I thought Seven added tremendous life to the show. In some ways, she has some "spockyness," her aversion to emotion, yet she couldn't help but show emotion, even though she was a wounded soul who was not comfortable in her own skin...but then she evolved to accept herself in a human way (not with the Borg arrogance) and even connect a bit with her emotions. She evolves from amoral pragmatism...to experiencing her own humanity. Those who liked others characters, I understand the disappointment, but Seven did have so much to offer. Better writing could have taken advantage of Seven, but included other favorites more. Obviously Seven was more interesting then say, Kim. As far as Kes goes, reading about her recent unfortunate illness, my heart goes out to her. In many cases, such illnesses do not appear overnight, it is possible she might have been experiencing some health problems that affected her working on such a demanding show, and for that reason they might have chosen her to be the one to go when the cast had to be reduced.