This is what I mean by value-neutral 2015-specific measures tbh - for me, the question of whether or not a show has a cohesive narrative arc has about as much to do with its quality as the question of where the commercial breaks are situated in a theatrical movie, or how good the studio audience's laughter is in an HBO drama -- i.e. completely and totally inapplicable to the situation. I wouldn't even WANT an arc in TNG (imo, the show would've been improved with even less arc-ness, except for the borg stuff) - episodic is how some shows work best. Which is why I find it so hard to compare DS9 to other Trek shows - they just don't operate with the same baseline assumptions about what a story qualifies as.
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