One scene in particular that made me think “BOFH” was when Young questioned Rush on why he couldn’t go to the planet surface, and he snapped back saying he was busy with more important things, which was kind of a lie. Add to that his greediness for keeping the newly-revealed bridge a secret, plus his constant elitist attitude, and he wins the BOFH-of-the-year award. Seeing dead people pretty much qualifies Rush for being a nutcase as well.
One quick question I have is how Rush stumbled onto that room. Was it from what he learned from the aliens that captured him last season? Or, more likely, it’s residual information he gained from being strapped into the chair. Maybe for you non-Stargate newbies it’s obvious and you can enlighten me there.
There’s no doubt that Rush is going to have to answer for having done something that resulted in the death of Riley, never mind that Rush had to resort to putting him out of his misery. I don’t believe it’s the last time we’ll see Riley, though, whether it’s in flashbacks or another one of Rush’s visions. How Rush pays for his mistakes is going to be interesting. It could be that nobody really understands that he had anything to do with it, and his punishment will be in the form of him continuing to lose his marbles.
Could it be that the legend of Destiny being able to transcend space and time is true, and that has something to do with Johansen’s vision from last week? Given that she talked about it more in this episode, I’d say there’s a decent chance we’ll see it come up again, and it won’t simply be something of a dream. If Destiny can time travel or zip around through other dimensions, there are so many possibilities for what’s to come.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Oct 05, 2010 @ 22:20 EST5EDT
Too right you are about Rush and BOFH. Thanks for the term. That one will go in my back pocket.
Rush may not be a nutcase. What if at least one or both of the chats he’s having is with an Ascended being. Or, what if the chats are left over wiring from his time in the chair? That’s definitely my formulation about how he gained access to the room.
Digusted to see Young do that to Riley. Between that and his lack of feeling regarding the death(?) of his child, I’ve lost respect for him. He’s making too many mistakes and I almost welcome the change in leadership.
I agree the killing scene did seem gruesome, bsgfan. While I understand the mercy killing in principal, I had a couple of questions. After the gate was fixed, why, with all the manpower from Destiny available, couldn’t they figure a way to get Riley out of there. And, was there was no morphine at hand to give him to over-dose on (People were nursed at various times before on Destiny, including last week)?
I lost respect for Young a while ago. Maybe Kirk and Picard were unrealistic in their exploits but I suppose the statement “Mr Young, I knew Captain Kirk and you are no Jim Kirk”, could apply here.
Yes, it was like, too bad, so sad Riley, you are boring and we need a device to make Young sink into the abyss. So the effort was just not there to try. It can be speculated that he might be think he hand a hand in killing his own child as well. Although he is awful at showing his emotions in any way that might prove productive.
In regards to the meds, TJ said they were low on everything and wanted to go to the planet to see if there were botanicals to augment her supply with.
Thanks everyone, writing about Riley’s death by brutal suffocation so much has totally desensitized the scene now!
Brett, looking forward to these and Caprica’s numbers! :)
I’m very curious to see both of those as well. Since you asked… check back on this post tomorrow and I’ll put them in the comments.
Will do. :)
Stargate Universe (1.07m/.5)
Caprica (.89m/.4)
*POST AUTHOR*
OWCH. That ain’t good for Caprica. I believe SGU is about the same right?
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
Keith, SGU was about the same as last week, but these last two episodes are the least watched of the series. Season 1 started at 2.3 million, and finished at 1.4 million, with the average for the season being around 1.7 million.
in season 1 Rush discovered the key to Destiny’s systems had to do with DNA sequences (or something like that) … his being able to get onto the bridge showed that he cracked the code (his dead wife said as much)
he is a bastard though. Should be interesting to see how they integrate the Lucian Alliance members that they didn’t exile to the planet
That was when he was in the chair right?
On Rush seeing dead people, I think the wife is actually the Destiny A.I. As for Dr. Franklin..I don’t know if he is somehow still alive/part of the ship/or just part of Rush..
bsgfan2003 – What would have had Young do with Riley? They couldn’t save him, and they didn’t want to leave him to die alone. I have problems with Young, but that scene worked for me.
What would I have Young do instead? Almost anything else. There is no way to be comfortable with that scene. Riley’s poor eyes bulging, while Young was forcefully pressing on his nose and mouth. That kind of scene is always going to upset me. I realize the writers did not want to see him saved so they fixed it so that they could have dramatic impact. Mission accomplished here.
Speaking in the Sci-fi sense, I like Captain Kirk’s approach to life. He does not believe in the no win scenario. My approach would be more like Kirk’s. Never give up. Find a way. Cheat death. Keep fighting it. Young is no Kirk. Young is no O’Neil even. Young drags around a super heavy invisible bag of failure everywhere he goes. He’s not fit to lead. I hope he makes me change my mind.
Your comment is really interesting, bsgfan. While I don’t support euthanasia, I thought the scene between Young and Riley was very moving. Tragic, chilling, yes, but also moving. And we saw Young crying his eyes out near the end of the episode, during one of those inevitable montages, so clearly he does care about losing Riley. I think the only other option would have been to pull Riley out from the wreckage and let him bleed to death.
I’m a huge Trek fan, but one of the things that annoys me about Trek is that Kirk (or Picard or Janeway or whoever) almost always finds a way out of every no-win scenario – and here’s the problem – the solution almost always involves some kind of convenient technology or convenient circumstances that doesn’t exist in real life. In real life, we don’t have the option to raise shields, set weapons on stun, cure any disease or injury with nanoprobes or a hypospray. And yet Trek always turns around and shakes its metaphorical finger at us, pontificating about how “Humans were so violent and barbaric in the 20th century.” This makes me want to yell at the screen, “We don’t have your technology, you self-righteous bastards!” That’s not real life. In real life, no-win scenarios do exist.
SGU doesn’t hold a candle to Star Trek, but it’s set in the present day, and unlike SGA and SG-1, they can’t always count on Asgard or Ancient technology to bail them out of every dilemma. They’re forced to make tough, ugly choices, which is true to real life. Star Trek is escapist fantasy. SGU is not escapist, which is probably why it’s not as much fun.
Although I suppose some people might consider SGU to be escapist fare. Not me.
I might be getting Terminator here but, I’m a free will, no predestination gal. Terrible odds exist, but people go down swinging at least. Why play the football/baseball game if we’re outmatched? Because you are going to have to beat us that’s why. We might even pull one off.
I get you Ruby, I don’t want things too easy either. Lord don’t move that mountain, give me the strength to climb, and all that.
Escapist or not, I’m loving the show and loving the chats! :)
:-D The Terminator franchise is so confusing, because Terminator 2 has that “No future but what we make for ourselves” thing, but then in Terminator 3 they go in exactly the opposite direction (“Whoops sorry, Sarah Connor, you only delayed the inevitable”).
But I get what you’re saying – don’t give up so easily, Col. Young. I don’t know what else he could have done in this situation. The only solution would have been dependent on alien technology, which would have been too convenient. It would feel like Young escaped making a difficult decision – he cheated, he never actually had to make the tough choice.
Oh my gosh. This is totally like the Kobayashi Maru test.
Kobayashi Maru would be a great name for my imaginary racehorse if it did not have such a negative connotation.
Find a way. Cheat death. – How many red shirts got killed on Kirk’s watch ?!? :->
HA!
Haha. This is actually a very good point. In SGU, Riley is the equivalent of a red shirt. If it were Eli or Greer or Scott stuck in the shuttle and dying, you can bet on them finding a way to cheat death, thanks to some kind of deus ex machina technology.
I agree with Ruby…Others are saying “Young is no Kirk,” Its a disgrace”. WHO CARES? For the first time since this sorry 2 dimensional outing of Stargate started, its actually getting INTERESTING. Its not Trek, Stargate (Atlantis/original) and not a touch on BSG, but at LEAST the main characters are developing. Some semblance of depth to them, Thank god. Young is not a great leader, he has flaws and in any other scenario he would have been replaced, but thats OK, because he’s now we’re left wondering what’ll happen next. He’s still wooden but the fact that there’s no real alternative could lead either to a total train wreck of episodes or some revelation that he’s an ok guy. Something to look forward to AT LAST. Rush IS a BOFH but there’s no alternative to him. I’d like to see him get whats coming to him, but hope its not too obvious and too soon, only slow and painful is good for him. And thats good, thats INTERSTING TOO. Its like a pressure cooker waiting to explode. I LIKE IT!