Just after the opening credits, the others discover that Dr. Beckett is uncomfortable with gate travel, to which Sheppard replies that Dr. Beckett is worse than Dr. McCoy.
-Teyla: "Who?"
-Sheppard: "The TV character that Dr. Beckett plays in real life."
-Beckett: "Converting a human body into energy and sending it millions of light years through a wormhole... bloody insanity!"
This is a clear salute to Star Trek (1966)'s Dr. McCoy and his series-long dislike of transporters.
Dr. Beckett is compared to Dr. McCoy from Star Trek (1966) and multiple subsequent movies. In 2009, Paul McGillion appeared in Star Trek (2009), sharing a scene with Chris Pine's Kirk.
As in Cure (2002), Allison Hossack (Perna) plays a scientist who is working with a potentially dangerous medicine and develops an attraction to one of the main characters.