Nicholas Rush : Character Analysis through S1 and 2

[mi_guard]

Rush continues to keep the bridge a secret.

Young: "Where are you going?" Rush: "to the toilet"
Young: "Where have you been so long?" Rush: "canteen"
Young: "We need Rush in the control room NOW" Scott: "Rush is not here" Young: "Where is he?" "No idea".
Now here I would like to hear Rush's explanation to Young when he'll ask him where he has been.

Wondering how long Rush will be able to manage this situation - his stress level is increasing constantly. Who knows which will be the next mistake he'll do.

Also wondering how long it will take to Young to ask Eli to follow him with a kino and Rush's reaction when he'll find out.

[Cairistiona]

I just had an imagination of Rush kicking the kino around like a football

[Artemis-Neith]

I'm aware threads like this one are very much dead in between, cos nobody is any longer interested in those topics, but while commenting something in a fic I'm currently writing (and translating into English) I stumbled again over the famous "Chair" of Destiny.

The passage below is what I'd like to talk about:

Eli is a very different guy. He’s a genius, everything comes easy to him, he’s all about fun, and being friends with people. Rush is quite the opposite: Rush is a borderline genius, he’s extremely intelligent, but simply not a genius. He had to earn all he knows, and all his abilities by hard work, often going to his own limits, we saw a glimpse of that in “Human”, where he nearly killed himself to solve the problem with the master code during the simulation he put himself in with the help of Brody. Because he knew, other than Young, that it is not possible to crack the highly evolved cryptography Destiny is using to protect itself, just by sitting around and give some numbers a try, as Young had suggested Rush to do before. So he understood the only way is to use the chair, and to do so he needs to know how to use it without killing himself for nothing. That’s why he was looking for a volunteer, and that’s why he directly took the readings from Destiny’s computer while Franklin was still sitting in that chair, because if he’d not done that, Franklin’s sacrifice would have been in vain (Rush promised in Air II to Chloe he’d not let people die in vain). So, as problematic as it was, what he did with Franklin, by doing nothing as Young had command him, they’d never find a way to get the master code. That’s what Young never understood, and Eli is not willing to go for: to gain a goal it is sometimes necessary to take risks. And Rush takes those risks, not only on other people but also on himself.
And there’s a small side note about something I realised by rereading an article (http://space.io9.com/cryptography-em...son-1634445198) by Mika McKinnon about her work in SGU, and especially on the episode “Human.” At some point she mentioned that to crack a code like Destiny's you can spend your lifetime and all computers on earth, or you can torture the person who knows the code. And Rush did actually something in between. On the one hand he used all techniques he could think about, and got always hints he didn’t understand, and in the end he unconsciously blackmailed Destiny, who just told him what he was never seeing during the whole episode. Destiny actually gave him the code to not let him die in the process.
I wouldn't go that far to say he did that deliberately (he’s not a cold calculating bastard all the time for me), because actually the whole situation was so stressful for him that he simply cracked in the end, and that made Destiny to give in.

I'll leave this here, just for the unlikely possibility someone may be interested.

[pakar]

I think Rusch was the only man on board who really understood their situation: there was not any chance to return home, that possibility simply didn't exist .So the only way was to find a way to survive in the ship so they had to break the master code.All the others were living in their dreams not reality.

[Artemis-Neith]

You might be right with that. And I think, he never lied about that, but said it plain and simple relatively early in the beginning. Especially Young went into complete denial with the fact that Rush could be right, and that private war he started with Rush in the moment he accused him to make thinks up, was a really bad idea of him. But usually people listen to those who tell things people want to hear, not those they don't want to know.
The master code was the key, and to get it, they had to do more than just to sit around. Did you read the article, btw?

[pakar]

Yes i read it.
BTW i don't think that Rusch was ever a calculating "bastard" as many people think , I think that being in an extreme situation he had the dillemma that anyone in such a situation has: act with values and principles or do what is necessarry even if it is not ethical? he clearly choose the second but no one can accuse him if he has never been in such a situation himself.

[Artemis-Neith]

Oh, I didn't meant my article, I thought about the article of Mika McKinnon. Sorry for being not clear enough. McKinnon's article is really good, I think.
Well, I guess Rush had his moments where he was very cold and calculating. But you are also right with what you said. I also think he made a lot of the things he did, because they had to be done to make sure all of them would survive.

[rushy]

I think Rush was actually very fond of his companions, in a Dr. Cox kind of way. He seemed extremely curious, which can be interpreted as an escape from his past, but I always thought it was just a natural desire to understand the universe better. He was curious to a fault and got irritated when the others didn't have the "the sky's the limit" thinking. And yet, he was also very pragmatic and took things matter-of-factly(as shown by his willingness to frame Col. Young, out of no personal grudge), hoping, but never uselessly dreaming.

[Artemis-Neith]

Yeah, I think you're right he did the framing thing without a personal interest, it was just to get what he thought would be necessary to reach the next step to get control of the ship. But, unfortunately Young took this very personal and tried to kill him, something Rush surely didn't expected.
If Rush was ever the big manipulator a lot of people thought he was, he'd see this coming, but he didn't. Though, I think he was more careful later for a while at least until Young made the next mistake, then everything went down the hill again. Anyway, Young was never innocent if it comes to their bad relationship. He set e.g. very early on deliberately a collision course with Rush. Sometimes I think, Young actually never really learned to handle someone who's not one of his soldiers.

[CarrieAnn]

I have only seen about 6 episodes but when Rush cried over that photo of his dead wife/girlfriend I thought that he has stopped caring about other people. If he has lost the love of his life, he's broken and may even have a deathwish. So he doesn't even care what happens to him or to other people, he's just 'getting by.'

I thought when he was annoying Greer in that episode, can't remember which one it was, he MUST have a deathwish. He seemed to be provoking the most violent person on the ship, for no reason otherwise.

[Artemis-Neith]

I have only seen about 6 episodes but when Rush cried over that photo of his dead wife/girlfriend I thought that he has stopped caring about other people. If he has lost the love of his life, he's broken and may even have a deathwish. So he doesn't even care what happens to him or to other people, he's just 'getting by.'

I thought when he was annoying Greer in that episode, can't remember which one it was, he MUST have a deathwish. He seemed to be provoking the most violent person on the ship, for no reason otherwise.

This is an important point that explains a lot of his behavior, but I don't want to give too much away, this thread is very spoilery, but I guess you're aware of it.

[CarrieAnn]

No, I haven't read most of this thread. I dip in and out of shows and forums

[Marty McFly]

Dr. Rush's character is honest, I think. Brutally honest because he talks about things that are uncomfortable and even terrible, but still the truth.
The only times he is dishonest is when he omits the truth. When he keeps secrets or he does not reveal what he knows. I don't call that lying or not being honest. Everyone is entitled to their own secrets, however the bridge secret was a big one cause he actually USED it to move things and didn't say how... still I totally understand him for the secret because Young proved to be callous about Rush's life and safety too many times and also, he was worried about the ship's safety with all the other people trampling the bridge like a herd of elephants.

[Artemis-Neith]

Dr. Rush's character is honest, I think. Brutally honest because he talks about things that are uncomfortable and even terrible, but still the truth.
The only times he is dishonest is when he omits the truth. When he keeps secrets or he does not reveal what he knows. I don't call that lying or not being honest. Everyone is entitled to their own secrets, however the bridge secret was a big one cause he actually USED it to move things and didn't say how... still I totally understand him for the secret because Young proved to be callous about Rush's life and safety too many times and also, he was worried about the ship's safety with all the other people trampling the bridge like a herd of elephants.

Yes, this ^^^ and the possibility that the LA folks could escape and conquer the ship another time is also not completely impossible. You may remember the nightmare Rush had right before he went to the control room.

[Marty McFly]

Yeah. Also the episode is named "aftermath" and his nightmare was first scene. Writers obviously we're trying to explain his behavior without saying it outright.
I really love Rush's character, especially after twin destiny where I love imagining him crying over Eli and all his companions after hearing that only Telford survived. Looking at Eli's documentary pictures hanging there... on the dying destiny... until he decided to get into the shuttle... he had no idea that they landed on another planet. The other Rush died thinking that he failed to save the crew. It's so sad.
I really want a season 3. I know the actor is busy doing once upon a time right now, but I wish SGU would come back to TV.