Eli Wallace

Eli Wallace is a fictional character in the Canadian-American television series Stargate Universe, a science fiction drama centering on the adventures of a present-day, multinational scientific team unable to return to Earth after an evacuation to the Ancient spaceship Destiny, which is traveling in a distant corner of the universe. He is portrayed by American actor David Blue. Blue auditioned for the role when he heard they were casting characters for the new show. Wallace is considered to be a slacker, yet at the same time a genius. Wallace made his first appearance in the pilot episode, "Air", first broadcast in the United States and Canada in 2009.

Character arc

Prior to being recruited into Stargate Command, Wallace lived with his mother, was unemployed, and spent most of his time playing video games. He had dropped out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he had been studying mathematics. His last job was at a fast food restaurant. He was very concerned about his mother, Marian, who had contracted HIV from a needle stick several years earlier, when she was a nurse. The attack also caused his father to abandon them when Eli was 14 ("Time"). She was having trouble finding adequate medical coverage at the time of Eli's recruitment, and Stargate Command promised to make sure his mother's medical needs were taken care of if he joined the Stargate program.^[1]

Sometime in 2009, Wallace started playing an online game called Prometheus, and in the course of the game he solved a math(s) problem in order to advance to the game's next level. But unbeknownst to him, the problem that Eli solved was actually an Ancient mathematical proof that was procured from the Ancient Database, and that Stargate Command had created the game in an effort to find someone who could solve it. Within a day of finding the solution, Eli is visited by Dr. Nicholas Rush and General Jack O'Neill, who offer him a chance to see the fruits of his labor (but do not elaborate on the details), then beam him aboard the George Hammond after he shows some reluctance at signing the non-disclosure agreement. Rush wins Eli over by promising that the Air Force will provide his mother with the best medical care they have to offer.

Eli is transported to the Icarus Base to help Rush solve the mystery behind the ninth chevron of the Stargate. He jokingly gives himself the nickname "Math Boy" during a dinner conversation, which sticks. Though his formula is initially unsuccessful, Eli is key during an attack on the base in solving the problem they are having dialing the ninth chevron, which allows Rush to dial the address. As a result, the remaining Icarus personnel are sent to the Destiny, an Ancient spaceship several billion light-years from Earth.^[1]

Due to his deference to Colonel Young's authority, Eli becomes one of Young's confidants. He is the only civilian that Young trusts to handle technical problems and decipher Destiny's systems. For example, Young tasked Eli with using the Kinos to secretly spy on the crew, a mission that Eli was clearly uncomfortable with. And because Young does not trust Dr. Rush but does trust Eli, Young often puts Eli in conflict with Rush. The end of season 2 is a cliffhanger for which Eli is crucial: everyone on the ship has been put into stasis pods except for Eli, who volunteers to stay behind (in lieu of the untrustworthy Dr. Rush) to figure out how to fix the final, malfunctioning stasis pod so that he too can go into stasis. Before fixing his pod he goes to the observation deck and looks out at the stars as Destiny shuts down most of its systems around him. Eli smiles enigmatically as the show ends.

Conceptual history

David Blue became a fan of Stargate SG-1 when it moved from Showtime to the SCI FI Channel (now known as Syfy) and used to watch it when he came home from school. He also later caught up with Stargate Atlantis. His interest in the franchise later influenced him to audition for one of the main roles.^[2] Blue was shooting a scene for an episode of Ugly Betty when he heard that the Stargate Universe producers were casting actors. He soon after had an audition and a screen test. Blue has commented that he wanted the role even more when he heard that Robert Carlyle had been signed on for a part.^[3]

Blue had never acted in the science fiction genre before being cast for Stargate Universe. Prior to Stargate Universe, he was best known for his portrayal of Cliff in Ugly Betty. Blue himself has said that Stargate Universe is "completely different" from his previous work.^[3]

References