Great epsiode.
One thing that was really interesting was it was very against the grain of the typical ST story. The captain pushes for peace, even though others think he's crazy, but he holds to his belief....and ultimately, its the right call, and a salvation for so many. That's the typical ST plot.
But no....this time, the captain FAILS, the decision he makes in opposition to everyone around him (including a fellow captain) is.....WRONG. Its refreshing in a star trek story and is really cool. And it ultimately is a very interesting framing for Pike, for all of Pike's great deeds...its literally the universe's way of saying, "but your not ALL that". Talk about a hit to the ego!
My only critique of the episode, which is quite minor, is I felt many of the main characters were basically cameos. I honestly didn't need to see L'ann or Chapel in this episode, they really didn't contribute anything to the story, and were there for seconds. Could have shaved a little actor budget there and maybe added in another X or Y.
I also thought Paul Wesley was a solid take on a young Kirk, interestingly though he had some of Kirk's rashness and belligerence, really we saw more of his tactical cunning. Kirk was pretty brilliant in this episode, coming up with awesome idea after awesome idea.
One interesting consequence of this, now Pike knows that the Romulans are a real threat, not a boogeyman. How does that effect his decisionmaking going forward, does he alert starfleet command? Even if peace with the Romulans is found in the current timeline, they clearly start out on an aggressive posture (and according to older Pike the federation does not do that well in the war). That should in theory serve as a wake up call....Maaaaayyyybe we should be building a few more attack ships and a few less exploratory vessels, etc.