Spock & Uhura romance

[jtkirk]

How did the future Spock (Nimoy) react to seeing the romance between his younger self (Quinto) & Uhura? Since this romance never occurred in his timeline he must have been freaked out (in a stoically logical way). Or maybe he just saw them kiss & said to himself "fascinating"??

I'm not a big continuity fanatic & realize liberties were taken in STXI, but the Spock/Uhura romance was a biggie! The timeline was altered, that I understood, but how did the change in the timeline alter the chemistry between Spock & Uhura?

I suppose there is an explanation to this. I'm just assuming that the altered timeline somehow caused Spock & Uhura to meet at an earlier time, perhaps when one of them was in a vulnerable position? Not only did Kirk's father die, but Captain Robau was killed by Nero & some of the crew of the USS Kelvin died in battle...that alone could have started a domino effect that eventually resulted in Spock & Uhura connecting? Perhaps it will be explained in a future Trek novel or the film sequel.

Still, there was never any chemistry between future Spock & Uhura...none at all. Maybe the next time they do a remaster on TOS they can insert a few Spock/Uhura CGI kissing scenes for continuity reasons.

 

[Pauln6]

Uhura Prime eventually married a Vulcan (in quasi-canon) and she did often try to flirt with Spock but she wasn't in love with him. The problem was that Spock Prime had left all that romance behind him in his younger days and Uhura isn't one to mope about such things like Chapel. NuUhura meeting him at a young age when he was still open to the idea is what made the difference.

 

[Michael]

Since this romance never occurred in his timeline he must have been freaked out (in a stoically logical way).

How do you figure?

 

[T'Girl]

The standard explanation is basically the butterfly effect.

Nero murders Robau, 25 years later Spock and Uhura make out in the turbo-lift.

 

[jafferinc]

The romance of the Spock and Uhura is exciting which is never seen in the series of the Trek. They both matched equally with each other weather it is brain or a responsible duty professionals and so the romance which is quite logical.

 

[F. King Daniel]

You know what? I don't think there's anything in canon to suggest TOS Spock and Uhura didn't have a fling that died out prior to or at the start of TOS. Uhura's flirting in "Corbomite" certainly looks fishy in retrospect.

I personally don't think so, although I think Uhura's into Vulcans - her marraige in Of Gods and Men (which may not be canon, but to quote Nero, "I saw it happen! I watched it happen! Don't tell me it didn't happen!") to Stonn (of all people! And T'Pring did the ceremony ) kind of prepared me for the OMG moment in the STXI turbolift.

 

[A beaker full of death]

You know what? I don't think there's anything in canon to suggest TOS Spock and Uhura didn't have a fling that died out prior to or at the start of TOS.

And there's nothing in canon to suggest that Captain Kirk wasn't really a 5th columnist space alien in disguise.
But like your scenario, it wasn't written or played that way. Does everything really have to be explicitly stated? Is subtext really that hard?

Look at the interplay between Spock and Uhura. He clearly respects her as a competent professional. She respects him and teases him within bounds. There clearly has never been anything between them. That's how it was written and played.

A performance is more than the words on the page.

Uhura Prime eventually married a Vulcan (in quasi-canon)

quasi- what?? Are you kidding me? Was that Penda Uhura you saw getting married?

I thought this forum was about TOS. The tv show.

 

[F. King Daniel]

^Respecting someone and teasing them "within bounds" precludes a prior romantic relationship how??

 

[Warped9]

Words fail me in regards to this subject.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Oh, Uhura seemed to have a thing for Spock early in TOS and he certainly seemed to be at least amused by her. Spock Prime's reaction may well have been similar to what Nimoy said his own was: "I'm jealous."

 

[BillJ]

I certainly give Orci & Kurtzman credit for picking up on the Spock/Uhura subtext from early in The Original Series. It was the execution of the relationship in the new film that I wasn't too crazy about.

 

[Kelso]

Fans have been speculating about Spock/Uhura for years. Ruth Berman even had an article about it reprinted in one of the old Best of Trek collections.

I wish they had built upon that in the series. Not only would it have given Nichelle something to do (beyond flipping switches and gasping in fright), but it might have spared us from having to watch Nurse Chapel pine after him.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Fans have been speculating about Spock/Uhura for years.

And Spock/Kirk.
And Sulu/Chekov.
And Uhura/Chapel.
And Scotty/a warp engine.

I find fan speculation is generally a good indicator of what not to do canonically.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I find fan speculation is generally a good indicator of what not to do canonically.

I find that in fact one is wholly irrelevant to the other - no bearing whatever, rhetorical conveniences to the contrary.

Kelso is right - this would have given the characters and relationships a little more depth and Nichols some opportunities as an actor that Trek didn't.

Television treated these things pretty simplistically in those days, though - the ideal in most cases was that if a series was successful the characters and their relationships would change as little as possible during a long run. Trek, like most 60s TV with a few exceptions, was formulaic in this regard.

Certainly a little romance has moved Saldana's "Uhura" to the fore to a greater degree than the previous version. The audience response to that and to her - particularly given her rising profile in the industry resulting from movies like Avatar - just about guarantee that Uhura will be one of the three or four most significant crew characters in the next Star Trek film. 'Fraid ol' McCoy may have to step back a bit, again.

 

[Captrek]

NuUhura meeting him at a young age when he was still open to the idea is what made the difference.

In the original canon, Spock was betrothed (actually described in Amok Time as “more than a betrothal”) to T’Pring when he was a child. Nero’s incursion must somehow have taken care of that too.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Kelso is right - this would have given the characters and relationships a little more depth ...
Television treated these things pretty simplistically in those days, though...

I quite disagree. The relationships seen in Star Trek were adult and extremely complex. Modern shows where everyone ends up banging each other are generally neither.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

NuUhura meeting him at a young age when he was still open to the idea is what made the difference.

In the original canon, Spock was betrothed (actually described in Amok Time as “more than a betrothal”) to T’Pring when he was a child. Nero’s incursion must somehow have taken care of that too.

Not at all. Spock didn't show much enthusiasm for T'Pring at any point in "Amok Time." At various points in his life he probably did want to move on.

 

[Captrek]

NuUhura meeting him at a young age when he was still open to the idea is what made the difference.

In the original canon, Spock was betrothed (actually described in Amok Time as “more than a betrothal”) to T’Pring when he was a child. Nero’s incursion must somehow have taken care of that too.

Not at all. Spock didn't show much enthusiasm for T'Pring at any point in "Amok Time." At various points in his life he probably did want to move on.

I got the impression from Amok Time that, at least under Vulcan tradition, Spock didn’t have much say in the matter. His parents chose his mate for him when he was a child. They weren’t merely suggesting to Spock that, when the time comes, he should consider T’Pring as a mate — they were committing him to T’Pring. Spock considered it more accurate to describe her as “my wife” than as “my betrothed.” They were “never and always touching and touched” and irresistibly drawn to their Koon-ut-kal-if-fee at the same time and place.

In the new reality, Spock was never committed to T’Pring or any other Vulcan; or he got the Vulcan equivalent of a divorce; or he’s committing infidelity with Uhura. Infidelity would be rather unSpocklike, so one of the other two must have happened.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Infidelity would be rather unSpocklike...

That was in a universe in which our heroes had integrity.

 

[T'Bonz]

I liked the idea of the Spock-Uhura romance in the movie picked up from the little bits in the original series. The thought was clever.

But I wasn't thrilled with the execution of it though - the inappropriate teacher-student relationship made me wince, and the public demonstration and I don't care if he was going off to possibly die. Unprofessional. Spock seemed whipped to me.

But usually, Star Trek, in most of its incarnations did romance very poorly, imo. The only Star Trek romance I thought they did very well was Kira-Odo. Although, I liked how they finally got Troi-Riker together in Nemesis. That actually worked too.

The rest? Rubbish.