I like that they did the Kirk/Spock meet as an almost throwaway thing, rather than trying to make it a big deal. We already know it’s a big deal, so any attempt to increase the drama would’ve made it cheesy, IMO. Plus, we’ve had lots of media about their friendship, already: we know it inside out. Instead, we got to focus on Kirk’s relationship with a different legacy character, one that hasn’t already been explored to anywhere near the same extent.
Although, on that note… was anyone else hoping the ‘doctor on the Farragut’ Kirk referred to was going to lead to a cameo from Bones? I don’t remember if they served together pre-Enterprise, so it might not have been strictly canon!