Nicholas Rush : Character Analysis through S1 and 2

[ONeill4tW]

Speaking of "Human" am I the only one that feels that there was an outside force helping him discover the clue? The "dream" seemed more like there was something helping him and not his subconsciousness producing the events that would lead up to him discovering the clue like some dreams tend to do.

[kansaikimono]

Speaking of "Human" am I the only one that feels that there was an outside force helping him discover the clue? The "dream" seemed more like there was something helping him and not his subconsciousness producing the events that would lead up to him discovering the clue like some dreams tend to do.

I want to agree that something selected that moment in his life to explore. It's the kind of life experience that any one of us might return to if we felt troubled and wanted to look inward for answers. Yet, it doesn't seem likely that Rush, with all that was happening aboard Destiny, was in any frame of mind to go self-exploring.

It's as though someone is troubled by Rush's behavior and wants to remind him of who he really is. If we're to believe that Rush, in reality, was not at Gloria's bedside when she died, then the dream sequence is what he wanted and needed for closure. If he wasn't at her bedside, it's likely he wasn't at her funeral, either.

Review the transcript of the death scene. The first time or two you hear it, it moves too fast to really sink in. But there are significant lines that give us some real insight into Rush. I'm not sure if they are the kind of ideas that Rush would have realized for himself if someone, or something, hadn't guided him in that direction, but Gloria tells him he is the one who chose the memory.

Another question is whether Rush had already figured out, subconsciously, that the DNA strand was the key to the code.

Perhaps the dream sequence is killing more than one bird: the key to the code, Rush's change in behavior, Rush's guilt, etc. Perhaps it's also a clue to the real reason Rush is so desperate to explore the innermost workings of Destiny in hopes of finding some Ascension clues, though I don't know why Destiny would provide them since she was built pre-Ascension.

Here's the deathbed scene:

GLORIA (quietly): You're not here for me.

RUSH: I've already been through this.

GLORIA: No you haven't. You were running.

RUSH: I was here.

GLORIA: You can't lie to yourself.

GLORIA: You chose this memory because it's one you'd rather just forget.

GLORIA: What you need is here now. That's why you're here. It's not for me. You just want your answer.

RUSH: I need an answer.

GLORIA (in a whisper): You're dying.

RUSH (looking down again): I know.

GLORIA: You'd rather die than fail? What have you become, Nicholas? The things you've done - it's not who you are; it's not you.

RUSH: I always had it in me ... to make the hard decisions. I have reasons ... good reasons.

GLORIA: To hurt people? Are you sure? You tell yourself my death gave you courage. In truth, it made you callous. You're not the man I loved.

RUSH (quietly, anguished): He died with you.

GLORIA: I was never your conscience, Nicholas. You still have one of your own. You just need to listen to it. Some people live their whole lives and never find what we had.

GLORIA (softly): Don't let what happened to me change you this way. It's nobody's fault.

RUSH (softly, tearfully): I know. I know that.

GLORIA: It's one stupid gene passed on to me by my mother, incapable of performing its one simple function - to repair damaged D.N.A.

GLORIA: That's it, isn't it? That's why you're here.

RUSH (in a whisper): Of course!

GLORIA: Go.

GLORIA: I know how much you loved me. (She fights back her own tears.) Stop taking it out on everyone else.

RUSH (tearfully): I haven't forgotten you, Gloria. I never will.

[Artemis-Neith]

Speaking of "Human" am I the only one that feels that there was an outside force helping him discover the clue? The "dream" seemed more like there was something helping him and not his subconsciousness producing the events that would lead up to him discovering the clue like some dreams tend to do.

I had that impression also shortly, but thought it was maybe overinterpretet. If it is, I think we'll see of this again.

If we're to believe that Rush, in reality, was not at Gloria's bedside when she died, then the dream sequence is what he wanted and needed for closure. If he wasn't at her bedside, it's likely he wasn't at her funeral, either.

Review the transcript of the death scene. The first time or two you hear it, it moves too fast to really sink in. But there are significant lines that give us some real insight into Rush. I'm not sure if they are the kind of ideas that Rush would have realized for himself if someone, or something, hadn't guided him in that direction, but Gloria tells him he is the one who chose the memory.

Another question is whether Rush had already figured out, subconsciously, that the DNA strand was the key to the code.

Perhaps the dream sequence is killing more than one bird: the key to the code, Rush's change in behavior, Rush's guilt, etc. Perhaps it's also a clue to the real reason Rush is so desperate to explore the innermost workings of Destiny in hopes of finding some Ascension clues, though I don't know why Destiny would provide them since she was built pre-Ascension.

I didn't understand the words spoken between Rush and his wife in that way. I understood he was there at that very momment, but didn't spent much time with her the time before. Am I wrong?

All the small pieces make it more likely that the above mentioned thought was maybe not an overinterpretation, but a somebody who guided the whole situation. But the most important thing is that Rush's behaviour changed remakable after the chair, and clearly not as a result of interaction or some insight that he might have things messed up too much with Young, as I remember to read somewhere in the forum. Rush changed, but not because of Young.

[Artemis-Neith]

Time to reactivate this thread again.

But first I want to sum up a few things from the second part of season 1.

(1) Rush was surly another person before his wife died, this is after "Human" indicated with the introduction of Amanda Perry in "Sabotage", another scientist, he worked with, back on earth. He behaves completely different the time she's around, than everything we've seen before. I guess what I've seen here, is the person a woman like Gloria would marry, much more likely than the grief-stricken, and on the surface callous man he's since "Air".

It looks like a lot of his behavior can be explained as a direct result of the fact that he never really handled the dead of his wife in an appropriate way.

(2) I wondered why he didn't show more impact of the alien abduction, like Chloe did after "Space". In "Pain" it was clear, that there was an impact, and that he's deeply afraid of those aliens, and what they've done to him.

In the same way he repressed the grief about his wife, he repressed the effects of what the aliens did to him, up to the point he has to face it again.

Spoiler:

And I'm not sure whether the whole question is off the table. This seems to indicate the season 2.0 trailer.

(3) The last episodes of season 1 "Subversion", and Incursion I-II, and the first episode of season 2 "Intervention", he's most likely the first time personally confronted with torture, after he is captured from the LA, while trying to play detective, which was, imo, quite silly for somebody who's normally quite intelligent.

And now what we've seen in "Aftermath" is unavoidable the aftereffect of that torture, he's again, and not surprisingly, not able to handle alone.

I think that this episode is called "Aftermath" for some reasons. One of this reasons seems to be the last point (3) I mentioned.

Everything which happened in this episode is a direct result of his misreading the data Destiny gave him about the planet, because he's too tiered to give full attention to the informations he has in front of him. Therefore the crew not only lost a beloved member (), but also the last shuttle they had at this point, not to mention the effects all of this will have for future episodes.

One could think, ok, that's Rush, he's simply back to his old self. All of this could have avoided, if he had said that he's found the bridge. He should have report that to Young.

Yes, he should have, I think, it was clearly a mistake not to do so. But one of the reasons he maybe didn't tell anyone, or at least not Young, could be that he felt betrayed from him. From Rush's point of view Young had the chance to disconnect the stones in time, so that all of this could have been avoided, including the LA boarding Destiny, but he didn't do for some reasons he don't know exactly, or in fact he didn't believe in (breaking Telford's brainwashing).

[mi_guard]

Artemis: nice round up.

Did you also have the impression that Rush was feeling more and more unconfortable when Young asked him repeatedly during the episode "Where have YOU been?". I have the impression that Young starts to think that Rush is hiding something. Rush must have realized this distrust.

[Artemis-Neith]

Artemis: nice round up.

Did you also have the impression that Rush was feeling more and more unconfortable when Young asked him repeatedly during the episode "Where have YOU been?". I have the impression that Young starts to think that Rush is hiding something. Rush must have realized this distrust.

I think you're right. Young is not an idiot, and Rush know this.

[Cairistiona]

I agree, Young seems to suspect something.
I think at the end of the ep Rush realizes that his decisions can lead to harm or even death for other people. This process started when he had to decide how to deal wit the LA in 'Intervention'. 'A necessary sacrifice' is easy to say, but then he realizes that this would affect people he knows and maybe likes a little bit. I think up to this point he was more a scientist doing calculations and theoretical things and now there are people affected by the result of his calculations.

[kudra]

I agree, Young seems to suspect something.
I think at the end of the ep Rush realizes that his decisions can lead to harm or even death for other people. This process started when he had to decide how to deal wit the LA in 'Intervention'. 'A necessary sacrifice' is easy to say, but then he realizes that this would affect people he knows and maybe likes a little bit. I think up to this point he was more a scientist doing calculations and theoretical things and now there are people affected by the result of his calculations.

Yes I'd agree, I don't think he'll easily brush off his mistake in Aftermath. I can't really defend the hiding the bridge thing but I do think his misreading of the data and descision to take a gamble on the planet was more down to exhaustion and desperation over the food situation than a callous disregard for the lives of the crew. His relief when he thought they had made it through safely was very clear and I don't think it was only the shuttle he was concerned about.

It'll be interesting to see where they go with him in Season 2, will he form greater and greater attachments to the crew as time goes on and so be less able to make the hard choices for the 'greater good'? Or will he be ostracised once they figure out he cracked the code and kept it secret and become more of an outright antagonist? Personally I hope they don't go too far one way or the other as I love how well RC plays the contradictions within Rush. Of course given the fact he's started talking to dead people maybe they'll take him the crazy route, I must admit part of me hopes Gloria and Franklin are just hallucinations because watching RC playing Rush go all 'Beautiful Mind' would be fun.

[mi_guard]

Here a comment by Robert Carlyle about Rush on what happened in ep 2:

http://stargate.mgm.com/view/content/2460/index.html

ps. this time I had more difficulties understanding parts of what he says due to his accent

[Artemis-Neith]

Here a comment by Robert Carlyle about Rush on what happened in ep 2:

http://stargate.mgm.com/view/content/2460/index.html

ps. this time I had more difficulties understanding parts of what he says due to his accent

Same here. What did he say in the very last sentence? I really tried hard to get it but failed more than once.

[mi_guard]

Same here. What did he say in the very last sentence? I really tried hard to get it but failed more than once.

Okay, I tried to write down what I understand of what he says. It would be following

Quote.
There is a lot of times I think Rush’s put in difficult situations because what he does, the action he takes, is for the greater good in his opinion. But because of this someone dies. So he is somewhat responsible but if he had to put him according? the law, I think in typical Rush’s fashion........(?)over
Unquote

can anybody help us out here? what does he exactly say?

[morbosfist]

Paraphrased:

"If he was put in a court of law, I think, in typical Rush fashion, he'd be able to talk his way out of it."

[Artemis-Neith]

Paraphrased:

"If he was put in a court of law, I think, in typical Rush fashion, he'd be able to talk his way out of it."

Yeah, this last sentence was exactly the part I didn't understand. Now it's clear. Thank you.

[mi_guard]

Yeah, this last sentence was exactly the part I didn't understand. Now it's clear. Thank you.

Same for me - thank you very much morbosfist - you are from Scotland?

[morbosfist]

No, I just listened closely. Took a couple repeats, but I got it.