If Eli had dialed 10 seconds earlier

[norph]

I was wondering, if Eli had managed to dial Destiny 10 seconds earlier, they would connect to Destiny gate but in the process would block Rush from dialing the gate and Rush would get stranded behind again.

I wonder if the writers had a toss up on which team they wanted to get stranded behind while they were writing the story at that time

Would be an an ironic ending had Scott and his group got back and everyone was happy for them and then Eli goes 'Where's Rush?' just as Destiny goes into FTL.

[Pharaoh Atem]

it would have been a cool ending as rush did admit that eli is smarter then him. but Robert Carlyle is the main actor on the series.

[JustAnotherVoice]

I could do without Eli/Scott/Chloe, but no Carlyle would mean no show.

[MickyD]

While Eli is 'smarter' than Rush, Rush knows more than Eli about ancient technology and seemingly works harder.

Besides they couldn't go and strand those two red shirts on Rushes team now could they?

[Pharaoh Atem]

I could do without Eli/Scott/Chloe, but no Carlyle would mean no show.

not till season 3-4

[JustAnotherVoice]

not till season 3-4

Storyline wise, yeah, but I'd much rather see Carlyle act than the aforementioned trio (well, Blue has his moments, but nowhere near the brilliance of Carlyle).

[magictrick]

If Rush had go stranded it wouldn't mean less screen time from Carlyle. I mean as it is now they're going to need a plot device in the next episodes to somehow let Eli, Scott and Chloe get back on board. It would've been no different if Rush and co. would have been the ones stranded, there still would be need for a way to bring them back on board.

[pipi]

If speculation on the next episode is true, the outcome would be very similar. Everyone would still get back on board eventually. But at least Rush would come to the conclusion of why it didn't connect as opposed to Eli's dumb face.

[Puddle-Jumper]

While Eli is 'smarter' than Rush, Rush knows more than Eli about ancient technology and seemingly works harder.

I don't think Rush is smarter then Eli... Eli figured out the power thing sure, but Rush put years into that project figuring out things and working out other equations that Im sure Eli couldn't have solved. Eli came in at the last moment and kinda stole the show and solved one equation... that doesn't prove that Eli is smarter... Im sure Mckay and Carter were involved in the 9th chevron calculations plenty of times and weren't able to figure it out, infact given the money and resources devoted to the icarus project you'd think they'd have been very involved. Eli most likely was just able to look at it in a way that Rush and all the other extremely smart scientists that were being too analytical about the whole thing couldn't.... He could think outside the academic box so to speak, because he's not as educated as the rest.

Plus intelligence is hardly based upon math skills, no matter how smart someone is without motivation they'll get nowhere in life, as Eli was well on course for before he lucked out and solved 1 equation. So Eli may be excellent at math but Rush as we know is a genius scientist hand picked by the SGC and the IOA to solve something that clearly Carter and McKay couldn't... he's demonstrated knowledge of chemistry, plus he's good at manipulating people... he's shown to be a ery accomplished astrophysicist and have a level of understanding of the Destinys systems light years ahead of everyone elses... Eli is clearly very smart and if he finished up at MIT and given another 15 years he'd be on par with McKay, Carter and Rush... but as for now he's just a big ball of potential that lucked out

[JustAnotherVoice]

If Rush had go stranded it wouldn't mean less screen time from Carlyle. I mean as it is now they're going to need a plot device in the next episodes to somehow let Eli, Scott and Chloe get back on board. It would've been no different if Rush and co. would have been the ones stranded, there still would be need for a way to bring them back on board.

Ok, I'll give you the screen time point, but part of the show's brilliance is Carlyle's scenes with Ferreira. But I was speaking about the hypothetical long term, "if you ignore the obvious happy ending" scenario, I would much rather have Carlyle on Destiny and the other three as mooks left to fend for themselves. Given that SGU likes to resolve seemingly big issues within a few episodes (Rush was stranded for all of 1 episode, Destiny was powerless for all of 1 episode, etc), the issue really is moot.

[jelgate]

It would depend on how sooner Rush had made the connection when Eli started dialing

[UniGater]

If Eli started to redial the gate after the first bad call instead of looking at his palm pilot like an idiot he would have made it back as well..

Eli is quite the keyboard noob it turns out. Tisk tisk.

[Commander Zelix]

I was wondering, if Eli had managed to dial Destiny 10 seconds earlier, they would connect to Destiny gate but in the process would block Rush from dialing the gate and Rush would get stranded behind again.

I wonder if the writers had a toss up on which team they wanted to get stranded behind while they were writing the story at that time

Would be an an ironic ending had Scott and his group got back and everyone was happy for them and then Eli goes 'Where's Rush?' just as Destiny goes into FTL.

It would have been nicely ironic, but I still prefer the current ending. The fact that the trio still haven't been able to gate back on the ship add an element of uncertainty to the show. Sure we know it's all going to end up nice and well. But let's say if Young get captured by the blue aliens in one episode, we won't be sure if his ("first') escape attempts will be successful anymore withing the 40 min. Sure in that case it would be better if he escapes but get captured by other aliens or find himself floating into space or something as it add to the story instead of only prolonging the time (read number of episodes) necessary to escape. Adding layers is better than merely holding back plot developments.

[Col.Foley]

Rush is expendable, a lot more so then the trio. No trio I stop watching.

Though Rush is FINALLY coming around and restablishing himself as a somewhat interesting character.

But as to the point of it there really would be no way of knowing really what would happen if Eli had dialed earlier. Rush would still have an unexplianable event, he could assume that someone had dialed in first and the ship went to FTL but he really would have no way of knowing.

[JustAnotherVoice]

Rush is expendable, a lot more so then the trio

I couldn't disagree more. Rush's skillset may be expendable, but his dramatic role isn't.

If you remove Rush, you may as well remove Young, and throw away much of the drama on board. Rush plays Young's foil and equal; in many of the on board drama scenarios, he is also the instigator: the chair, the frame job, stranding them, etc. Even if he doesn't instigate the specific event, his conflicts with Young are the beating heart of much of the show's drama.

However, if you get rid of Scott/Chloe/Eli, who have limited dramatic roles (two young and eager lions, and one of the many potential damsels in distress on board), there isn't much lost, except angst caused by their love triangle (maybe quadrangle, if you include James).

Get rid of Scott, and you lose a shuttle pilot; his military duties could be taken by James. Get rid of Chloe, and half the fanbase will cheer, while the other will cry, but her "damsel in distress" role can go to anyone. We've got an invaluable (now pregnant) medic, and probably a curious child by next season.

Getting rid of Eli could be dramatically complicated, and I would think would hurt the show, since he's marketed as someone we're supposed to connect with. He also plays the naive, inexperienced voice of optimism, which would make SGU that much darker, so YMMV as to how much of an impact this would make.