Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor explains how Star Trek: Strange New Worlds giving Uhura an "Obi-Wan Kenobi" improves Nichelle Nichols' Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series.Releasing October 1st, Visitor penned Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman's Trek, her new book looking at the numerous influential women in Star Trek. Nana interviewed many female Star Trek actors and creatives, as well as real-world astronauts, scientists, and soldiers who were inspired by the diverse women of Star Trek.
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Celia Rose Gooding plays a younger incarnation of Nyota Uhura, who will become the Communications Officer embodied by Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Beginning Strange New Worlds as a reluctant Starfleet cadet, Uhura gains a mentor in Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak), who instills confidence in the young Nyota. Hemmer's tragic death towards the end of Strange New Worlds season 1 devastates Uhura, but Nyota carries on. Strange New Worlds gives Uhura a backstory and depth that Star Trek in the 1960s and 1980s never afforded Nichelle Nichols.
Star Trek: DS9’s Nana Visitor Explains How Strange New Worlds Changes Nichelle Nichols' Uhura
Hemmer became Uhura's "Obi-Wan Kenobi"
In an excerpt from Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman's Trek shared exclusively with Screen Rant, Nana Visitor explains how Lt. Hemmer becoming Uhura's "Obi-Wan Kenobi" parallels how the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a mentor to Nichelle Nichols in real life. Dissatisfied with her limited role on Star Trek, Nichols initially intended to quit, but a chance meeting with Dr. King convinced Nichelle to stay because Uhura on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise was an inspiration to Black people. Read Visitor's excerpt below:
I noticed something in the first season of [Strange New Worlds] that I hadn’t seen before on TV… Chief Engineer Lt. Hemmer, played by Bruce Horak, was created to be a mentor (!) to Uhura. She is a new cadet who isn’t sure Starfleet is her life’s path, and Celia Rose Gooding’s performance makes seeing Uhura enter the bridge for the first time in uniform a powerful moment… Uhura is finally getting the attention and care she always deserved, and Gooding plays her with a sweet, open manner; a sharp intellect; and, like Nichelle, a beautiful singing voice.
It’s interesting to watch Uhura in the original series with this in mind. That a male Aernar was, as Horak himself put it, a kind of Obi-Wan Kenobi to Uhura adds a dimension and a bittersweet history when you see Nichelle on the bridge. It’s also a lovely nod to the fact that the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was himself a mentor to Nichelle Nichols when she wanted to leave the show… Hemmer encourages the young Uhura to go on in Starfleet, too. He shows her the importance of keeping her heart open, even when there is inevitable pain when you do so.
Now, the original series’ Uhura seems like a human who did the hard work of evolving when she faces down the perils of a life in space, not simply someone who had the correct emotional makeup for the job. This is such an important lesson: There isn’t always a clear and easy path to commitment, and there is always a steep learning curve at the beginning of every career. Evolution is a personal process as well as a societal one, and it isn’t always a breeze.
As Nana Visitor points out, Lt. Uhura was fully formed on Star Trek: The Original Series and her character was never given a backstory or fleshed out beyond what was required for a particular episode or movie. Strange New Worlds has given Uhura the character depth Nichols never got, and the lessons and growth Celia Rose Gooding's young Nyota experiences ripple into Nichelle's Uhura. Combined, they form a complete picture of who Lt. Uhura is.
Uhura Continues To Evolve In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3
Ensign Uhura will keep the Enterprise connected
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 will continue the growth of Ensign Nyota Uhura. The young Communications Officer mourned her loss of Lt. Hemmer in Strange New Worlds season 2. However, Uhura had a crucial breakthrough in Star Trek's first-ever musical episode, "Subspace Rhapsody." With her song, "Keep Us Connected," Uhura realized how important she truly is to the crew of the Starship Enterprise, and it instilled a newfound confidence in Nyota that will continue into Strange New Worlds season 3.
Uhura also formed a friendship with Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, and this is a bond neither realize will last for decades. Further, it was Uhura who introduced Kirk to Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck). In Strange New Worlds season 3, Uhura is temporarily transformed into a Vulcan, and this could be another step in Nyota's growth. Perhaps Uhura retains the poise and mental clarity from her time as a logical Vulcan going forward. How Uhura continues to evolve as she gradually becomes Nichelle Nichols' Lieutenant is one of the most fascinating aspects of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
