Why is BSG's 3rd season so bad?

I've been watching the 3rd season of the new BSG in bits and pieces, and I have to say, it sucks. I've heard that the writers were forced by SCI-FI to write the series episodically in season 3, instead of with a story arc. I don't know if that's true (I suspect it is), but I know that the series loses a lot of its power after the first four or five episodes of season 3. There's still potential there, but I wonder if I'll be disappointed by season 4 (no spoilers, please!). I think season 3 of BSG is to season 5 of Babylon 5 what bad cheese is to bad yogurt (o.k., sucky analogy). And I can't keep track of all the people hopping in the sack with one another in season 3. It's a little offputting. I don't care about the sex, but even most highschoolers don't go through partners that quickly!