someone else do something. Examples-

In Air pt 3

Spoiler:

when Rush tells Eli to stick his arm in the event horizon, it makes far more sense than doing it himself. If Eli didn't make it back to the ship, he was as good as dead anyways, whereas if the gate closed and severed Rush's arm, the crew would have to waste medical supplies on someone already on board as opposed to someone who was going to die anyways losing an arm stranded on a desert planet. Makes far more sense for the greater good of the ship and crew.

In Water

Spoiler:

we have Rush showing his true nature, carefully balancing the needs of the many against the needs of the few or the one. He showed that in his mind, no one person is above being sacrificed to the greater good. He also showed a sensitivity to the paranoia of the average crewmen, knowing it was best to hide an alien incursion from most of the crew.

In Time

Spoiler:

we see Rush throwing himself into an open event horizon not knowing where it will send him. it could be destiny 100 years ago, it could be the planet a million years ago, either way, he is selflessly throwing his life away on the remote chance it could help the crew.

In Life

Spoiler:

we have Rush staring down the Ancient chair, knowing that for the greater good SOMEONE has to go into the chair. Knowing his character, and his thirst for ancient knowledge, he is more than willing to do it, but he knows that if something goes wrong, there is no one that can do everything he does for the destiny crew (or save his life should it come to that). So his desire to plop down in the chair is overridden by his desire to "think of the greater good". You can see the pain/anguish in his eyes when told to go sit in the chair by Young. Young takes it as Rush being willing to sacrifice someone else instead of him being unwilling to sacrifice the future of everyone else for a selfish desire to sit in the chair. Rush wants to sit in the chair more than anything in the world. But he knows if he does, he could be dooming everyone else to die.

From this I ascertain that, in fact, Rush is purely driven by the overall survival needs of the crew. He knows what everyone is capable of and knows what/who the ship needs to survive in the long run.

The reason everyone "trusts" Eli is because of the random anti-rush paranoia. Everyone is so quick to throw around blame they don't realize Rush is blindly doing what is best for the group overall.

[garhkal]

A little titbit. Eli was already on the Destiny when rush asked him to stick his hand in the Event horizon.

[PG15]

Uh...no he wasn't.

[the fifth man]

Uh...no he wasn't.

Yeah, Rush was the one on Destiny. Eli was still on the desert planet.

[Captain Obvious]

A little titbit. Eli was already on the Destiny when rush asked him to stick his hand in the Event horizon.

Hmm.....Methinks you should travel to hulu.com and rewatch Air Part 3.

[natyanayaki]

Hmm.....Methinks you should travel to hulu.com and rewatch Air Part 3.

Too bad it's no longer on Hulu.com...