Besides that, up till now, the crew, including Young and Wray have treated him like a pariah; why would he socialize with them now? Rush also seems far too reserved, isolated, and guarded to be sociable with people he doesn't really know. But the crew, and especially Young, are trying to reach out to him, if only for the moment. So, Rush is being a bit of a jerk here.
But what I really don't get is Young's assumption about Rush; that somehow he'd known the ship would use the star to refuel and that he'd kept it a deep dark secret for some hidden agenda. So what if he'd known or suspected the truth? What possible good would it have done to let anyone in on it? He couldn't have known with absolute certainty, and had he claimed to have known, and kept the crew all on board, he certainly would have taken the blame for losing all their lives if he'd been proven wrong.
Rush neither affirms or denies whether he'd known. As Eli (David Blue) says, Rush's pure joy in realizing they had survived the star is proof enough that he couldn't have known for certain. But that tiny bit of doubt is enough to turn Young back into full distrust mode.
"Light" is one of my favorite episodes of season one. It has a great plot and some wonderful performances, as well as being beautifully shot, especially as the interior of the ship becomes bathed in the star's orange glow. The metaphor of the crew (and the ship) coming out of "Darkness" and into the "Light" carries through from the titles of the two episodes to the ultimate coming together as a team, and the unfolding of several main characters as they are revealed to us.
My series of pieces on Stargate Universe continues next week with "Water."
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Article comments
1 - ashimon
Interestingly, I did not really have a problem with the final scene. I mean Young and Rush's relationship has always been uneasy and the necessity to cooperate did not change that at all. Young never trusted Rush and Rush doesn't really trust Young.
But my take on this is that Young probably realized that if Rush is really the brilliant scientist he claims himself to be than it must have occurred to him that the ship may use the sun to recharge (I am no hard scientist, but having energy problems and going toward the largest energy source that there is made me figure out rather early that they would use the sun to recharge). And let's be honest, Rush isn't the person of beautiful and noble gestures -- it seems he always have an (hidden) agenda.
I think partly the issue is of principle for Young: if he does not have all the available information, he cannot make the best possible decision (This is something that comes back later in the season and even in the second season.)
It could have also changed the nature of the decision because if there is a chance that they might survive on the Destiny probably not everyone would have wanted to participate in the lottery.
As for Young's decision to take himself out of the lottery: I think you are right, he had no choice. But that does not mean that the act can't be viewed as heroic. If he is a good commander he can't go, but it makes it no less a personal sacrifice. Young was "cursed" with the ability of being able to do the math: 1) injured people has no place on the mission, 2) the captain (or so) always goes down with his ship, 3) his choice could serve as a good example for those who were not lucky to be selected on the lottery. I have found rather intriguing that it was not one of the civilians but one of his soldiers who could not understand this. The embarrassment on Young's face is clear when Spencer starts acting up.
I found your take that Young chose to do the lottery instead of hand-picking the shuttle crew as a sign of his unwillingness to command interesting. I am not sure I agree with it, but it has never occurred to me before.
Ugh, I guess this got a little lengthy...