Subspace Radio: a Star Trek podcast

Kevin: Hello and welcome
back to Subspace Radio.

I'm Kevin.

Rob: And I am Rob.

Kevin: And for the second time in
short succession, we are gathered

here today to remember a lost, but not
forgotten member of Star Trek royalty.

Rob: Every time we try and
get away, we're drawn back in.

We were meant to have an extended break
and sadly we're we are back for, not

the reasons we'd like to come back.

Kevin: I am tempted— Just because
I'm in podcast energy, I'm tempted

to make a joke that Star Trek should
stop taking breaks because people die.

But uh, that would be in poor taste.

So I won't make that joke.

Rob: I'm glad you didn't make
that joke, cuz it would've

been— We dodged a bullet there!

Kevin: Sure did.

Nichelle Nichols has left this earth, Rob.

Rob: She has, and it's the…

When you, get to original crew of the
Enterprise discussions, they are all

such powerfully important and uh, loved
figures within not only this franchise,

but within all lovers of pop culture and
nerdom and fandom and stuff like that.

So when any one of them transports up to
their next level of existence, there's

gonna be a lot of outpouring of emotion
and a lot of, reflection on what they

have actually contributed to this world.

But when it comes to Nichelle
Nichols, it's no understatement of

saying that she changed the face of
television, and she changed the world.

It's such a few small numbers of
people who can easily say their

presence in this show opened up so
many doors and, created a better world.

Kevin: Nichelle Nichols is one of
those celebrities that the closer

you look, the more there is there.

Rob: Yes.

Kevin: I think few celebrities
stand up to that level of scrutiny.

And perhaps that level
of scrutiny is unfair.

But in Nichelle Nichols case she took
what little she was given, and made more

of it than almost anyone I can imagine.

Rob: And that's something
very uh, very telling.

What opportunity she was given,
within the time that she was on the

show and the approach towards people
of color and approach to women.

But what she was given, like you
said, she added so much more.

And it takes a hell of a good
actor to be able to do that.

Like we talked about last week, good
actors take what they've been given

and give her so much more back.

Kevin: She was such a bright star
that she shone brightly in in

the smallest corner of the sky.

Like she, she is often that
character stuck in the back

corner of a shot for an episode.

And yet, your eye is drawn to her.

She is acting her butt
off at every moment.

Rob: Yeah.

Kevin: You look at her in the background
of some stories in which she was

criminally underserved, and she is
working so hard to create a character

with so little time and so little words.

It's amazing.

There is this story of Nichelle Nichols's
participation in the Star Trek franchise.

The difference she made in the world
for Black people, for Black women, early

representation, all of the, those young
girls who got to see themselves in a

vision of the future and create careers
in science, careers in space, careers

of every kind, thanks to her presence,
her visible presence on that bridge.

And that is a huge story.

It's a story that fans of Star
Trek will know involves Dr.

Martin Luther king talking her
into not quitting the show at the

end of the first season because
she wasn't getting much to do.

And there is that story.

And I encourage, if you
haven't heard it, listener, I

encourage you to go and read it.

There are many great articles on
the web this week about Nichelle

Nichols celebrating her legacy.

Make a point of reading just one,
if you don't know that story.

But for us here today at Subspace
Radio, our modus operandi is to dive

into the past of Star Trek, pick out
a few episodes and talk about why

they are resonating with us this week.

And we're gonna do that with Uhura,
our original Uhura, Nichelle Nichols.

We're gonna celebrate her brightest
moments, her best episodes.

And Rob and I have each grabbed a couple.

I wouldn't be surprised if we
double up on some of them and get

to talk a bit more about them.

Rob: I focused on my first introduction
with her, as always, the movies.

Kevin: Well, I did not steer
clear the movies, so there.

Rob: So we might be hitting
on some similar ground.

Kevin: Yes.

But I will rewind us to the Original
Series for my first one here.

And having spent some time this week
revisiting the Original Series and

looking for those best moments, first
of all, I will say again, it is shocking

how few and far between they are.

Even Uhura's strongest
episodes, she is a small part.

of them.

There is not a single episode of the
Original Series that is focused on

Uhura, or that tells an Uhura story.

We're starting to get that
now in Strange New Worlds, but

looking back into the 1960s…

Rob: Nichelle Nichols had
to crawl her way through…

Kevin: Indeed.

Rob: …that the future actors could fly.

Kevin: But the one that stood out to
me the most in those 1960s episodes is

season 2, episode 10, "Mirror, Mirror".

Rob: Yep.

Yep.

Kevin: This is the introduction of
the Mirror Universe, a well that the

franchise has returned to again and again,
most recently in Star Trek Discovery.

Rob: Yes,

Kevin: But it is amazing.

That is such a great episode.

I forget how good it is, and each time
I go back I am amazed of just… For

a episodic TV series in the 1960s,
the idea to create an alternate

universe version of the ship, of
all the characters, a lore for that

universe that made all your characters
be their evil twins, effectively.

It's incredible for the time.

This is a, a Marvel cinematic
universe, sort of "What If…?"

episode in the 1960s.

Rob: I'm always fascinated by the concept
of parallel universes and especially

how it's interpreted in its early era,
because it as a concept has only been

in popular culture quite recently.

So that when you go back to the
1960s and 70s and find any examples

of it, it's always fascinating to
see those timid steps towards it.

I love how Star Trek has kept
the "Mirror, Mirror" legacy on.

So me being a Deep Space Nine fan, I've
loved the mirror episodes there, with

that incredibly strong cast relishing that
exploration of the evil goatee universe.

But it all started with "Mirror, Mirror".

Kevin: In "Mirror, Mirror" for those who
may not have seen this old, but classic

episode definitely worth revisiting,
it starts with a landing party of four.

Captain Kirk, McCoy, Scotty
and Uhura are beaming up to the

Enterprise during an ion storm.

And there is a transporter malfunction
that sees them transposed with their

alternate universe selves and they
materialize in the transporter room

of the USS Enterprise in a universe in
which the Federation is a force of evil.

They are a conquering dominating
force and instead of peacefully

negotiating with the planet, they are
orbiting, they are there to to steal

the the dilithium resources of that
planet, or destroy them for resisting.

And Captain Kirk finds himself with
orders to annihilate the planet below.

Our four members of our crew, stuck in
this alternate universe, do their best

to fit in and pretend to be their evil
alternate selves while working out a

plan to find their way home, and if
they can, leave that alternate universe

a little better than they found it.

So yeah, a great time.

Unsurprisingly for the time, very quickly,
this episode focuses in on the three

men of the landing party collaborating
to escape this evil Enterprise.

And Uhura only has a couple of scenes,
two, three scenes in this episode.

But boy are they memorable ones,
especially because she is on

the bridge and she is like in
the nerve center of the ship.

She's like the ears for her male
crew mates, letting them know

what's going on on the ship, and in
particular dodging the eye of Security

Chief Sulu, who is monitoring the
activities with increasing suspicion.

And in particular, there's a moment
where they, they, need to tie in the

power of the warp engines into the
transporter, and that's gonna light

up a light on Sulu security board.

So Uhura has to distract him.

Sulu has given her the tool she needs
by professing his adoration in a pretty

creepy, rapey way, and watching her deal
with that, despite the cringe factor,

it shows us the strength of Uhura.

When it comes time to distract him,
she steps down to his station and

turns on the charm just long enough
to avert his gaze and then gives

him a big smack across the face.

Rob: The power of her acting, the power
of her midriff, the power of her slap.

Kevin: It is a powerful midriff.

I'm glad you highlighted it.

Rob: Yeah, she is a master of
all trades and she put them

all on display in those scenes.

Only three, and she made 'em work.

Kevin: She's armed with a dagger
and an Emery board, if I'm

not mistaken, in that scene.

And Sulu has a great big scar down
his face, so he's looking extra evil.

But yeah, he cuddles up and then as
soon as the task is done, she slaps

him across the face and says, "I'm
sorry, I changed my mind," and it

is just like— It is using the fact
of her objectification as a weapon.

Rob: Yes.

Kevin: And the fact that she
does that, and owns it, and

seems powerful because of it.

It is so cool to see.

Rob: It's very much a gimmick of
writers using not just within science

fiction, but to play the whole card
of, there are some guards or there's

something that needs to be distracted.

Luckily, we've got a woman character
involved cuz you know what they

can do, they can bring on the sex.

But how an actor at that time…

Kevin: Yes.

Rob: …claims it and owns it and
makes it work and gives them that

position of power in something that
is quite a demeaning role to be given.

Sorta like, oh, we need,
we need a sexy distraction.

All right; rip it out.

So much so, that this type of
sexy distraction stays with

Uhura for decades to come.

Kevin: Are you taking
us where I think you're…

Rob: I need to take us back
to The Final Frontier, Kevin.

Kevin: All right.

We're back in Star Trek V:
frontier, take us through it.

Rob: Yes, we are not only, doing a
Star Trek podcast, but we are speaking

two weeks in a row about Star Trek V.

Kevin: Amazing.

Who would've thought.

Rob: The one thing that really stood out
for me while watching Star Trek V again

is uh… One factor is that William Shatner
does need a director to tell him to stop.

But also, it's actually one of the best,
better films— Actually, no, I'd say the

best film to really, show off Uhura.

Out of all the films, it's
the best one for her because

there's some really interesting
stuff in there for Uhura to do.

She's got this really out-of-the-blue
connection with Scotty, which

you're there going, this is
something I hadn't seen before.

There's a tenderness there and flirtiness
and a maternal type of, but there's

like going, is there something going on?

Is there, is this something?

Am I happy about this?

Am I not happy about this?

But the one thing we need to
remember is that Uhura is like

fourth in charge of the Enterprise.

After, Kirk Spock and McCoy.

It's Uhura and that's never explored
because she existed in the 1960s, where it

was a powerful statement and a beautiful
move to show a future where, a woman of

color can be in a position of power, but

Kevin: And we, there were plenty of
examples of Scotty being given the helm

in the series, but Uhura never got it.

Rob: But in Star Trek V, while Kirk,
McCoy, and Spock are out camping and

Sulu and Chekov are trying to find them

Kevin: I love that opening of Star Trek V.

It is quite fan servicey,
but in a good way.

They make a point at the start of this
movie to give every character a beat.

So you can remember who they are
and what's fun and funny about them.

Rob: Exactly.

Kevin: And that scene where where Sulu and
Chekov are lost in the forest and refuse

to admit it and Uhura on the communicator.

Rob: The skies have cleared!

It's a miracle!

Kevin: That's right.

Rob: That opening part really does great
service to Uhura cuz she's the one there.

Like, that opening shot when she comes
in, like Scotty's complaining and she just

struts in with this leadership and makes
fun of Scotty and she's got food for him.

She's— It'll come out as a
derogatory term, but the mother

hen of all these foolish, young…

Kevin: She calls them all back together.

Rob: Yeah.

And they're all old men trying to be
boys, and they're very childish, and

she just goes, you guys need to come
here, you guys… And that shot of her

when she lands the shuttle with the
white light behind her, to find them.

And she's just going,
come on, you're called in.

It's a really powerful moment.

She's just, she's in charge.

She knows the ship.

She's dealing with all these
petulant, immature old men

and putting them into place.

And plus, I'm gonna say
it, people make fun of it.

After seeing it for the first time
in about 15, 20, yeah, 15 years.

I'm there going?

I don't care.

I love the fan dance, okay?

And for Uhura to do that in almost
complete, you know, nuttiness.

Kevin: Yeah.

Rob: And especially the line when, you
know, the guys crawl up and it's so funny

and they do, and I think one of them
does almost a wa-wah, or goes, "Aw man!"

"Oh no!"

Kevin: So we talked last episode about
the planet of galactic peace, Nimbus III.

There's a stronghold on it
that the crew are infiltrating.

They need to distract some, some riders,
so that they can steal their horses.

And in order to distract them,
Uhura stands up on a sand dune,

backlit by the moon, and sings her
heart out with fans that came from

somewhere, does a seductive fan dance.

Rob: The fourth person in charge of
the Enterprise, the flagship of the

Federation strips down to just two
fronds and, and does that for the team.

Lie back and think of
England, or the Federation.

Kevin: The guards crawl up the sand
dune and she pulls a phaser on them.

One of several memorable times that Uhura
pulls phasers on people over the years.

It's always fun.

Going back to "Mirror, Mirror" she steals
a phaser from the captain's mistress

Marlena in the transporter room at the
end, and holds it on her, and it's,

it's a cool power move every time.

Uhura, Nichelle knows how to
point a phaser at someone.

Rob: One of my favorite images, when
I made a post online, I was trying to

find the perfect image to represent my
Uhura representation, my Nichelle memory.

And I picked a shot from Star Trek VI,
when they'd arrived at the conference and

they're all desperately going into place.

And there's this great shot with
Nichelle up the front and the

others are behind and she's just
holding that phaser ready to go out.

That's a great sequence where they're
all just scrambling through to get to

the president and save him, and there's
this great shot of her holding the

phaser, looking like a complete badass.

Kevin: Speaking of Uhura
pointing phasers at people, I'm

gonna take us to Star Trek III.

Rob: Yes!

Kevin: Star Trek III does
suffer from Uhura not being

as present as one might hope.

She is there at the beginning,
and then doesn't go with the crew

when they steal the Enterprise.

Rob: And doesn't show
up again until the end.

Kevin: That's right, yeah.

But she is instrumental in the crew
making its escape with that ship.

She manages to get herself stationed
in a transporter room at Starfleet

Command, and is working there late
on a late night shift with a young

officer who's come to be known as Mr.

Adventure, because he's telling her,
"You know what, Uhura, it's really

admirable that you would work here.

You're a Starfleet veteran,
and your career is winding down

and you're not above working a
transporter room late at night."

And you can see Uhura not respond
particularly favorably to the suggestion

that her career is winding down.

The bridge crew that is about to
steal the Enterprise barges into the

room and she gets to work, setting
them up on the transporter pad in

order to beam on board the ship, Mr.

Adventure's like "What's going on?

Who are these people?

Oh my god, that's Captain Kirk.

Do you know who that is?"

And Uhura says, "Yes, and you
are going to sit in the closet."

And she points a phaser at
him, backs him into the closet.

And he does a comedy sit down and
the door slides shut in front of him.

And she reassures Admiral
kirk that she will have Mr.

Adventure eating out of her
hand after they're gone.

Rob: And rightly so.

Kevin: It almost redeems the fact
that she then disappears for the

rest of the movie until she meets
up with the rest of the crew on…

Rob: …on Vulcan.

That's the thing, you're there
going, and you want to leave

that member of the crew there?

What they've just done.

But you don't want to take them with you.

All right.

Okay.

Can't…

Kevin: As McCoy says, I'm
glad you're on our side.

Rob: Yeah.

And because I have, got a moratorium
against watching Star Trek III ever again.

Thank you for reminding me of
one bright spark in that, uh…

Kevin: I'd say it's worth
watching up until the point that

the Enterprise has been stolen.

And then you could maybe stop.

Rob: Yes, and I do remember
of course Sulu saying "Tiny."

Kevin: "Don't call me tiny."

Rob: "…me tiny," with
his very leathery cape.

If we didn't know that George Takei
was gay, I mean come on, seriously.

Kevin: Oh, I love that whole sequence.

They're all like flipping IDs out of
their breast pockets and it's very cool.

Rob: I always get very excited when it's
like, uh, Federation people in civvies.

You know, you don't get to see them in
the 23rd century – I'm doing inverted

commas – what they wear as fashion.

Kevin: Poor Chekov though.

And his pink top with
a giant white collar.

It uh, yeah, he, was not well served…

Rob: He uh, lost out then and then
he had to wear it again for another

whole movie until he is in a gurney.

Kevin: Where would you
like to take us next?

Rob: We're jumping around.

We're going from five to
three, let's go to four.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is my
favorite of the Star Trek movies.

That's the first one I saw, and
I've just fallen in love with it.

And so then I alternate between
either Wrath of Khan or Undiscovered

Country as my second favorite.

But Voyage Home, I always have
to claim it's just a masterpiece.

And it's great, you've got Uhura actually
out on a mission, she doesn't stay.

She's out with Chekov finding stuff.

There's the iconic scene, which
there's been a lot of debate

about: What is improvised?

Did these people know?

All this type of stuff with the Alameda
scene, looking for the nuclear wessels.

Kevin: Nuclear…

Rob: Nuclear wessels.

Doing great work to refine, and find the
exact frequency of what the probe is.

She does a lot of great work with her,
sort like her she becomes her mix a

lot with her, finding out what specific
animal, and how to capture it and doing

it underwater, all that type of stuff.

And she stands, accused of insurrection,
which is completely badass.

Yeah, right into the depths
of it to go back in time and

and save the world as you do.

And she does a lot, she's got a lot to do.

They gave her a lot to do in that episode.

And she's out on location with
everybody and having a great laugh

and being quite heroic as well, so.

Kevin: The infiltration of the nuclear
ship, when she and Chekov go on board

to collect whatever they collect from
the nuclear reactor on the ship, for

a long time that was the sequence
I always forgot was in this movie.

And I think it's because I block it out.

It feels so perilous.

They are beaming onto and
sneaking through a nuclear vessel.

And there are security dogs and people
running on catwalks above their heads.

And there's this sense that at any
moment they could get caught, and I—

Like yourself, I saw this movie
very young and I remember being

frightened by the peril that these
characters were in, in that moment.

It feels more dangerous than any
other part of this movie to me is when

they're about to be caught on that ship.

Rob: And yeah, cuz there's a lot of
those eighties time travel stuff like

The Philadelphia Experiment or The
Final Countdown where you get that

sense of it feels very eighties.

There's nothing more like an eighties time
travel film, even, Back To The Future.

But those ones that are dark and gritty.

And it gets like that within that
moment, and it balances that out, with

Chekov being left behind and going,
"Scotty, now would be a good time."

And the interrogation
scene is is very eighties.

Kevin: Yes.

Rob: And that's where the humor comes,
but that tension there is real and

beautifully done and the commitment and
the conviction of Nichelle and Walter

to actually hit that threat is palpable.

Kevin: I agree.

Oh, It's real good.

It's surprising how infrequently
Uhura got to go on a mission and

get something dangerous done.

Rob: Yep.

Yep.

It's a crying shame.

But, you know, now we have Uhura going
out on missions as an Ensign all the time.

Kevin: Well, I'm glad
you reminded me of that.

I forgot that scene.

I, if you'll permit me, I've got—
I just wanna rapid round a couple

of other ones that were on my list.

If we're in the movies, Star Trek VI
and the scene in which they are avoiding

using the universal translator, by
speaking real Klingon to the people

as they make their way to Rura Penthe.

And they have the books open
and they're scrambling to

come up with the translation.

And Uhura is like riding the mute
button to jump on and say a few words of

broken Klingon to not raise suspicion.

And in the final moments of that
scene, the Klingon on the line

is just going "Hah hah ha ha!"

inviting them to laugh along.

So the entire crew "Wah-hah ha ha!"

And then Uhura like, lets go of
the mute switch and just that

dry "God I, I'm so happy I'm off
that call," um, look on her face.

I think it's the last comic beat we
get from Uhura in, in all of Star Trek

history, and it is such a sweet one.

I, that is one of my favorite moments
from that film is just when she lets go

that button and goes enough with you, Mr.

Klingon.

Rob: It is a nice, it is a nice moment.

And there's a nice little
coda at the start of the film.

When they're called into the
meeting, and everyone's so cas.

They go, "What are we doing here?"

"Maybe it's a retirement party."

And she goes I gotta
go back to the academy.

I'm teaching.

And you go, "Yeah!"

That's a really beautiful moment of
going damn right, she's a teacher.

I would love to have
been in Uhura's class.

Kevin: Back in the Original Series,
Charlie X, the second episode

of the series by airing order.

Uhura has a very memorable
song she's singing with Spock,

who's playing the Vulcan lute.

This is one of those early scenes
where Spock is suspiciously smiling

a lot, but Uhura gets to sing.

And she gets to sing a great
verse about how the Vulcan's

devilish ears and devilish eyes
will steal your heart from you.

And it is just, it is Nichelle Nichols
doing what Nichelle Nichols does best, uh,

singing a sexy song for the entire room.

It's real good.

It unfortunately ends creepily
as Charlie X steals her voice

away, and creeps on Yeoman Rand.

But that first verse is

Rob: Just focus on the verse.

Kevin: …the first verse.

Rob: …on that.

What else you got?

Kevin: Plato's Stepchildren is an
awful, horrible episode of Star

Trek with the first interracial
kiss to air on US television.

Not the first aired in the world.

Rob: No, it was done in the UK Yeah.

Some just nondescript soap opera,

Kevin: Yeah, that's right.

But definitely watershed
moment for black people on TV.

It is unfortunate that at the time
both characters had to be possessed by

aliens, and being laughed at through
the entire scene in order for that

to happen, but they made it happen.

Rob: And that's the thing is that everyone
focuses on the interracial kiss, and

that's a good thing to focus on because
then you go, ah, but that's right.

Both characters were under the influence.

Ah, yeah.

And it's in one of the worst episodes
of the original Star Trek series ever.

But yeah.

As long as you don't focus on that
part, it's a watershed moment.

Kevin: I want to nod in
respect to that episode.

I don't recommend anyone go
and watch it for a good time.

Rob: You watched it,
so nobody else has to.

Kevin: I did not watch it Rob.

I will not admit to watching that.

And then finally, a
high note for our Uhura.

This is uh, one that most
people will not have seen.

And I must admit I had not seen until
I had the reason to watch it this week.

It is the Animated Series, episode four,
The Lorelei Signal, in which Uhura at

long last takes command of the Enterprise.

The Lorelei Signal is… it's a similar
case of it is a shame all of these

things had to go wrong in order to put
Uhura in a position of making history.

But the Enterprise is entrapped by
a planet of women who, because they

are stranded alone on their planet,
they must lure in ship fulls of men

in order to to regenerate themselves
by stealing in their life forces.

So it's a siren song sort of signal that
lures in the Enterprise because all of the

male officers are smitten by this signal.

And Uhura is standing at the
back of the bridge going, this

doesn't make any sense to me.

Why are we going to this planet?

All these men are behaving strangely
and she calls Chapel to the bridge

and says, are you seeing this?

This doesn't really make sense to me.

But the men beam down and
have their life forces stolen.

But meanwhile, on the ship,
Uhura says, you know what?

I've had enough, I'm taking
command of this ship.

And she orders that all of
the transporters be guarded by

security teams of only women.

And Chapel goes, what are you doing?

And Uhura says, I'm taking
command of this ship.

I'll take responsibility for it.

And she records a log saying
if ever this comes back to me,

I take full responsibility.

But from then on, she is
in Captain Uhura mode.

She leads a phaser armed landing party
of female officers down to the planet,

kick some butt and rescues the bridge
crew or the rest of the bridge crew.

Heroic episode for Uhura.

It is still a low budget, animated, 30
minute cartoon from the early seventies.

So it is not the production values you
are perhaps hoping for given that outline.

Rob: But it was Nichelle wasn't it?

Kevin: It was four Nichelles.

She performed the voices of four
separate characters in that episode,

including the lead antagonist,
the leader of the women on planet.

Rob: Amazing.

Yeah.

Sad state of affairs when they
go, we're gonna give you, yeah,

a whole episode to yourself.

In animation form.

In half an hour.

And you're gonna have to supply
the other voices as well.

You're welcome.

You are welcome.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I have heard good things about that.

I would like to go and explore that one.

Kevin: Well, There you go.

That's our tour of Nichelle
Nichols as Nyota Uhura.

Of course we have many seasons
of new Uhura stories to look

forward to on Strange New Worlds.

And who knows, we might even
see Zoe Saldana back to play

her if we get a fourth Star Trek
film in the JJ Abrams universe.

Rob: Yes.

If that ever happens.

Kevin: Yeah, but um, the original
Uhura will still always be the

best Uhura, according to me.

Rob: Um, and there is a great
article in the Hollywood reporter

written by current Uhura.

Celia Rose Gooding has written a
wonderful article about the legacy

of Nichelle Nichols, so I highly
recommend you all read that.

Kevin: Amazing.

Thanks, Rob.

Let's make it a happier reason
to record a podcast next time.

Rob: Definitely anyone out
there from any form of Star

Trek, just stay healthy, okay.

Just watch, just stay at home.

Watch Lower Decks like
I am so I can catch up.

Kevin's well ahead of me.

He knows everything, so
he's being very good.

He's not letting any spoilers go.

Just watch that, okay?

Just chill out.

Keep safe.

You're a precious— we need you.

The world needs you.

It's a dark place right now, we
need all the hope we can get.