The producers' motivations are quite clear in this episode. Ratings were down, the bikini resort on the holodeck wasn't cutting it, putting Kes in a tight uniform wasn't working, so they hired a super model to play a naive woman in a skin tight one piece. Sad! It's also simply not a good episode. But, as much as I hate 7 of 9 out of principal, she's honestly a more interesting character than Kes. Treating the actress with more dignity might have helped.
Review of The Gift
