Star Trek: EVERY Season Ranked Worst To Best

Michael Pillar departed Voyager at the end of season three to work with Rick Berman on Star Trek: Insurrection. In his place, Brannon Braga rose to co-executive producer alongside Jeri Taylor. This allowed for some changes to the structure of the show.

The biggest change in the fourth season was the addition of Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine. Fan reactions to the news were originally negative, criticising the fact that they had swapped out sci-fi for sex appeal. Ryan's first 'human' costume, the silver jumpsuit, seemed to support that theory.

However, critics were quickly turned around by Ryan's acting skills and the writing on the season. Many episodes centered on Seven's development, which was felt by the cast to have helped the show overall, even if some of the secondary characters suffered because of it.

Year of Hell, Scorpion, Hope and Fear and, in particular, the Tim Russ directed Living Witness stand among the finest that Voyager had ever produced. Living Witness in particular has been hailed as up with the best of the show in its entire run.

The fourth season was seen by many as the stage where Voyager truly began to work as a show in its own right. The departure of Jennifer Lien as Kes, while sad for the cast, allowed more room for both Neelix and the Doctor to expand.

The addition of Seven gave Voyager the outsider's perspective on the crew, similar to both Spock and Data. With the final crew in place, the show settled into its groove and delivered on the best year of its entire run.