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