Like most of the Trek fandom I was greatly saddened for the loss of Nichelle Nichols who had played Lt. Uhura just a few days ago. There have been many tributes to over the past few days to this special lady who showed America a black woman being officer of a starship that explored the universe just two years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. It was at the time a bold statement that the future was going to look very different from the past. It even caught the eye of Civil Rights Leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who encouraged Nichols to stay when she thought about leaving. Among the many writing tributes are people of color who were personally inspired by her example to enter the sciences or the performing arts.
I would like to add something a little more light hearted and just remember my favorite Uhura moment. There are many great ones from her knife-whipping the Mirror Sulu to her putting “Mr. Adventure” in his place in The Search for Spock. However, I am going to focus on a minor moment from the time the nation first met her. “The Man Trap” was the sixth episode made but for some strange reason is it was chosen to air first. Classic Star Trek had all their episodes aired out of order. I have written about how that has bothered me before, but in this case, there is an advantage. There first two characters that fans saw were Mr. Spock and Uhura fully formed as their true selves would be throughout the series. (Both Uhura and Spock started in gold before switching to their classic uniforms however since the series led with the sixth episode both were seen for the first time in those very uniforms.) The American TV audience got to see the Lieutenant poke the poor Vulcan First Officer allowing them to see that Spock had a stoic demeanor and Uhrua was a friendly person who liked to start up conversation. It helped set the tone for both characters.
The main story going on in this episode is a Salt Vampire stalking the crew the Enterprise. The creature can shape shift and uses that to hunt its victims. To get around it impersonates members of the Enterprise crew. However, when it hunted it used a different tactic. Several times throughout the episode the creature takes the form of a sexy woman in order to lure the young men to their deaths.
The creature tries to lure Uhura by transforming itself into a tall, dark, and handsome man who speaks Swahili. But unlike her young male counterparts, she isn’t fooled, you can see on her face an expression that says “if there was a tall, dark, and handsome man who spoke Swahili on this ship I would most likely know about it.” So, where her crewmates followed the creature with lust, she gently backs away to retreat among her friends.
Uhura always one step ahead of
trouble and that is my favorite Uhura scene.
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