Exasperated Calculator

Sometimes retooling works.

This season sees some big changes in the setup of the show. Kes was replaced by Seven of Nine. And then Seven of Nine got a lot of screen time – she was the main plot driver in 7 episodes, had the B-plot in another handful, and played a significant role in the plot of another seven. That’s well ahead of anyone else on the ship except Janeway.

So that was pretty high risk – it’s a fundamentally new factor being added into the show’s equation. It paid off. Seven is an interesting character, and the performance is good. She’s supported several interesting stories. But I do have a concern – she keeps getting character development, then she drops back to where she was for the start of the next episode.

There were still a handful of bad episodes (Mortal Coil, Hunters, Retrospect, Unforgettable). But these were handily matched by the very good (Nemesis, Message in a Bottle, One) and excellent (Year of Hell (well, part 2 at least), The Killing Game, Living Witness). Overall this is definitely in the ‘Strong Performers’ bracket, just behind TNG Season 4.

So the overall rankings are now:

The very best of Trek:

• TNG Season 6

• DS9 Season 2

Strong performers:

• DS9 Season 5

• TNG Season 3

• TNG Season 5

• TOS Season 2

• TNG Season 4

• VOY Season 4

Mixed bag:

• TOS Season 1

• DS9 Season 2

• DS9 Season 1

• VOY Season 1

• TNG Season 7

Not good:

• DS9 Season 3

• VOY Season 3

• TNG Season 2

• TAS Season 1

• VOY Season 2

• TOS Season 3

• TAS Season 2

• TNG Season 1