Matthew Scott holds the rank of First Lieutenant, and is described as a skilled and well-trained junior SGC member in his twenties, but is "mentally unprepared for the urgency of the situation" aboard the Destiny.

After the base falls under attack, Colonel Everett Young (Louis Ferreira) has him lead the expedition to the nine-chevron address after Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) dials it instead of Earth.

Scott becomes the leader of the expedition's first off-world mission, where he finds lime to repair the CO2 scrubbers on the Destiny, having followed a strange, swirling cloud of dust to its location.

He describes Scott as "an emotional leader"[10] and a "deceptively simple guy," with a very intense and sad back story full of loss and challenges.

[2] Smith commented that Scott views Colonel Young as a father figure, but throughout the first season he is "starting to see him becoming something ugly and demented," though "he can forgive" and "he can learn.

"[12] Concerning Scott's relationship with Chloe, Smith believed that although "so much happened so fast," behind the scenes, they share common hopes, dreams and fears, and tease and joke with each other.

[13] Before being cast, Brian J. Smith had been working as a stage actor in New York City for a year and a half and had seen a couple of Stargate episodes.

[14] He prepared for the role by doing military research, particularly by reading books based on the Vietnam War,[9] and talking with Angelique McDonald, one of the series' Air Force advisers, about the nature of and how vulnerable First Lieutenants really are.

"[17] According to Consulting Producer Joseph Mallozzi, Brian J. Smith was "always a pleasure to talk to", "extremely talented" and reminded him and the character as "a young Ben Browder.