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During Voyager’s hiatus, rumors circulated that Jennifer Lien was being let go, two years before her contract was up. The official story was the writers were having difficulty nailing Kes’ character down, plus they seemed inhibited by her nine-year life cycle. Unofficially, her departure was due to adding on a new character. Like Michael Dorn, who was brought in to bring up DS9’s ratings, they hired Jeri Ryan, late of NBC’s very little seen Dark Skies, to play a female Borg to be rescued by Janeway. Getting rid of Kes was the less of many evils. Since the series had begun, she was one of the most consistently underused characters, and was becoming Voyager’s version of Troi from TNG -either missing from episodes altogether or there, but with only a few lines. Jeri Ryan is a very beautiful, full figured woman. And put into a clingy cat suit, she would be the eye candy for the 18-35 year old males, one of the most sought after groups by advertisers. Rating were bound to go up, was the theory. Plus, Seven would now take over for B’Elanna’s role as the daughter to the Janeway as mother analogy. And for a bit, the ratings were in an upswing. But the more things change, as the saying goes, the more it remains the same. The stories continued to be problematic. Some stories had good ideas like Day of Honor, Nemesis and Revulsion, but were executed in the silliest way. In particular, Revulsion, while a good concept and exceptional performances from Dawson and Picardo and guest star Leland Orser, but you had to be a complete idiot not to guess that Orser’s character was loopy. It’s this stuff; this meaningless that angered many fans. Year of Hell, perhaps, was the highlight of the season, a complex two-parter that had the crew up against a real threat, though as the show unfolds, you really discover that the character of Annorax is not evil. Like the Vidiians, his only crime is what he does in the undertaking of his goal. With both the Vidiians and the Kazon now 10 years behind them (see The Gift) and Species 8472 temporarily not around, a new enemy was introduced. The Hirogen were quietly introduced in Message in a Bottle, after Seven discovers a network of relay stations that lead to the Alpha Quadrant (and who built them is never really explained, as it certainly was not the Hirogen). The Doctor spends sometime on the Prometheus, an experimental Starfleet ship taken over by the Romulans. It was a witty script and it gave the Doctor a chance to tell Starfleet of their situation, thusly ensuing they would begin thinking of ways to save the stranded starship (its called foreshadowing, kids). Meanwhile, the Hirogen were barley seen in the next episode called Hunters, though with a title like that you kind of expected too, but they became the B story, as the main focus of the episode appeared to be reactions to the letters the crew was getting. Prey was next, and we learn more about them. They are a species that hunts other intelligent species for their skulls. They have no homeworld, with their entire culture based on the hunt. They would pop up again a few episodes later, in the uneven two-parter, The Killing Game. Somehow, though it never is clearly explained, they have taken over Voyager and are using the crew on the holodecks. The Hirogen’s have chosen World War II scenario as they try to figure out the humans (though you would think the Borg attack at Wolfe 359 would be a better choice). In the end, it is discovered that the Alpha Hirogen fears that they have spread themselves to thin, and if they don’t learn to adapt to new aliens, they will be defeated. And while the story is pure escapism, it also features one of Janeway’s and the series, greatest blunders. After all is resolved, she actually gives the Hirogen’s holodeck technology. This was just another blatant misuse of the Prime Directive to fit the plot. Further evidence that under Braga’s leadership, Trek was becoming his show, filled with his ideas and be damned continuity and logic. And despite the claim by Paramount that ratings had improved since Jeri Ryan’s arrival, he said that was far from true. Which it was. Ratings had started off good for the fourth season, but quickly leveled off Meanwhile, the rest of season four continued, like pervious seasons, on an up and down escalator ride. From the real bad: Omega Directive, Unforgettable, Living Witness and Demon, to the mildly interesting Vis a Vis, One, and the season-ender Hope and Fear.
Rating: 2 / 5

I really did enjoy this Season, but there was a lot I thought was either overstated or understated. I really hated it when Kes left and, while I can understand how it could have been hard trying to figure out what to do with a character that ages so quickly, that really soured me on the Series for a while. I also think Seven of Nine was too predominant in the episodes. I thought the entire idea of having an ex-Borg was great, but she didn’t need to have her two cents worth in every story. Bottom Line: I would definitly get it, but it’s definetly NOT my favorite Season.
Rating: 4 / 5