Jim just wants to find out the secret to Chris’ hair regimen.
Me too.
Makes sense. That is a mane that radiates authority and command.
My head canon: Pike knows his days are limited. He’s raising a successor as first officer if Una takes command, or potentially a new captain. This way he can get to know the ship and the crew, and they can get to know him.
I just happened to be in the quadrant, and I thought I’d swing by and try to shag your women… er study that anomaly ?
This is the first time in the “true” timeline we’ve seen Jim Kirk, other than in a voice call with La’an. The previous two instances were from alternate timelines thanks to the Klingon time monks and a fallen Department of Temporal Investigations officer.
Second time. He was in the episode with the aliens trying to communicate with Uhura telepathically, causing her to hallucinate zombie Hemmer.