How DidAftermathEnd? Unpacking the Dylan Sprouse-Led Thriller's Final Moments (Including Doc's Fate)

Mar. 15, 2025

Dylan Sprouse in ‘Aftermath’ (2024).Photo:©Voltage Pictures /Courtesy Everett

©Voltage Pictures /Courtesy Everett

Dylan SprouseandMason Goodingare the hero-villain duo no one saw coming.

Eric and Madeleine’s reunion is halted when they become trapped onBoston’s Tobin Bridge after a group of ex-military contractors destroy the roads and take everyone hostage.

As Eric tries to save his sister and the others, he learns more and more about the people holding them captive and who they’re actually after.

So how didAftermathend? Here’s everything to know about the movie’s final scenes.

Warning:Aftermathspoilers ahead!

What was the Shattered Dove Initiative?

Mason Gooding in ‘Aftermath’ (2024).©Voltage Pictures /Courtesy Everett

Captain James Roken (Gooding) targeted the bridge to capture Samantha “Doc” Brown (Dichen Lachman), a former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, because she exposed his private militia, Retcon 13, for committing war crimes in the Shattered Dove Initiative. Roken takes her and the rest of the bridge hostage as a bargaining chip with the Pentagon to free his still-captive comrades and demand that the government publicly admit that they had ordered Retcon 13 to commit those crimes.

Doc had pinned the war crimes on Retcon 13 in exchange for a plea bargain but some members of Roken’s unit, which included decorated war veterans, were wrongfully blamed and incarcerated.

Later on, Doc reveals that Roken is not one of these innocents and did actually abuse his power to ultimately become a villain — a role that Gooding was excited to play.

“I had an inkling for what it would feel like to be a more villainous character,” he told ComingSoon.net. “But it wasn’t until talking to [Sprouse] and seeing how he operates on set in that setting that it allowed me the freedom and willingness and comfortability to take the backyard villain I had always played with my brother in elementary school and just transfix it onto in my adult physique and sensibilities.”

How didAftermathend?

Megan Stott in ‘Aftermath’ (2024).©Voltage Pictures /Courtesy Everett

The bulk ofAftermathshows Eric (and eventually Doc as well) working to save hostage lives and dismantle Roken’s bombs.

The police spot the switch and command all units to pull out from the bridge as Roken rappels down towards an extraction boat that’s seemingly ready for his escape.

Before Roken can make it to the vessel, though, Eric maneuvers the bomb-laced van towards the edge of the bridge and thrusts it into drive. He jumps out just in time before the van and all its explosives dive head-first into the river below.

How did Roken die?

Mason Gooding and Derek K. Moore in ‘Aftermath’ (2024).©Voltage Pictures /Courtesy Everett

Halfway down his rappel, Roken sees the van falling from the bridge. He detonates the switch, seemingly in an effort to explode the van before it reaches him but he’s too late. The vehicle explodes as it hits the water, killing Roken and sparing the bridge and hostages.

As the camera pans out to the police approaching the bridge, a newscaster’s voice announces that the Pentagon has exposed the Shattered Dove files and released four Retcon 13 members.

There’s also a congressional hearing to investigate other misuse of military contractors.

Was Doc released from prison?

Dichen Lachman in ‘Aftermath’ (2024).©Voltage Pictures /Courtesy Everett

Though viewers never learn exactly what Doc was in jail for, she was initially charged with misdemeanors. While incarcerated, her sentence became more severe after she killed a group of gang members to save a young inmate.

The final scene ofAftermathshows Eric and Madeleine picking up Doc, who had been released from prison three weeks after the Tobin Bridge attack. Eric notes that she had been freed for “valor and heroism under fire.”

As they get in the car to leave, he jokingly asks if he should take the tunnel or the bridge. In unison, Doc and Madeleine pick the tunnel.

source: people.com