Alien artefacts, that had first appeared in the Season 6 finale Biogenesis (1999), were still in storage so the crew didn't need to recreate them.
Neal McDonough is a huge sci-fi fan (he had already appeared in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report (2002) that year) and jumped at the chance of appearing on one of his favorite TV shows.
First appearance of the Toothpick Man.
First of three appearances Alan Dale made in the series as the Toothpick Man, a character designed to fill the void left by the Cigarette Smoking Man.
The title Provenance means place of origin. The title of the following episode Providence means God conceived, or God's Destiny, are often used interchangeably in religious context.