Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, "Children of the Comet" | Season 1, Episode 2
Uhura sings her song
How much do we know about Uhura? Like… how much really? Going off the original series: she’s from the “United States of Africa,” she speaks Swahili, she’s an excellent communications officer, and she likes to sing. The movies didn’t add much—the character wasn’t even given an on screen first name, Nyota, until the 2009 reboot. Like most of the non-Kirk/Spock/McCoy cast of Star Trek, the character was more of a familiar face than a person with hopes and dreams and their own goals. The presence of a black woman in a significant role on an ongoing television series in which her competency and value are never questioned had cultural significance in the ‘60s; hell, it still has cultural significance today. But Uhura never got to really take center stage for an episode, unless you count the time that space probe wiped her memory; and even then, it was less about her than about the horrors of what had been done to her (although I remember a few good scenes of her relearning her first language).
The 2009 reboot shifted Uhura into a more significant role in the franchise; unfortunately that significance largely revolved around her relationship to Spock. Zoe Saldana did a solid job stepping into Nichelle Nichols’ shoes (just realized I didn’t talk about how good Nichols is in the role: she gets a lot out of a little, and it so much fun seeing her get a chance to let loose in the movies—yes, even Star Trek V), and the character had her moments, but it still never felt particularly specific. By the last of the new movies, I’m still not sure I could describe the character beyond what I’ve already mentioned above. Maybe throw in “is annoyed but attracted to emotionally distant men,” or something.