Summary
- Lt. Kirk and Ensign Uhura’s meeting in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds mirrors their initial encounter in the Star Trek 2009 movie, setting the stage for their friendship aboard the Starship Enterprise.
- In both the Prime and Kelvin realities, Kirk and Uhura meet in a bar, with some key differences in the details of their meetings.
- Uhura is involved in three significant canon moments in Strange New Worlds, including her introduction of Lt. Kirk to Lt. Spock, which sets the foundation for their friendship in Star Trek: The Original Series.
Warning: This Article Has SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 6 – “Lost in Translation”Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) meeting Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds perfectly echoes how Kirk (Chris Pine) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) met in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek 2009 movie. In Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 6, “Lost in Translation,” Lt. Kirk helps Ensign Uhura unlock the mystery of the aliens of Bannon’s Nebula who were communicating with Nyota. Uhura and Kirk’s team-up is their first canonical meeting in Star Trek’s Prime Timeline, which sets the stage for their friendship that will last over 30 years aboard the Starship Enterprise.
Twitter user @RaeWhitlock shared screengrabs of Kirk and Uhura meeting in Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 6, and how it parallels Kirk and Uhura’s first encounter in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek 2009. Check out her Tweet below:
It seems in both the Prime and Kelvin realities, Kirk and Uhura were always destined to meet in a bar, with Nyota assuming James is hitting on her. Some key differences are Paul Wesley’s Kirk and Celia Rose Gooding’s Uhura meet in the USS Enterprise’s Port Galley, while Chris Pine’s Kirk and Zoe Saldana’s Uhura met in a bar in Iowa. Saldana’s Uhura is a Starfleet Cadet and a bar fight occurs that leads Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to challenge Kirk to enlist in Starfleet. In Strange New Worlds, Kirk is Uhura’s superior officer, but a terrified Nyota accidentally punches Kirk when seeing horrifying visions, while Pine’s Kirk is beaten up in his bar fight with multiple Cadets.
Strange New Worlds Had 3 Big Star Trek Canon Moments Involving Uhura
Along with her first meeting with Kirk in Star Trek’s Prime Timeline, Uhura is also part of two other canon moments of great significance in Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 6. Uhura is in a meeting with Fleet Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) when Lt. Kirk enters and introduces himself, marking the first occasion in Prime Timeline canon that Pike and Kirk meet. This moment also fulfills how Captain Kirk (William Shatner) tells Commodore Jose Mendez (Malachi Throne) that he met Pike when he was promoted to Fleet Captain in Star Trek: The Original Series‘ “The Menagerie.”
An even greater Star Trek canon moment happens at the end of Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 6 when Ensign Uhura introduces Lt. Kirk to Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and the three of them sit and share a drink. Kirk and Spock’s Prime Timeline meet-cute is a far cry from the adversarial way Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) kicked off their Kelvin Timeline friendship in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. It’s heartening how Star Trek: Strange New Worlds made Uhura central to Kirk and Spock beginning their friendship of galactic importance in Star Trek: The Original Series.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.