I can agree it's about exploring aspects of human nature thematically, but I don't think it's really rooted in the characters themselves.
For example, The City on the Edge of Forever is a great episode, but what makes it great is the scenario is something we could all empathize with. Little to nothing has to do with the particularities of the relationship between Kirk and Keeler, in part because the episodic nature of TOS means we don't have enough time to really know Keeler's character.
It's not one of my favorites but I don't understand your reasoning as once they're all in 1930, the story shifts to SHOWING Kirk and Edith falling in love; an Kirk after knowing what must be done to correct the timeline still struggles with it greatly to the point he saves her from falling down a flight of stairs, which would have probably killed her. In the scene where Edith is ultimately killed in the traffic accident; they do a closeup of Kirk's VERY emotional response, and when they been back to the ship Kirk says, "Let's get the
hell out of here."
^^^
And I bolded hell because in 1967 that's a word that any network censor would immediately flag - and Networks might get a letter from viewers about - but the line was fought for, and viewed in context of the story, the censors allowed it to be uttered.
CotEoF is DEFINITLY a emotional Kirk centered story about the trauma Kirk went though personally in losing Edith Keeler. It's because of the relationship (however brief it was) that Kirk feels the way he does at the end to utter his final line.
In contrast, something like The Visitor from DS9 is rooted in our understanding of the relationships of Ben and Jake from the getgo. It's still going to be moving even if you're dropped in without the wider context, but three seasons of familial love help to deepen the texture immeasurably.
I think the argument you made for TOS S1 CotEoF applies here for anyone who had a close loving relationship with their father. You don't need to know anything from previous episodes about the relationship between Jake and his father Ben Sisko as it's all laid out in the episode.
Something like The Inner Light is in between, I think. I could imagine TOS doing this episode with Kirk, but it wouldn't hit the same way, because Kirk was a younger captain, wasn't uncomfortable around children, etc. The episode wouldn't have ended with quite the same sense of melancholy, as it would've seemed like just another weird outing in the life of James T. Kirk.
I have never really liked TNG S5
The Inner Light because it's not really a Star Trek episode. It could easily be a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode and it would probably have been better served as being on either of those anthology series because at the end, the person involved would have been shown giving up his command to go and TEACH others about the history and culture of this now dead civilization that he had lived an entire full life with.
IMO - It was written by someone who didn't really want to write an actual Star Trek franchise episode because honestly it had very little to do with Star Trek, or any of the TNG characters except as a background setting and minor background characters.
Well, yeah, but that's SNW's take on things. It's obviously a character-forward show in a way that TOS wasn't.
^^^
Yeah it's STAR TREK the way it was done all the time during the run of the original STAR TREK series from 1966 - 1969.
