SGU 2.02 "Aftermath" Episode Guide

Précis

With food and water supplies running dangerously low and tempers flaring, a shuttle is deployed to an unstable planet whose Stargate has been locked out of Destiny's controls.

Guide | Transcript

Syfy Official Summary

Struggling under the weight of dozens of prisoners, Camille and Young fight to find a solution to their dwindling food and water resources. Rush, who is keeping the extent of his knowledge of Destiny secret, finds a potentially habitable planet—with a nonresponsive Stargate—and manually drops the ship out of FTL. He covers the lie by saying that the FTL drive was damaged by the pulsar, and Young assembles an away team to take a shuttle there in hopes of replenishing their supplies. Rush has visions of his late wife guiding him through his decisions, but when the shuttle departs, Franklin appears, telling Rush that fatigue made him overlook the the planet's spinning atmosphere.

Rush radios Scott to warn him of the extra turbulence, but soon the shuttle's engines fail, causing a devastating crash that crushes Riley's legs—TJ knows within moments that Riley won't make it, and stays with him as some comfort. Left without transportation, the rest of the team is charged with the task of getting the failed Stargate—buried under an avalanche of rocks—operational before Destiny jumps away.

On the ship, the Lucians are divided: Some of them have been offering strategic information in hopes of better treatment, but another contingent starts a riot. While Varro is contrite, Young decides that, once they find a viable planet, all Lucians will be deposited there and left. But Young gets a prickly surprise when Telford informs him that he's used the communication stones to contact Stargate Command and has orders to retain a select group of Lucians as a strategic move.

In the quiet of the ruined ship, with Riley's life slipping away, TJ confesses to him the story of her voyage to the alien planet, where she believes her baby is safe (SGU 2.01 "Intervention"). Unbeknownst to either of them, Dr. Park is quietly, tearfully listening in. Hundreds of meters away, the Stargate rumbles to life, and Scott and the crew return to Destiny to report on the situation. Young goes to the planet to visit Riley in his final moments, asking TJ for solitude. The two men comfort each other, but when Young attempts to say goodbye, Riley begs that he end his pain. Young solemnly agrees and, placing a firm hand over Riley's nose and mouth, extinguishes his life. The team gravely returns to the ship, and attempt, once again, to make life in space as normal as possible. None have so difficult a task as Rush, however, still haunted by visions of his wife, and hoping for more helpful information from the specter of Franklin. And grief is soon overshadowed by the next crisis: The ship is headed straight for an unidentified object in space, with no apparent recourse.

Modified by Solutions.

Cast

Opening Credits:

• Robert Carlyle as Dr. Nicholas Rush
• Louis Ferreira as Col. Everett Young
• Brian J. Smith as 1st Lt. Matthew Scott
• Elyse Levesque as Chloe Armstrong
• David Blue as Eli Wallace
• Alaina Huffman as 1st Lt. Tamara Johansen
• Jamil Walker Smith as MSgt. Ronald Greer
• and Ming-Na as Camile Wray

Guest Starring:

• Louise Lombard as Gloria Rush
• Julie McNiven as Ginn
• Mike Dopud as Varro
• Haig Sutherland as Sgt. Hunter Riley
• Peter Kelamis as Adam Brody
• Patrick Gilmore as Dr. Dale Volker
• Julia Benson as Lt. Vanessa James
• Jennifer Spence as Dr. Lisa Park
• Mark Burgess as Dr. Franklin
• with Robert Knepper as Simeon
• and Lou Diamond Phillips as Col. David Telford

Closing Credits:

• Darcy Laurie as Airman Dunning
• Elfina Y. Luk as Marine
• Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman as Airman Becker
• Primo Allon as Koz

Production

• Written by Robert C. Cooper
• Directed by William Waring

Related Articles

Keywords

• Communication Stones
• Destiny
• International Oversight Advisory (IOA)
• Lucian Alliance
• Stargate Command (SGC)

Other

• Stargate Universe: Season Two
• Previous: SGU 2.01 "Intervention" Episode Guide
• Next: SGU 2.03 "Awakening" Episode Guide

Related Links

Official

• MGM Official Website: Search Results for "Aftermath"
• Syfy: 2.02 "Aftermath" Guide

Fan

• Solutions News and Spoiler Blog
• Solutions at LJ: Universe Tagged Entries
• Solutions Universe Forum

Production Notes

• "Looks like I won’t be doing episode 2 after all which is a shame as I was really looking forward to tackling what will be a wonderfully multi-character-centric story with a tough ethical dilemma at its core." — Joseph Mallozzi, October 30, 2009
• "Yesterday, we beat out the season opener for Paul and today, we spun episode two. Rob, who’ll be doing the honors on this one, pitched out a terrific, albeit radically different, A story to compliment the B, C, D, and E throughlines. Lots going on in this one – action, drama, spectacular visual effects, and a tough, tough decision. Two actually." — Joseph Mallozzi, November 3, 2009
• "Rob will probably send me his outline (episode 2, shooting third) while I’m in Japan..." — Joseph Mallozzi, November 21, 2009
• "We were back in the office today where the discussion ranged from Robert Cooper’s finished first draft of Aftermath to my lovely Tokyo dining companions. Tomorrow, we actually start breaking more stories!" — Joseph Mallozzi, December 14, 2009
• "Yet another surprise in the form of Robert Cooper’s first draft of Aftermath. All I can say is 'Whoa! Did NOT see THAT coming!'" — Joseph Mallozzi, December 15, 2009
• "Since we already gave Rob notes on episode two before the hiatus, we moved on to episode three, my script." — Joseph Mallozzi, January 13, 2010
• "Yesterday, we received a visit from our friends at Syfy, Exec. VP of Original Programming Mark Stern and Director of Development Erika Kennair, who dropped by to talk travel, television and, oh yeah, Stargate: Universe. We spent the afternoon discussing the first five scripts of season two and beyond – character developments, story arcs, and surprises in store for the not too distant future. It was a pleasant and ultimately fruitful sit-down that yielded some terrific ideas that I was quite excited about… until I sat down in front of my laptop this morning and realized I would now have to incorporate these terrific ideas into the rewrite of Awakening. Don’t get me wrong. I really do like the notions we came up with. They’ll help clarify some of the character motivations and offer up interesting revelations about her heroes. I just hate rewrites. Even more than I hate writing first drafts." — Joseph Mallozzi, March 12, 2010
• "Director Will Waring started shooting episode #2, Aftermath, today." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 6, 2010
• "Fun isn’t a word I’d use to describe the episode presently in production, Aftermath. Great, yes, but heavy. It packs a huge emotional wallop." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 13, 2010
• "I head over to Stage 5 where Robert Cooper is directing the second unit scenes from Aftermath and Awakening" — Joseph Mallozzi, April 16, 2010
• "I also found the time to join my fellow producers in taking in a matinee double-feature: ... Will Waring’s kick-ass director’s cut of Rob Cooper’s equally kick-ass script for Aftermath (in which actor Louis Ferreira delivers his best performance yet in a suspenseful, absorbing, emotionally-draining episode)." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 21, 2010
• "The best laid plans of mice and men… Things come apart in a big way, and our heroes are left to pick up the pieces. Gut-wrenching." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 22, 2010
• Images added to Solutions Gallery

Further Reading

• Joseph Mallozzi's Blog
• Airlock Alpha: 'Stargate: Universe' Will Get Darker, Tougher, June 29, 2010
• Solutions: Stargate Universe: 2.02 "Aftermath", October 5, 2010
• Chicago Now: 'Stargate Universe' exclusive: Haig Sutherland and the life of Riley, October 6, 2010

---

--DeeKayP 14:28, 18 January 2010 (UTC)