"Star Trek" Requiem for Methuselah (1969)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Murray Golden

Writers:

Jerome Bixby (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

14 February 1969 (Season 3, Episode 19)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

When Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to a supposed uninhabited planet to gather the mineral ryetalyn...

Plot Keywords:

Federation | Space | Starship | Computer | Vulcan

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
James Daly	...	Flint
Louise Sorel	...	Rayna
James Doohan	...	Scott
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Television

Trivia:

The episode "Requiem for Methuselah", in which Kirk's heart is broken by the death of an android woman with whom he has fallen in love, was first aired on Valentine's Day, 1969.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Rayna's name is spelled correctly on the identifying labels in Flint's lab, but in the end credits it is spelled "Reena."

Quotes:

Flint: [I was born] in that region of earth later called Mesopotamia, in the year 3834 B.C., as the millennia are reckoned. I was Akharin, a soldier, a bully and a fool. I fell in battle, pierced to the heart - and did not die.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Free Enterprise (1998)

Requiem for a series

Arguably the last good episode of Star Trek ("All Our Yesterdays" features an interesting plot line with Spock and Mariette Hartley), "Requiem for Methuselah" is among the more literate scripts the series offered. Jerome Bixby demonstrates his considerable science-fiction writing ability in his well-drawn Flint character, adeptly brought to life by veteran TV actor James Daly. While this episode is almost farcical in its accelerated Kirk/Rayna love-story arc, the concept of Flint as an immortal conglomeration of the some of the greatest minds in human history and Spock's gradual realization of this secret are intriguing and engaging. What also makes this episode memorable is that it stands out so far above the largely forgettable third season, and a touching scene between Kirk and Spock helps an otherwise schlocky ending. "Methuselah" belongs nowhere near the pantheon of the likes of "Naked Time" or "City on the Edge of Forever," but it was a final reminder of what made the series so special.