Everything about Aftermath, eh?

Heche and Tupper save the world in Space’s Aftermath

I’m a massive Stephen King fan; two of my favourite works are The Stand and The Mist. In the former, the world is brought down by a plague and the Americans that survive make their way across the nation to Boulder, Colo., recreating society out of a country with no power and no law. In The Mist, a cataclysmic thunderstorm tears a hole into another dimension, unleashing awful beasts that claim our planet as their own.

There’s plenty of both scenarios going on in Space and Syfy’s new series, Aftermath, and that’s just fine with me. Created and run by William Laurin and Glenn Davis (The Pinkertons, Missing), the 13-parter debuts Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on Space, with Joshua (James Tupper) and Karen Copeland (Anne Heche) trying to keep their family safe from an approaching hurricane. A hurricane on its own isn’t a big deal, except the Copelands live in Washington state, nowhere near warm water where those storms spin. Battery-powered radios crackle alternately of the end times and science and … horrors … cell service is nonexistent. If no texting wasn’t bad enough, some folks have gone nuts and are skinning each other alive.

aftermath

It’s with this as the backdrop that Tuesday’s debut, “RVL 6768,” sets up one hell of a ride. (Keep an eye out for the episode title to show up in one memorable scene.) With so much going on in the first 10 minutes, I worried I’d be overwhelmed with information. Sci-fi series can do that as the world, the characters and parameters are set up, but that wasn’t the case with Aftermath. I credit that to Tupper and Heche’s characters who are islands of calm as the world goes to shit. Josh is a university professor who studies world cultures and beliefs, so he picks up on the significance of fish and snakes dropping out of the sky. Karen is a former Air Force pilot whose no-nonsense attitude and survival training will keep her family—son Matt (Levi Meaden) and twin sisters Briana (Taylor Hickson) and Dana (Julia Sarah Stone)—safe.

Her skills are called upon early and often as increasingly violent and odd folks begin popping up. Incredible CGI and effects turn merely scary situations into horrifying ones and one such scene causes the Copelands to leave their home in the rearview mirror and explore what America has become. And what it’s become is a terrifying place.

Aftermath airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Space.

Images courtesy of Bell Media. 

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Calamities collide in the all-new disaster series Aftermath, premiering Sept. 27 on Space

From a media release:

This month, the end of the world is just the beginning with the debut of the Canadian action thriller AFTERMATH, premiering Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 10 p.m. ET on Space. Starring real-life couple, James Tupper (Revenge, Men In Trees) and Anne Heche (Hung, Men In Trees) as Joshua and Karen Copeland, the one-hour, 13-episode series follows their family’s struggle through a possible Armageddon. Shot in Vancouver, AFTERMATH is created by William Laurin and Glenn Davis, and produced by Halfire Entertainment in association with Space and Syfy.

In AFTERMATH, Joshua Copeland (Tupper) is a university professor whose study of world cultures and beliefs gives him unique abilities to decode the end times and help his family to survive. Karen Copeland (Heche) is a fierce protector of her family, drawing on the combat skills and survival training she received as an Air Force pilot to keep her husband and children safe.

In the premiere episode, “RVL 6768” (Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 10 p.m. ET), faced with natural disasters, supernatural creatures, and a horrifying plague, the Copeland family fights to survive the end of the world.

Related: Bid on an Aftermath prize pack that includes an Episode 1 script signed by Anne Heche and James Tupper. Proceeds go to Kids Help Phone

AFTERMATH also stars Levi Meaden (The Killing, Olympus) as the Copeland’s eldest son, Matt. As a student, Matt was a fierce athlete whose physical prowess becomes an attribute as the family faces the end of the world, until the brutality of what he must do to survive begins to push his character into the darkness. Taylor Hickson (Deadpool) and Julia Sarah Stone (The Killing, Falling Skies) star as his twin sisters Brianna and Dana Copeland. Brianna is the outlier of the family who’s an emotional, romantic, and rebellious young woman anxious to live her own life, until the shocks and tragedies of the end of times put her on a new path. Dana is nothing like her fraternal twin – she’s practical, sardonic, and quick-witted with a keen analytical mind and a thorough knowledge of science.

AFTERMATH creators/showrunners are William Laurin and Glenn Davis (Missing, Power Play, John Woo’s Once a Thief). Jason Stone (This is the End, The Calling), directs the first two episodes. Laurin and Davis executive produce along with Craig Merritt. Suzanne Berger and Connie Dolphin also produce. In addition to his lead role on the series, James Tupper is also co-producer. Jason Stone is consulting producer.

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