The rebooted Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005, and much was riding on the fortunes of a movie reboot. Fortunately, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek was a critical and box office success, with audiences largely embracing Chris Pine's new Captain James T. Kirk, the spectacular visual effects, and a surprisingly touching script by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
Not every element of Star Trek's Kelvin timeline resonated. The destruction of Vulcan remains controversial, as does the Star Trek Into Darkness. Arguably the biggest misstep the Kelvin Star Trek films made, however, was the ill-considered romance between Spock and Uhura. The Kelvin timeline gave Star Trek a blank slate, but the relationship between Spock and Uhura was a clear misfire due to a lack of chemistry between lovers, unusual characterization for Spock, and a dash of creepiness.
Why J.J. Abrams Made Spock & Uhura A Couple
The Spock and Uhura romance was devised with good intentions. Despite its reputation as a diverse, progressive show, Star Trek Enterprise crew like Uhura and Sulu were usually relegated to the sidelines. The decision was taken early in production that the Kelvin timeline Star Trek movies would make better use of its ensemble cast, with every character afforded moments to shine. Zoe Saldaña's Uhura enjoyed a particularly sizable upgrade, more or less usurping Dr. McCoy's spot in the core trio.
Making Uhura Spock's romantic partner presented a quick and easy way to make Saldaña's character more integral to Star Trek's plot, but the tactic failed to pay off. Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldaña are both acclaimed actors, but showed very little romantic chemistry in Star Trek. The relationship also reflects badly upon Spock, who is essentially dating one of his Starfleet Academy students. While Quinto's Spock is notably more emotional than Spock played by Leonard Nimoy, making out on the transporter pad as Kirk looks on in disbelief is boldly going too far.
Star Trek Beyond Ended Spock & Uhura (But It Was Too Late)
Of all the Star Trek films set in the Kelvin timeline, Star Trek Beyond best captures the spirit of Star Trek: The Original Series. Directed by Justin Lin, the third and, as of now, final entry in the series is a fast-paced action romp sprinkled with great character moments and emotional gut punches, most notably the acknowledgment of Leonard Nimoy's death. Promisingly, Star Trek Beyond also acknowledges the dissolution of Spock and Uhura's relationship early on, seemingly in an effort to return the characters to their traditional Star Trek dynamic. Regardless, Spock still comes off poorly in the relationship's aftermath.
Star Trek Beyond includes a subplot whereby Spock gifts Uhura an amulet made from a Vulcan mineral later revealed to be trackable via radiation. The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - which takes place in the Prime timeline before TOS - has established Spock and Uhura as nothing more than respected colleagues. Many aspects of the Star Trek Kelvin timeline movies received acclaim, but the Spock and Uhura relationship was not one of them.
