Star Trek: 10 Greatest Jeri Taylor Episodes
1. Caretaker
If there is perhaps one episode of Star Trek in which Jeri Taylor was directly involved that could be deemed the most important - it has to be Caretaker. The pilot episode of Trek's fourth live-action series had to go big, or go home. Deep Space Nine's Emissary was used as a learning tool - Taylor, along with Rick Berman and Michael Piller, knew that it had suffered from its perceived over-emphasis on cerebral matters. Caretaker needed to be an action story.
The episode launched not just the new show but an entirely new network. The UPN debuted with Voyager, impressing audiences sufficiently to secure a second season. There were ideas that, with the benefit of hindsight, may have worked slightly better than others, but Caretaker remains one of the strongest pilots in the franchise.
The writing process took months, with Taylor's extensive notes detailing the labourious process by which the story came together. Plots were suggested and abandoned, names like Nick Locarno were bandied about, and that Mayfly character was there in the earliest drafts. Disagreements abounded between the producers as to the Maquis' fate - Rick Berman insisted they put on Starfleet uniforms, while the others argued against this idea. In the end, Caretaker set the scene for Janeway, Chakotay, and the remaining crew of the USS Voyager - thanks in no small part to Jeri Taylor.