TURNER’S TWO CENTS: Spock And Uhura? It's About Time!

      *Zoe Saldana says she thought director J.J. Abrams was “out of his mind” for writing a hot love scene for her character, Lt. Uhura, and Mr. Spock in his new, big-screen reboot of "Star Trek."  

      Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock said the romance is, “one of the boldest re-imaginings of the characters as we have known them.”

     Well, since Saldana and Quinto both admit that they’re not Trekkies, I can understand why they’d say that.  But old school “Star Trek” fans like me aren’t really surprised by the Uhura-Spock hook-up!

Uhura (Saldana) and Spock (Quinto) embrace

      Those of us who’ve watched every episode of the original series umpteen times over the last few decades always suspected that there was something bubbling below the surface between the beautiful, efficient communications officer and the logical, repressed scientist with the pointy ears.

      Lt. Uhura boldly flirts with Spock on two episodes from Season One.  In “The Man Trap,” she leans in close while Spock is sitting in the Captain’s Chair, touches his forearm and purrs, "Why don’t you tell me that I'm an attractive young lady? Or ask me if I’ve ever been in love?  Tell me how your planet Vulcan looks on a lazy evening when the moon is full!"  In a moment of cluelessness that defies his intellect Spock responds:  "Vulcan has no moon, Miss Uhura."

      But he must’ve had a moment of realization later because in the episode “Charlie X,” Spock vibes with Uhura when she sings a saucy song about him in the crew rec room.  Spock basically invites Uhura to accompany him while he plays his Vulcan lyre and he keeps an impish half-smile on his face while she freestyles lyrics about how sexy he is:

On the starship Enterprise
There’s someone who’s in Satan’s guise
Whose devil ears and devil eyes
Could rip your heart from you!

At first his look will hypnotize
His alien love will victimize
And rip your heart from you!

Uhura (Nichols) and Spock (Nimoy) make music

      Spock doesn’t say a word in that scene but it’s obvious that, behind his emotionally-detached façade, he’s diggin’ Uhura! 

      And why wouldn’t he?  Uhura and Spock actually have very compatible personalities.  They’re both brainy professional who are very serious about their jobs.  Lt. Uhura also has the kind of strength, dignity, professional skill and cool demeanor that Spock admires.  (She’s nothing at all like the gushy Nurse Chapel, whose advances Spock consistently rejects).
 
      The most memorable Spock/Uhura moment, the one where he best demonstrates his respect for her, is in the Season Two episode "Who Mourns For Adonais?" Capt. Kirk, Scotty, Chekov and the landing party are being held captive by a manifestation of the ancient Greek god Apollo.  It’s up to Lt. Uhura to save the day by performing some fragile repairs on the Enterprise communications console.  When Spock pressures her to work more quickly, Uhura shoots back that she hasn’t done a job like this in years and that it’s “very delicate work.” Spock responds:  “I can think of no one better equipped to handle it, Miss Uhura.” 

      Okay, so Spock isn’t exactly macking on Uhura right then.  But when you add that moment to the rec room serenade and Uhura’s open flirtation – and when you factor in Spock’s whole “I don’t express my emotions” thing -- then, yeah, one can construe that there’s something more than a professional compliment behind his words.

      Were it not for the restrictions of rank and the Vulcan code of total logic (not to mention 1960s TV taboos on inter-racial romance) Mr. Spock might very well have invited Lt. Uhura to join him for an intimate glass of Tranya and a few rounds of multi-level chess. She would've accepted, too. 

      But their connection works perfectly in the new movie because the Enterprise crew is much younger and Spock is still struggling to keep his feelings bottled up.  So, when he cuts loose and gets passionate with Uhura it makes sense, not only in the movie but also in the overall context of "Star Trek" lore as it was defined in the original series.  Spock and Uhura --  there’s really only one word for it:  logical. 

Cameron Turner lives in Monrovia and writes about entertainment and social issues in the weekly column “Turner’s Two Cents” which appears on EURweb.com and UrbanThoughtCollective.com. Contact him at turnerstwocents@aol.com.