“Requiem For Methuselah” stumbles at the very moment it should have been a marginal success. The result is an episode that just barely avoids being both a failure and an embarrassment. Truth be told, the episode skirts along the edge of disaster right from the start. It throws all manner of bizarre notions at the screen. But at the very moment when it makes its revelations – and finally gets to the point of the story – it becomes so ludicrously preposterous that one simply has no choice but to cringe and shake one’s head in bewilderment.

All told, this is an episode about love. But it gets to the point so tangentially that it’s almost impossible to truly appreciate the few very important moments. The episode begins with the Enterprise crew in danger of succumbing to a deadly plague. Beaming down to a remote planet, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy head off in search of the materials they need to create a cure. But what they discover is a person of incredible power, wisdom, and secrets. They also discover a beautiful woman who is captivating and intriguing.

The setup is to establish a love triangle between Kirk, the man (Flint) and the woman (Rayna). This melodrama is intentional from Flint, who is trying to use Kirk to awaken emotions within Rayna. To this end, Flint contrives all manner of circumstances to encourage the developing interest between Kirk and Rayna, as well as delay the delivery of the vaccine. To add an even greater twist to all of this, we discover that Flint is an immortal human, who was once known by such names as Brahms and DaVinci. It’s a bit of a stretch, but it’s intriguing enough.

But because the episode’s central revelations take so long to materialize, and because they are so obscurely connected to the surface level narrative, the resolution becomes almost comical in its presentation – right down to the discovery that Rayna is an android and that Kirk is deeply (and tragically) in love with her, despite having only met her a few hours earlier. This implausibility to Kirk’s love sabotages the latter moments of the episode which are both tragic and profound in their implications.

As it turns out, Rayna’s developing emotions lead her to claim the right of choice, of full sentience. But her conflicted emotions between Kirk and Flint also lead to her demise. As Spock would say, “The joys of love made her human. And the agonies of love destroyed her.” It’s a deeply profound statement that feels overwhelmed by the inconsistent approach to the episode.

Likewise, the final scene in Kirk’s quarters where McCoy skewers Spock for not having the capacity to love manages to taint what is, perhaps, the best character moment between Kirk and Spock. Kirk, completely crestfallen, has slipped into a troubled sleep. Before Spock leaves the room, he places his hand on Kirk’s head, conducts a Vulcan mind-meld, and utters one word: “Forget.” And in this moment, not only does Spock alleviate his captain’s agony, but he also learns firsthand what Kirk was feeling.

Spock learns a little something about love.

“Requiem For Methuselah” is a tragically inconsistent episode. Some of the best moments of the series are completely lost within some of the worst.

Filed under: Original Series