If we are supposing the "main" main characters in this ensemble show are like uhura, spock, la'an, and pike (im basing this on a-plots + prevalence in b plots), then you need to show spock and kirk becoming friends if this keeps going -- not like "oh we drink some times" buddies but like "im fucking ashamed about how much my friendship means to me if im forced to confess this under the influence of space pollen" and that is like 1 year into their 5 year mission.
Like he's taken a year to be like "confiding my its complicated relationship with my friend" level friendship with uhura. Like if you are wondering why they keep bringing kirk in its because SNW just builds on every thing even casually mentioned in TOS and well, this isn't a casually mentioned plot point.
And yes, kirk hasn't interacted much with spock, yet. But if that is not the eventual purpose it should have stopped in s1e10. But they need to build him as plausibly hanging out there b/c Spock doesn't like, *seek out* people. La'an went through a journey in this season with him (and that is important for her character! And very well done!), but I'm guessing they specifically chose *him* because it gives him a foothold. Same reason they have Sam on the ship.
There will be a limit to Spock's character development if Kirk isn't visiting on occasion in the next few seasons. Just like you couldn't have a Pike show without having Una around -- she is his emotional support officer.
And yeah, i love all the other characters, too. I really wish we had more than 10 episodes a season. But that means there are some characters with more a-plots than others. And as long as our main characters are the ones I listed, yeah kirk will be around.
But Kirk in of himself is not an a-plot or b-plot character. He is a vehicle for storytelling for the other main characters -- Pike and La'an and Uhura so far (i.e. the other main characters that aren't Spock). but ultimately the camera doesn't follow him -- he isn't himself a pov character. That is why I'm not worried about him but why he needs to be there sometimes (but not always, because he isn't integral for like... Chapel, Una's or M'benga's story. No reason to have them in their episodes).
