 Richard Dean Anderson had left the main cast after Season 8 due to the personal wish to spend more time with his young daughter in Los Angeles.Despite being listed in the cast credits for the whole season and short scenes in "Avalon (Part 1)", Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter is absent during the first five episodes as she was in the last stages of pregnancy at that time.Her empty spot was filled by guest star Claudia Black, who would leave in "Beachhead" and return for the last two episodes of Season 9, which involved her real-life pregnancy.