The Supremes is the one episode from S5 that everyone - including me - loves, and with good reason. It's hard not to love Glenn Close, but also the characters feel more like themselves than they do in the rest of the season.
I think the reason this season feels weak compared to the ones that follow is because, as you said, the new writers had trouble writing in 'Sorkinesque'. They improve later on, and so the characters seems to speak more 'normally'. More to the point, the new characters that are introduced are more developed in the later two seasons, which allows the writers to display strengths there, rather than delivering half-hearted versions of the established cast. I do get what you mean about the growing white-isation of the cast, though, I noticed that too, and was particularly irate on Nancy McNally's behalf (also because there's no particular reason why Nancy wasn't utilised more in earlier seasons, given how much Kate is used in S5-7).
Will made me ridiculously angry, I think more in S6 than in S5 - I liked his friction with Toby in S5, but he seems to become more corporate and slick in S6 than he was when we first met him. The difference between mid-S6 Will and S4 will is immense, and not to the character's credit, I don't think. Again, I partly attribute this to the directions that S5 started to take him towards, and how he developed as a result of those. (Weirdly, S7 Will seems to have recovered, and I like him just as much as I liked him in S4...)
The Hoynes episode was the retcon that I was mentioning earlier that had me tearing my hair out in rage. It really pissed me off - and on CJ's behalf more than anything else, because I think that it really weakened her power in the eyes of the viewer. Essentially it was saying, "look, she makes mistakes too, she's human!" But whereas Josh had those same mistakes, they related to tobacco; Sam passed on an ad during S3 that he shouldn't have; Toby got messed around by Ann Stark -all work-related mistakes. CJ's mistake was in regards to her sexuality (as was Donna's, in early S3. But whereas I can understand the Donna/Cliff mistake, what with Donna being relatively junior, the damage this did to CJ's standing was considerable, and it makes me really mad.). It's a stereotype, and it is *not* ok.
The other reason it made me angry was, as you mentioned the Dukat-effect. Given how much I liked Hoynes, especially in relation to his relationship with Leo, it pissed me off. (And it makes absolutely no sense in relation to his later moves in the series - yes, he's back, but you'll wish that he wasn't...)
The Bob Russell character - the only I liked him was because of Gary Cole, although I kept squeaking every time he came on-screen. *g*
I gotta say, I wasn't that fond of Gaza. Not because there was anything wrong with the story - it was great, and I loved Jason Isaacs - but because it felt like an ER finale, not a WW finale. S1 closed with a shooting; S2 closed with politics; S3 closed with politics (albeit illegal ones!); S4 closed with DRAMA!!ZOMG! with the Zoe plot; S5 closed with terrorist bombings that WW staffers just happen to be caught up in. It just... the drama of S1's ending was unexpected, and strong because of it, but S2 was nonetheless more powerful IMO. Having something put a loved character in peril at every season ender felt cheap, and unrealistic. That said, what this allows them to do with Donna's character is great, so I can't complain *too* much.
Btw, if you're looking for someone to pass the Blechdel test, CJ and Kate in S6-7 do it with aplomb.
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I think the reason this season feels weak compared to the ones that follow is because, as you said, the new writers had trouble writing in 'Sorkinesque'. They improve later on, and so the characters seems to speak more 'normally'. More to the point, the new characters that are introduced are more developed in the later two seasons, which allows the writers to display strengths there, rather than delivering half-hearted versions of the established cast. I do get what you mean about the growing white-isation of the cast, though, I noticed that too, and was particularly irate on Nancy McNally's behalf (also because there's no particular reason why Nancy wasn't utilised more in earlier seasons, given how much Kate is used in S5-7).
Will made me ridiculously angry, I think more in S6 than in S5 - I liked his friction with Toby in S5, but he seems to become more corporate and slick in S6 than he was when we first met him. The difference between mid-S6 Will and S4 will is immense, and not to the character's credit, I don't think. Again, I partly attribute this to the directions that S5 started to take him towards, and how he developed as a result of those. (Weirdly, S7 Will seems to have recovered, and I like him just as much as I liked him in S4...)
The Hoynes episode was the retcon that I was mentioning earlier that had me tearing my hair out in rage. It really pissed me off - and on CJ's behalf more than anything else, because I think that it really weakened her power in the eyes of the viewer. Essentially it was saying, "look, she makes mistakes too, she's human!" But whereas Josh had those same mistakes, they related to tobacco; Sam passed on an ad during S3 that he shouldn't have; Toby got messed around by Ann Stark -all work-related mistakes. CJ's mistake was in regards to her sexuality (as was Donna's, in early S3. But whereas I can understand the Donna/Cliff mistake, what with Donna being relatively junior, the damage this did to CJ's standing was considerable, and it makes me really mad.). It's a stereotype, and it is *not* ok.
The other reason it made me angry was, as you mentioned the Dukat-effect. Given how much I liked Hoynes, especially in relation to his relationship with Leo, it pissed me off. (And it makes absolutely no sense in relation to his later moves in the series - yes, he's back, but you'll wish that he wasn't...)
The Bob Russell character - the only I liked him was because of Gary Cole, although I kept squeaking every time he came on-screen. *g*
I gotta say, I wasn't that fond of Gaza. Not because there was anything wrong with the story - it was great, and I loved Jason Isaacs - but because it felt like an ER finale, not a WW finale. S1 closed with a shooting; S2 closed with politics; S3 closed with politics (albeit illegal ones!); S4 closed with DRAMA!!ZOMG! with the Zoe plot; S5 closed with terrorist bombings that WW staffers just happen to be caught up in. It just... the drama of S1's ending was unexpected, and strong because of it, but S2 was nonetheless more powerful IMO. Having something put a loved character in peril at every season ender felt cheap, and unrealistic. That said, what this allows them to do with Donna's character is great, so I can't complain *too* much.
Btw, if you're looking for someone to pass the Blechdel test, CJ and Kate in S6-7 do it with aplomb.