SGA 5.18 "Identity" Episode Guide

Précis

An Ancient device on another planet causes Dr. Keller to swap bodies with a woman named Neeva, who hides her true identity from the Atlantis expedition. Once they realize what has happened, Sheppard’s team, with Dr. Carson Beckett along, must find and deactivate the device that caused the body swap. They must rescue Keller from people who believe she is Neeva, and who have troubles of their own.

Guide | Transcript

MGM/SciFi.com Official Summary

When it’s observed that Dr. Jennifer Keller is behaving very strangely, Dr. Carson Beckett is asked to examine her. But extensive testing reveals nothing abnormal and they fear she may be suffering from a mysterious psychological disorder. Unbeknownst to them, Keller has traded bodies with that of a notorious criminal, Neeva Casol, and finds herself at the mercy of a village magistrate, on a distant planet, about to be executed for her crimes.

McKay’s investigation leads him to suspect that Dr. Keller and Neeva have switched consciousnesses by means of an Ancient communications tool. In a race against time, Sheppard and his team must locate Keller, along with the alien device. But they‘ll need Neeva’s help to do it.

Modified by Solutions.

Cast

• Joe Flanigan as Lt. Col. John Sheppard
• Rachel Luttrell as Teyla Emmagan
• Jason Momoa as Ronon Dex
• Jewel Staite as Dr. Jennifer Keller
• Robert Picardo as Richard Woolsey
• and David Hewlett as Dr. Rodney McKay

Guest Stars

• Paul McGillion as Dr. Carson Beckett
• Dawn Olivieri as Neeva Casol
• David Nykl as Dr. Radek Zelenka
• Jonathan Holmes as Village Magistrate
• Ronald Seymour as Jannik
• Todd Thompson as Bordal
• Linda Ko as Nurse

Production

• Written by Carl Binder
• Directed by William Waring

Related Articles

Keywords

• Ancient Communications Terminal

Other

• Season Five Episode Guides
• Episode Guides
• Season Five Transcripts
• Transcripts
• Previous: SGA 5.17 "Infection" Episode Guide
• Next: SGA 5.19 "Vegas" Episode Guide

Related Links

Official

• Official MGM Stargate Atlantis Website
• SciFi Channel 5.18 "Identity" Episode Guide

Fan

• Solutions On-Site Forum: Season Five Discussion Board
• Solutions News and Spoiler Blog
• Stargate Screencaps: Season Five

Galleries

Stills Galleries

• MGM: Episode Stills
• Dryope at LJ: Episode Stills
• Andreas at LJ: Episode Stills

Production Galleries

The following are links to images concerning the production of this episode and were published by Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog:

• Concept Art: The headman's axe (July 21, 2008)
• Candid: Production Designer James Robbins with an axe (July 21, 2008)
• Candid: Production Designer James Robbins prepares to wield an axe (July 21, 2008)
• Candid: Production Designer James Robbins pretends to shave with an axe (July 21, 2008)
• August 23 entry has several candids of Jason Momoa (with his guitar) and Dawn Olivieri (Neeva).
• On Set: Someone gets operated on (perhaps the stabbing victim?) (August 22, 2008)
• On Set: More from the operating room (August 22, 2008)
• On Set: More from the operating room with the mystery patient (August 22, 2008)

Video from MGM:

• MGM Video: "Identity" Theft (Behind the scenes with Dawn Olivieri), December 13, 2008.

Production Notes

• Paloosa writes: “Also, I was wondering if the storylines have been decided for the last few episodes? And are you, cast and crew itching to take off for hiatus?” Answer: "Nope. There are two slots still open. They’ll go to Carl and Alan. We have two weeks to spin these stories. That way, everyone will have something to work on during a hiatus we are all very much looking forward to." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 31, 2008.
• PG15 writes: “Do you guys know, generally, what you want to put in those 2 empty spots at the end of the season, or is it completely blank? Are there “notions” for those spots?” Answer: "No notions, but there are a couple of loose ends that could use tying up." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 1, 2008.
• "Help spin Carl’s story for episode 17 (or maybe 18?). A nice callback to some SG-1 tech, the return of that guest star will have the boards abuzz, and Carl searches for an appropriately grisly punishment." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 4, 2008.
• "And, speaking of casting, we’re looking into ... this potential Stargate newbie for Carl’s eppy (which has taken a very dark turn). She’s super!" — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 5, 2008.
• "Carl put out a beat sheet for his episode and, after some discussion, finalized the beats - and a title: Identity." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 12, 2008.
• "Alan finished his rewrite of Infection, Martin is prepping Brain Storm, Carl is poised to prep Identity, and Paul has broken ground on #20. With less than two months to go, it looks like it’s going to be a mad dash to the finish line." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, July 23, 2008.
• "Well, it’s a race to the finish line as ... Carl (Identity) and Rob (Vegas) field questions about their respective episodes..." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, July 31, 2008.
• "The character of Carson Beckett will be appearing in five episodes this season. They are - The Seed (written by Paul Mullie), Whispers (written by me), Outsiders (written by Alan McCullough), Identity (written by Carl Binder), and episode #20 (written by Paul Mullie)." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, August 9, 2008.
• "Carl is casting Identity..." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, August 12, 2008.
• "Shooting for "Identity" coming up this week, after a bit of a break. And then - the last two of season 5. We better hurry up, you guys are eating them up fast..." — David Nykl in his personal blog, August 16, 2008.
• "We've been casting and prepping for episode 518 "Identity"..." — Alex Levine in his scifi.com blog, August 18, 2008.
• "Tomorrow, we move on to Beckett’s return, “eyes staring straight ahead”, and the stabbing (Hoo boy. The fans are going to freak. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone)." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, August 20, 2008.
• "Well, as promised, here are some of the fun photos I took on set the other day. Guest star Dawn Olivieri is, to use Costume Designer Val Halverson’s words, “a hoot”! The native Floridian and former Deal or No Deal Model #14 is possessed of a quick wit and sharp tongue. Oh, and she also happens to be doing a kick-ass job as Identity’s Neeva. Don’t mess with Dawn! A couple of our actors learned the hard way." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, August 23, 2008. Several images of Jason Momoa and Dawn Olivieri are included in the entry.
• "Rachel and Paul chatted with us from their location at the forest of Stokes Pit in Surrey, where they are filming scenes from Season 5’s “Identity“." — Solutions, "Exclusive! Luttrell and McGillion React to Cancellation", August 26, 2008.
• "Meanwhile, we’ve still got a show to produce. Identity is shooting, Enemy at the Gate is prepping, and various cuts and mixes abound." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, August 29, 2008.
• "Yeah, well these ones that we're doing right now, "Identity," right now, is a pretty interesting Zelenka episode. I'm not wearing my regular clothes!" — David Nykl in Gateworld interview, September 13, 2008.

Further Reading

• Joseph Mallozzi's Blog
• Solutions: SGA S5 Spoilers: "Identity", August 9, 2008.
• David Nykl's blog, August 16, 2008.
• Alex Levine's scifi.com blog, August 18, 2008.
• Solutions: Exclusive! Luttrell and McGillion React to Cancellation, August 26, 2008.
• Gateworld: Words of Radek, interview with David Nykl, September 13, 2008.
• Alex Levine's scifi.com blog, December 11, 2008.
• Solutions: SGA Tonight: "Identity", December 12, 2008.
• MGM Video: "Identity" Theft (Behind the scenes with Dawn Olivieri), December 13, 2008.

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--DeeKayP 18:54, 21 July 2008 (PDT)