Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 76: Requiem For Methuselah [VHS]

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of my favorite original series episodes. It proves that even as the show was nearing cancellation, it still had lots of pizazz and power. While most Americans have probably seen this episode many times over the years, it is difficult not to be moved by it's premise: Impossible love, loss of immortality, and the failure of the mind to control the heart.

The beautiful Android Rayna's untimely death due to Captain Kirk and Flint's boyish wrangling is bad enough- but the most poignant scene is at the end, when Spock mind-melds with Kirk to help him forget his foolishness; a sudden end of scene, and we see the Enterprise flying away.... Very moving. And of course, this episode has some very beautiful music, typicl of the original series score, with a gorgeous waltz made specially for this episode.

I feel this episode encapsulates all that is Star Trek, The Original Series. It is a must have that still holds up today.

This episode could have been good had it not been marred by a scene in which Kirk acts in a manner which is absurdly out-of-character, putting his own interests ahead of those of his crew by, in Kirk's own words, "fighting over a woman."

The story is reminiscent both of "Pygmalion" and "The Tempest," but with an interesting twist. Flint, the mentor/erstwhile lover of his creation, an android named Rayna, is an ageless being who once was Johannes Brahms as well as other famous humans. The episode also concludes with a remarkably compassionate scene.

Very rarely does a STAR TREK episode live up to the memories of thirty years ago. I saw this one as a tiny tot, and remember just swooning over the "confession" of the wise old Mr. Flint -- "yes, I was Brahms. And DaVinci. And Merlin, and Alexander . . . and many, many more."

This episode is refreshing, in that the focus is not on Kirk's macho daring, but on art and music, thoughts and feelings, philosophy and loss. Kirk and the boys are amazed to meet a fascinating wise old man in the remotest possible corner of the galaxy, whose companion seems to be an adoring and cultivated young woman. But all is not as it seems! Mr. Flint has secrets, and so does his companion Rayna. Ultimately Kirk "loses" one of his few fights and Mr. Spock shows an unusual amount of understanding and concern for his captain's human emotions.

This episode owes a lot to Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST. Mr. Flint is a retired magician, like Prospero. Rayna is as innocent and charming as Miranda -- and as eager to meet attractive men. The M4 Robot flits about running household errands, just like Ariel.

But this episode goes further. "Miranda's" isolation has tragic costs, which Shakespeare doesn't acknowledge. And Prospero's wisdom is flawed, making him both more tragic and more human. Shakespeare's magician was rather too pure -- betrayed by his brother, by Milan, by the tiresome demands of real life. Mr. Flint is far more accomplished, and also admits to having made his own share of mistakes. This episode is everything STAR TREK ever set out to be -- original and exciting entertainment, and a doorway to new worlds of art and thought.

O Brave New World!

The original Gene Roddenberry STAR TREK remains my favorite television series and this, "Requiem for Methuselah," remains my favorite Trek episode.

Broadcast near the end of the series (76 of 79), it was a risk, a sophisticated episode, inspired by Shakespeare's most daring story, The Tempest.

Broadcast on Valentine's Day 1969, guest actors James Daly as Flint and Louise Sorel as Rayna Kapec gave two of the finest performances seen on the series.

It was written by Jerome Bixby, an experienced Trek writer (who also wrote the prize winning science fiction short story "It's a Good Life") who authored three previous Trek episodes including fan favorite "Mirror, Mirror." In taking risks with the characters in this episode to tell a greater story, the author knew what he was doing, as did the producers, director, and actors. Many Trek fans have not understood that, and therefore do not give this episode its due appreciation.

This episode merits fan applause and recognition. Bravo! Well done. Well done.

Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy beam down to a supposedly deserted planet when some members of their crew come down with a deadly disease called rigellian fever. They have to find the antidote before it's too late. However, they soon discover that the planet is not deserted. It's inhabited by a man (Flint) who claims to have been several famous people from past history and by an attractive droid (Rayna) who looks like a real woman. The story changes a bit when Captain Kirk falls in love with Rayna.

I didn't think that "Requiem For Methuselah" was that bad of an episode. It has a decent plot, some cool landscapes, and some great lines from Dr. McCoy and Spock at the end of the show.

Requiem for Methuselah is proof that the Third Season was great. This episode is so moving, especially with Dr. McCoy's little gem of a speech. However, it turns out that Spock does have feelings and this is evident when he eases his best friend's pain at the end of the episode. RFM talks about impossible love, the joys and agonies of love, immortality, and so many other aspects of humanity.

From the storyline and props, one can easily see that this episode is one of the last ones in the series. Flint is a man who was somehow born as an immortal on Earth. Growing weary of watching loved ones age and die and forced to move on before people recognized his true condition, he has traveled to Holberg 917-G.
A deadly epidemic of Rigellian fever is sweeping through the crew of the Enterprise and the antidote, a substance called ryetalyn is found on Holberg 917-G. Kirk leads a landing party to the surface and they are attacked by a floating robot called M4. Flint is accompanied by the beautiful and brilliant Rayna and Flint claims her as his ward. As you can surmise 20 seconds after Kirk meets her, he falls for her and she falls for him.
This leads to Kirk engaging in a battle with Flint over her loyalties and Rayna turns out to be an android. The struggle over her divided loyalties causes Rayna to enter into a fatal malfunction and she "dies." Flint also reveals that he is Da Vinci, Brahms and other intellectual powers from history and then McCoy informs him that breaking his ties to Earth has caused him to age like everyone else. When the Enterprise crew returns to the Enterprise with the ryetalyn, Spock performs a mind meld with Kirk to erase his grief over the death of Rayna.
The following plot items are from previous episodes:

*) Beautiful android woman, "What Are Little Girls Made of?" and "I, Mudd"
*) Wealthy recluse on a planet in the possession of many valuable items, "The Squire of Gothos"
*) The M4 robot, "The Ultimate Computer" (M5) and "The Changeling"
*) Kirk falling in love with a woman, pick an episode

The final flaw in the plot deals with the presence of Rigellian fever aboard the Enterprise. Given that the Enterprise is a star ship, they would maintain a significant supply of treatments for all known diseases on board. That would include ryetalyn as in most cases the Enterprise would be days of travel away from any planet containing the cure. This is an absurd and stale episode, even when it was new.

There is a scene in this episode -- the last -- which ranks among the finest in Star Trek. Unfortunately, there's 50 minutes of an otherwise bad episode to get through first. The episode does contain a solid premise: a man has perfect genes that make him immortal. How has he used that immortality? By developing prodigious talents over the centuries and becoming some of the most famous men of history, but later becoming a recluse. For thousands of years, he had to pretend to age and then move on.

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to a planet in search of a chemical they need to save the Enterprise. The crew has the deadly Rigelian Fever which will kill everyone within hours, unless McCoy can get a substance called ritalen with which to immunize the crew. There on the planet they meet the reclusive Mr. Flint (James Daly), a man who is 6,000 years old, who at first turns them away but changes his mind when they mention the ravaging effects of the disease. Flint has a flashback in which he remembers the Black Plague of the Middle Ages.

So far, so good. But instead of worrying about the 400+ crewmembers who are about to die, Kirk is distracted by Flint's pretty young "ward," Rayna, with whom he immediately falls in love even though she turns out to be an android Flint created for himself. Given what happens in the plot, there was perhaps no way to rewrite this; but it contradicts everything we are usually shown about Kirk being the responsible leader. Who cares if hundreds of his shipmates are about to die, he's gotta get the girl! Mr. Flint, for his part, shows at first that his advanced technology gives him mastery over the Enterprise. But later, provoked to jealousy by Kirk's attentions to Rayna, he engages in an old-fashioned fist fight. Give us a break.

The lovely Louise Sorrell portrays Rayna nicely, showing vulnerability from the start. This episode presents a view of machine-based intelligence that is not entirely negative. Flint created Rayna for essentially the same reason Dr. Korby created Andrea in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and let me give you a clue, the beautiful female android is not built just so that the designer might have a bowling partner! Still, the differences are significant. Andrea was essentially a bimbo, though smart enough to carry out orders; in contrast, Rayna would like to discuss "sub-dimensional physics" with Mr. Spock. Andrea had no regard for life at all; Rayna's deep regard for the feelings of others ultimately kills her (or rather, terminates her programming?).

The final scene, ending with the word "Forget," almost redeems the episode. I suppose if Kirk had to fall in love with an android, this was the one to fall for. Watch also for McCoy's little gem of a speech to Spock in that scene, once again highlighting De Kelly's acting talents.

Rigellian fever, an extremely deadly plague, strikes the Enterprise crew. Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to a supposedly uninhabited planet, Holberg 917-G, in search of the only known antidote, ryetalyn. To their surprise, they encounter Flint and his daughter, Rayna. Not pleased to have visitors, Flint orders his robot to gather and process ryetalyn, while the three officers are entertained by his daughter. Due to the robot contaminating the first batch of antidote, McCoy tells it another must be made. In the meantime, Kirk and Rayna have become attracted to each other, to Flint's jealous objection. Spock has discovered, to his puzzlement, old masterpieces on modern supplies, ie: a da Vinci painting done with modern oils on new canvas and a unknown Brahms waltz, written on new paper. Flint explains that he is an immortal, who wandered the Earth for centuries in various personas, including Brahms and da Vinci. He came to this planet to retire in peace and built the "Rayna" androids as his companions. He had hoped that her involvement with Kirk would speed up her emotional growth, but now he has become hopelessly jealous. Not understanding such intense emotions, Rayna short-circuits and 'dies.' The Enterprise party takes the ryetalyn and returns to the Enterprise. McCoy tells them that Flint, too, will soon perish because what made him immortal was the atmosphere of Earth. Leaving it robbed him of that power. In a surprisingly compassionate gesture, Spock uses a Vulcan mind touch to erase the painful memories of Rayna from Kirk's mind.