Lynx, for me, regardless we talk about a show or a movie, it is a team effort :
writers (who create as well characters, as environment as situations -> sometimes, they hit the nail and sometimes, they "screwed up"),
producers (who valid the scenarios -> in Voyager, some of them were very good while some others trully and completely sucked ; direct the procedure and provides the means to adapt to the screen what was written down on paper -> they put a lot of money on useless things (Mulgrew hairstyles; hiring 4 young actors to perform Borg kids to show Seven's maternal instinct ; an additional episode on Fair Haven/Michael, etc...) while they refused to invest more in talented guest stars and making good arcs ;
directors (who directs the actors and coordinates the work of technicians among other things) and
actors (who bring to life characters created from scratch -> some of them work their character to improve him/her as to make it larger than life and some others have stuck to what was in their hands). But at the very end, it is the actor/actress (and I don't count the number of time where I read critics saying that this or that actor, known or beginner, saved by his/her strong performance a weak scenario and/or magnified a scenario which initially was already very attractive/interesting. I myself fell for some actors/actresses performance -> I vaguely remembered Kate Mulgrew from a repeat of Madame Columbo years before and I wasn't a fan of Star Trek or even Sci-Fi so, when I watched The Caretaker, I had no idea of what to expect but her performance in The Caretaker gave me the will to follow her in her new adventures. And S4 was a bonus with Janeway - Seven, where Mulgrew offered a new facet of her talents. The last time I have felt this was with Gillian Anderson in X-Files ; Robert Picardo deeply involved himself to improve his character and became easily a favourite...even if he was not mine but it's ok ; Michelle Yeoh in Star Trek: Discovery, while she didn't lead the show, managed to bring so much in her character that now, she's going to have her own series while Sonaqua Martin-Green's performance, who leads the show, is often considered as very average and even mediocre), the natural or manufactured decors and in case of Sci-Fi show/movie, the special effects (although Voyager was shot mainly in 90's, they were pretty good) that viewers see.
The only fault I could reproach to Voyager's writers was to have been too many and to have worked independently of each other, without exchanging informations about characters/ situations and the lack of direction from producers ->
Result: Janeway's dramatic changing attitude and/ or situations which were contradictorily stated from an episode to another one.
-> when we work in a vacuum (= without any reference) , it can hardly be otherwise! Maybe one day, writers themselves or encourages by producers or even actors could impose a strict plan to follow and descriptive sheets for each characters to follow too, regardless who is in charge
(in my job, if I submitting a detailed brief to my boss which doesn't correspond to what he thinks and wants, I'm good to rework it again and again until it gives him satisfaction, what means a short but concise and logic piece of work but there will always be a control!).
About Chakotay, he spent his time to treat Paris, Tuvok, Kim, the Doctor and even Neelix (and Kes) with the same distance and even disinterest but this can be explain (indeed, some people prefer to keep a professional distance on and off work. What was less understandable was the fact that for a man who had a crew at his order, he didn't have frequented much of his people in 7 years, while they knew him for a long time and kept having an unswerving loyality to him -> for the recognition side, we can forget!

. Anyway, I think that it was a will from successive screenwriters and directors (any of them took the responsability to make Chakotay and Paris or Chakotay and Tuvok, having cordial relations, although they had the power to do it).
If you didn't read Atonement yet, I'm sorry to have spoilt some situations.

But I think you will like the reading.

Jennifer Lien was unfairly "fired" (even if in fact, her contract wasn't renewed) to make place to Jeri Ryan and even if I liked the latter and what she brought to Seven, I always said that Lien's leaving has been a mistake : Kes could have been very helpful to Seven in helping her to integrate into the crew quicklier and be with Janeway, the Doctor and Tuvok someone at her side in difficult moments.
Not being known to be a politically correct person, I like people saying what they think because myself, I tend to speak my mind BUT I say NO to those who open their mouth with the only intention is to critic in only retaining what has been wrong, insult and hurt.
-> Robert Beltran had very often distrust and insult towards writers and producers under the pretext of not being listened and his ideas being systematically rejected..,what have been partially wrong as seeing as the idea to sent Tom in the brig in Thirty Days, was his; to make Chakotay kissing Seven was his (even if all started from a malicious bet from Beltran with the intention to provoke Braga who dated Seven's performer, Jeri Ryan); to have an episode with Chakotay boxing because he liked & practised the sport was his idea too, even if at the end, the episode sucked dramatically. The problem was that maybe, Beltran's ideas was too far from what Bernan/Braga and screewriters planned to take up his ideas. And afterwards, it was Beltran's attitude who made producers and screenwriters gave up writing for his character.

When people reach this level of misunderstanding and mistrust until being frustrated, well maybe it's time to weigh anchor and sail to greener "lands" (=jobs) and even more so because Beltran lamented to
have had let some interesting proposals passed before his eyes because of his engagement with Voyager. No employer (here, studios) can prevent an employee (here, an actor) from starting if he/she makes the request, even if she/he was under contract. Of course, it would not have done without difficulty (that the employee owes money to his former employer = the studios and/or ensures a certain number of hours/days of work = episodes like in the past Farrah Fawcett in Charlie's Angel, more recently Paget Brewster in Criminal Minds have done, without forgetting, a ban from the said studio for other projects/tv movies/appearances in other series produced by the same people for some years but at least, for an actor/actress, to leave during his/her current contract isn't an impossible mission.
-> what I say here applies to Garrett Wang too. Frankly, what he took him to go and tell the media that more or less, he would do a better job than Bernan with aliens while the said Bernan who was the one who created and produced with successful, DS9 which was aired before Voyager and ran 7 seasons, and some movies with Picard OR accusing Beltran of being a racist because he refused to let him direct an episode?!
And for you when studios and/or producers remind to an actor/actress, they have spent time and money to hire and pay generously since, his/her obligations as opressive and totalitarian, I'd say that maybe the reason to recall the rights and obligations of each came after years of laxity, with the said actors/actresses assaulting physically and/or verbally people around them on/off sets or via medias*, always have gone out without consequence, what created a poisonous climate). Now, this time seems to be over and studios tend to take quickly the decision to cut the rotten fruit and/or facilitate his/her departure, regardless his/her popularity and even if it means a decrease in audience (cf to Thomas Gibson who is an excellent actor but an impulsive individual was fired from Criminal Minds, 2 years ago, Clayne Crawford in Lethal Weapon, 1 year ago, Roseanne Barr and Pauley Perrette, last year, etc...), then it may be time to remind him/her of the rules of the game as everything to everyone.
-> concerning me, I don't support all decisions/actions taken by my employer but I do or try to do with it. That being said, if and when this went/goes to far, I'm not afraid to open my mouth to say what I think but I always do it with calm, respect of my interlocutors and a note full of arguments for/against and propositions to oppose (hey, I have not been trained as a lawyer for nothing!

). And you know what, it works, even if I don't manage to move walls, some improvements are made slowly but surely. Howere, I don't forget who I am (an employee) and what were/are my rights (a few but nevertheless, substantial) and obligations (numerous but bearable and operationnally logic). Plus, I'm well paid for what I do, a job which is in a field that I love and even if things do not always go as I want and often is often stressing and requesting a lot of sacrifices from my part (very early morning arrival and late evening departure, work to bring home), I do with it without complaining every time, too happy to be there!
* It is what happens in entrerpises and when things go to far, sanctions the reprimands and sanctions for repeat offenses, fall, there is nothing more normal in my opinion.