Did Uhura have a double entandre?

[Sharr Khan]

I think the whole point of the scene is we're, if we are paying attention to the subtext that these two people have something going on other then a teacher-student realationship. Things fall apart if this is the start of that connection. Plus Nyota's familiarity hours later toward Spock would indicate that they've been "together" for at least a while before we meet them.

Oh and I heard "Oral" the first time I saw it but aural was clearly intended. I'm sure half none nerds took it as oral...

Sharr

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

i just didn't read it that way at all. she seems to make a split-second decision to try to comfort someone who she cares about, and does so the only way she can think of. everyone was upset, witnessing the destruction of a planet would do that to anyone, i imagine.
and i go back to the shocked look on spock's face as he tries to hold himself in. if they were already involved before this, and alone in the lift, why would he do this??

 

[Sharr Khan]

With the full on kissing in the lift and again on the transporter pad? That's a little bit beyond offering comfort to a close friend even by human standards, never mind Vulcan. Plus the fact Spock alone seemed privy to her first name (which he jokes with Kirk about not being permitted to confirm that information) indicates that they were much closer then they may have let on.

During the assignment scene Spock says something to the effect that he didn't want to give the appearance of improper favoritism. Trust me we're meant to infer Spock and Uhura had a deeper connection before the events at Vulcan took place.

I think the whole loss of his planet was the cause of what you misperceive as shock at Nyota's behavior toward him. To me he simply looked distraught but barely in control and Uhura closely familiar with him could read it just as any lover could or should.

Sharr

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

ok.... that is a good point, altho' it was just the "appearance of favouritism." still.... when the heck is this supposed to have happened?? and maybe he knew her 1st name because she was on his class roster at some point? or there was another scene in there we didn't see where she told him?

 

[NileQT87]

No, I disagree. They had feelings for each other previously (enough for "favoritism"), but they were in no way together before Vulcan imploded. Spock wasn't open enough emotionally for Uhura to get there. The emotions just cascaded for him all at once in that scene.

That one event made the difference between the Spock/Uhura relationship seen in early TOS and the one where they officially become an item here. Both Uhuras (the same soul) would have gone to comfort him, but only this one was presented with a moment of this magnitude where he'd be open enough to return those non-platonic feelings. He had favoritism and feelings for Uhura in both timelines--as did Uhura (lest we forget her song--she was absolutely attracted to him), but only in this one did anything ever come of it.

At best there was some kind of awkward kiss or some moment of expressed attraction that was there. Or perhaps it got just a tiny bit further because, instead of Spock serving under Pike on the Enterprise, he was back at the Academy teaching in this timeline because of the Enterprise's delayed construction.

 

[Sharr Khan]

ok.... that is a good point, altho' it was just the "appearance of favouritism." still.... when the heck is this supposed to have happened?? and maybe he knew her 1st name because she was on his class roster at some point? or there was another scene in there we didn't see where she told him?

Like I said this was all played with subtext in mind since the writers/directors didn't want to pay it off until the transporter room. The realationship obviously could and likely did start sometime in that three year gap or even earlier since I'm fairly sure Uhura was already in StarFleet before the bar scene.

If her first name was on a roster some place Jim Kirk could have gotten it rather easily - instead he finds out in a whispered moment between lovers, where again Uhura has exclusive thoughts for Spock's safety. And on the Jellyfish Spock turns to to Jim and says: "If I don't make it back please tell Lt Uhura -" Kirk cuts him off but its the kind of line a person says just before they go off to certain death yet want to leave a message for that special someone.

but they were in no way together before Vulcan imploded. Spock wasn't open enough emotionally for Uhura to get there. The emotions just cascaded for him all at once in that scene.

I'd say the on screen evidence weights against this notion. The only way we'll know for sure is if either the writers or actors comment on it. However I think Occams Razor along with all the cues in the narrative is that they were a couple before we were told it in the transporter room.

Sharr

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

i totally agree with you, nile. sharr, you can read into this whatever you want, but i think, and am thankfully not alone in saying so, that it is just that and nothing more. if only because it simply doesn't fin in with spock's character, alternate universe or no.

nile, i really like the way you related it to the early TOS episodes. brilliant.

 

[urbandk]

Zoë definitely mispronounced the word. It's not "ore-al", but "awr-al".

As it stands, it plays as a double entendre because of the mispronunciation.

aural Pronunciation: \ˈȯr-əl\

oral Pronunciation: \ˈȯr-əl, ˈär-\

She didn't mispronounce anything. The pronunciation can be identical.

It's not much of a double entendre. I don't see why you'd need a sensitive mouth to do the act in question.

 

[soot]

Like I said this was all played with subtext in mind since the writers/directors didn't want to pay it off until the transporter room.

There's subtext, but it points just as well to a unfulfilled desire for a relationship as to an actual romance. Something more along the lines of Mulder and Skully or first season Picard and Crusher. The sort of relationship where intimate knowledge and the like would be expected, but where the nature of the characters keeps them from acting on their feelings.

Spock's break from his unemotional state, his shock and his need for comfort come across much more strongly with this reading. If the writers intended a relationship to be present the whole time, why the delay in revealing it overtly until just after Vulcan imploded? If the intention was to have that event the trigger that allows the couple to accept their feelings, then the timing makes sense.

 

[NiteTrek]

Zoë definitely mispronounced the word. It's not "ore-al", but "awr-al"..

Maybe it was a Freudian slip on Uhura's part.

 

[NiteTrek]

i just didn't read it that way at all. she seems to make a split-second decision to try to comfort someone who she cares about, and does so the only way she can think of. everyone was upset, witnessing the destruction of a planet would do that to anyone, i imagine.
and i go back to the shocked look on spock's face as he tries to hold himself in. if they were already involved before this, and alone in the lift, why would he do this??

Because he found it illogical to be getting an erection after witnessing the destruction of his planet and loss of his mother.

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

Gross! And unnecessary. anyone with any experience with erections knows they are seldom, if ever, logical.

But seriously, I don't think that was it. A person would have to be one helluva sex-crazed maniac to be able to get it up under those conditions, and it's Spock we're talking about here, not Kirk!

 

[NiteTrek]

Gross! And unnecessary. anyone with any experience with erections knows they are seldom, if ever, logical.

Well, trees don't give me erections, but a nice rack will...there seems to be a certain logic there!

But seriously, I don't think that was it. A person would have to be one helluva sex-crazed maniac to be able to get it up under those conditions, and it's Spock we're talking about here, not Kirk!

No....it's nuSpock! I bet we'll see a lot of surprises from him.

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

oh. brother. so, we're just gonna use the nuverse as an excuse for a total and utter break of character?? not buying it. spock showing the emotion that he always had anyway is nothing compared to what you are suggesting. what's next? are we gonna see scotty become the human flame and power the ship himself? ya know there have been moments where he would if he could.

and also, i have heard that many people do get erections from some very strange things, and often for no reason at all.

 

[NiteTrek]

oh. brother. so, we're just gonna use the nuverse as an excuse for a total and utter break of character??

Why not? It's already beat the hell out of canon. NuSpock may end up embracing his human half instead of his vulcan half in this alternate reality, especially now that he's lost his mother.

and also, i have heard that many people do get erections from some very strange things, and often for no reason at all.

Well, I don't spend my time reading up on stuff like that so I'll just take your word for it.

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

yep, you go ahead and chuckle at your joke, which you made by twisting my words the way you twisted that scene.

sorry if you feel your canon was beat the hell out of. there are plenty of us who take a different attitude and there are places besides this thread to discuss it.

 

[NiteTrek]

yep, you go ahead and chuckle at your joke, which you made by twisting my words the way you twisted that scene.

sorry if you feel your canon was beat the hell out of. there are plenty of us who take a different attitude and there are places besides this thread to discuss it.

Oh, just go have a spontaneous erection already, ok?

 

[diftorhehsmusma]

would that i could, sir, but i am a woman.
however, i understand that teenage boys get them fairly often.

hope we can let this be an end to this little back and forth. there are much more important things to discuss.... well, you guys know what i mean.

 

[GilmourD]

I knew she was saying "aural," but I don't think she pronounced it quite right - should be ah-rul, she said something closer to "oral." Deliberate?

There's a difference in pronunciation? Dictionary.com shows both words as being pronounced "awr-uh

l".

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aural
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oral

 

[NileQT87]

"Awr-uhl" is aural. "Ore-uhl" is oral. They are definitely pronounced differently (in Californian English anyway). Aural has a much more open vowel sound. It might depend on your dialect.