Hey, that’s the season I’m on right now in my rewatch! Just finished the Andy Dick episode last night. Great episode only marred by his existence. His performance is perfectly fine if not what I’m used to.
DS9, VOY, ENT and arguably even TNG, all helped establish the "rule" that it takes Star Trek shows (after TOS) three seasons to get good. As much as I personally liked Kes as a character, there's no denying the show took a step up after Seven of Nine was introduced. "Scorpion", "Year of Hell" and "Living Witness" are all really good episodes.