Really? I thought it found its place a lot faster than other Trek shows. TNG had a terrible first and middling second, DS9 is my overall favorite but it doesn’t pick up until very late in the third season.
A lot of people have a problem with the first season’s tone (which is no darker than DS9 so I don’t see the big deal) but the writing really was extremely solid. At least until the end when they decided to rush through wrapping up the Klingon war in two episodes because they spent so much time in the mirror universe.