Jennifer Keller

Dr. Jennifer Keller

Summary

Dr. Jennifer Keller is the current acting chief of medicine of the Atlantis Base in the Pegasus Galaxy. She was given the assignment after the untimely death of Dr. Carson Beckett. (Stargate Atlantis: 3.20 "First Strike Part 1")

Character Biography

Dr. Jennifer Keller relunctantly took on the role as the acting chief of medicine of the Atlantis Base after Dr. Beckett's untimely death (SGA 3.17 "Sunday"). She felt that she wasn't qualified to replace Beckett and asked Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the leader of the Atlantis Expedition, to find a replacement for her as soon as possible so that she could continue being a doctor and not the head of the department. Weir expressed her confidence in Keller's abilities and said that she felt safe in her hands. This comment turned prophetic when Weir was critically injured during an Asuran attack on the city, and Keller was the doctor on call to treat her. (SGA 3.20 "First Strike Part 1")

Keller suggested that the Asuran nanites implanted into Weir about a year prior (SGA 3.05 "Progeny") be reactivated to heal her of her massive head injuries. Dr. Rodney McKay reprogrammed these dormant nanites and saved Weir's life, but the trade-off was that she could only live with the nanites active. They used these nanites to link to the Asuran network so that they could steal a ZPM from the Asurans' homeworld, but the Asurans detected her presence and captured her. The team, however, made it back to Atlantis with a ZPM that saved the city. (SGA 4.01 "Adrift Part 2", 4.02 "Lifeline Part 3")

Keller's insecurities were depicted in a nightmare that was induced by an alien entity in which she dreamed of losing her patients to aliens that she didn't know how to handle. This fear was realized when her associate Dr. Kate Heightmeyer died in her sleep in a nightmare induced by the same hostile alien entity. Keller, however, played a key role in determining how to get the entity back into its storage crystal and replaced on its homeworld. (SGA 4.04 "Doppelganger")

Not very acclimated to outdoor living, Keller was unexpectedly thrown into a survival situation along with Teyla when the two went to New Athos for a friendly overnight visit. Keller was uncomforable with taking over the doctor role that had previously been filled by the late Carson Beckett, so she brought lollipops for the children to make the exams go better. Upon their arrival, they discovered that the Athosians were gone and that the settlement was being scavanged by the Bola Kai, a cannibalistic primitive tribe. In her effort to escape from the tribesmen, Keller sprained her ankle, but continued to attempt to be brave under extreme stress. Teyla protected her, and she eventually found the courage she needed when they were finally captured. This difficult time together helped the two women bond. After their rescue, Keller, realizing that she could have been killed, was granted a visit with her father, her only surviving relative, back on Earth, presumably in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA, where she grew up. (SGA 4.07 "Missing")

Keller became Teyla's confidante after their time together in New Athos. Because she was Teyla's medical doctor, she was the first to discover that Teyla was pregnant. Teyla chose not to tell her teammates immediately after she found out, but Keller reminded her that she could not keep it a secret for very much longer. (SGA 4.08 "The Seer")

Episodes

• SGA 3.05 "Progeny"
• SGA 3.20 "First Strike Part 1"
• SGA 4.01 "Adrift Part 2"
• SGA 4.02 "Lifeline Part 3"
• SGA 4.04 "Doppelganger"
• SGA 4.06 "Tabula Rasa"
• SGA 4.07 "Missing"
• SGA 4.08 "The Seer"

Related Characters

• Dr. Carson Beckett
• Teyla Emmagan
• Dr. Kate Heightmeyer
• Dr. Rodney McKay
• Lt. Col. John Sheppard
• Dr. Elizabeth Weir

Related Articles

• Asurans
• Atlantis
• Atlantis Expedition in the Pegasus Galaxy
• Bola Kai
• Crystalline Entities
• Nanotechnology
• New Athos
• Zero Point Module (ZPM)

Actor

• Jewel Staite

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--DeeKayP 19:28, 30 May 2007 (PDT)