Gimme That Star Trek Ep.48: ‘Shipping Spock and Uhura

Just in time for St. Valentine's, Siskoid and Jonathan Schaefer-Hames ask whether Spock and Uhura are a good match in the Kelvin timeline, and if the writing wasn't already on the wall in the Original Series. And if not with each other, who do we 'ship them with?

Listen to Episode 48 below!

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Credits:
"Star Trek Theme" by Alexander Courage, with the Irredeemable Shagg on vocals. End theme: "Deep Space Nine Theme" by Dennis McCarthy.

Bonus clips from: Star Trek's "The Man Trap", starring Nichelle Nichols and Leonard Nimoy; "Star Trek Beyond" by Justin Lin, starring Zoë Saldana and Zachary Quinto.

And thanks for leaving a comment!

29 responses to “Gimme That Star Trek Ep.48: ‘Shipping Spock and Uhura

  1. Fun discussion gents! I am one of those folks baffled at the Kelvin timeline’s Spock/Uhura romance, just because I think it undermined Quinto’s chance to fully portray the character of Spock as we know him. I guess in some ways it deflected comparisons to Nimoy, because Spock’s openly affectionate nature seemed very out of character for the Spock we knew. That said, they made it work, but it did seem to be just another “this isn’t you father’s Star Trek!” kind of move.

    As for there being anything between the two in the original show…sorry Siskoid, I have told you this before, but i don’t personally see it. My take is; Spock admires Uhura and likes her, and she is just a big flirt, and enjoys making him kind of squirm in a non-threatening way. Their reactions to each other in moments of crisis may have a lot to do with proximity, as they are both stationed on the raised floor behind the captain’s chair, so they are closer to each other. I’m not saying there isn’t possibly a bit of attraction between the two, but I can’t buy they are having a physical relationship between scenes.

    I don’t hate shipping, because a lot of folks get true enjoyment out of it, and there is nothing wrong with that. I’m not much of a shipper myself. Unless there are actual hints dropped, I just assume the creators didn’t intend a relationship to exist, and therefore, it’s not worth my time thinking about. But that’s me. If others enjoy weaving tomes of fanfic in their brain, go for it.

    Again, fun show!

    Chris

  2. Ugh. Shipping. The worse facet of fandom – and that includes gatekeeping and toxicity!

    Great show nonetheless. Lest we forget in the Kelvin timeline that while Pegg and Cho were arguably the most “famous” members of the cast, Saldana was the lead in a few movies and the breakout star of Shag’s favorite movie “Crossroads.” Also, Abrams and company, as you said, understood Trek only in the broad cultural strokes, probably just having YouTubed Trek highlights and went from there. I’m half-surprised they didn’t have Kirk say “Get a life.”

    1. “Ugh. Shipping. The worse facet of fandom – and that includes gatekeeping and toxicity!”

      That’s about the dumbest thing you’ve ever said.

        1. It’s just not something I get. Everyone has their thing. But like with cosplay, it’s just something I just don’t understand, nor engage in.

  3. Is it? I just see costumes and tune out. Ever since a guy hit me in the face with his Voltron wing when he turned around, I’ve seen these costume people as obstacles

  4. Yes, it features 4 (I think) cosplayers preparing for a big convention. One is a female with social anxiety issues, and another is non-binary, so it’s very inclusive and really dives into what “playing” these characters means to each person.

    Chris

  5. Thank you for another interesting discussion. I guess I would describe myself as a closet shipper. I never thought of myself as rooting for particular couples in the stories I read and watch, but, once shipping became a thing, I realized that it was something I did quite often.

    In regards to this episode, I have to say that I’m more on board with Spock-Uhura than I am with Scotty-Uhura, which, I agree, truly came out of nowhere. In TOS, I don’t think there was anything romantic going on between Spock and Uhura, but I do think they had a great deal of admiration and respect for each other, which could have developed into something more under the right circumstances. My take on the Kelvin timeline is that those right circumstances just happened to develop. I can’t really speak to how well that relationship played out in the Kelvin movies, because I don’t think it was given enough time in the spotlight for me to form an opinion, which is probably a judgement of it in and of itself.

    Now, I’m looking forward to the inevitable Star Trek Cosplay episode that will spinoff of the Chris-DAG-Siskoid discussion.

    1. I wish! I don’t want to speak for anyone, but I don’t think the other parties would be interested. Based on recent exchanges, Siskoid and I see things VERY differently. Also, CFranks is so damn nice and earnest, I know if inadvertently insult something he loves. The man is defending Superman 3, so you know that heart is pure gold.

  6. 1. In the Super early epsiodes…maybe?
    2 Maybe they played with a spock Uhura Romance because “What do you mean interracial kiss? he’s not WHITE He’s a Vulcan!
    3 IF you think race was not ALWAYS on their mind read the IDw comic adapation of City on the edge of forever. They HAMMER on Spock “LOOKING CHINESE!!”

    1. We did an entire episode on that adaptation, believe me I know. Now, we didn’t mention it, but obviously, the reason they couldn’t actually ‘ship Uhura with Spock is because of TV standards at the time. I’m sure Roddenberry might have argued that Spock wasn’t “white”, but Nimoy was, so I think the point would have been moot. We conveniently set that aside in our minds as modern humans.

  7. Sheesh, I haven’t rewatched the reboot movies in a while, and this episode is giving me that hankering. Thanks for the fun discussion!

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