Star Trek – The Original Series, Vol. 38 – Episodes 75 & 76: The Way to Eden / Requiem for Methuselah
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Nov/095
Nov/095
Description
“The Way to Eden,” Ep. 75 – Kirk and crew must deal with the insane leader of a band of rebellious idealists who are searching for the fabled planet Eden. ” Requiem for Methuselah,” Ep. 76 – An outbreak of Rigellian fever aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise forces Kirk to find an antidote on Holberg 917-G, where he meets the mysterious genius Flint.
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11:52 am on November 20th, 2009
“The Way to Eden”…absolutely the WORST “Star Trek” episode of all time. Lame script…bad acting, lousy “flipped” images.
“Requeim for Methuselah” Not too bad.. Kirk meets Flint…a man over 6,000 yrs. old…who has a female robot. Guess who tries to get the girl from Flint? (Hint: name rhymes with Dirk)
Rating: 2 / 5
12:22 pm on November 20th, 2009
I’m not a big fan of Star Trek’s 3rd season. Even when I saw the original broadcasts (I was barely a teenager) I sensed the degradation of the show. I was completely unaware of the ‘back story’ – the ‘Save Trek’ campaign. There were a rew exceptions.
The Way to Eden – One of the most ‘dated’ of episodes, it should have been down without the obvious bow to the ’sixties hippy movement’. Spock was definitely ‘out of character’in this episode. Walter Koenig got a decent piece of on air time for Chekov, one of the few pluses in the episode.
Requiem for Methuselah – Another episode that had a lot of promise, the writers fell back on a ‘mountain of cliche’s’ in this story. Extending the story by staging accident’s while allowing Kirk to romance an android?
Side Note: The Star Trek Universe has a big flaw when it comes to androids. In ST:Next Generation they make it look like Data was the first sentient android? What? Come on fans, would could forget Rayna?
This only the 2nd time a Kirk romance had any substance. But Spock should have used his “Forget” mind meld with Kirk in “The Paradise Syndrome”, Shatner’s best performance of the series.
Rating: 2 / 5
2:39 pm on November 20th, 2009
Volume 38 of The Star Trek DVD series contains one decent third season episode and one of the most infamous episodes in the entire Star Trek series.
THE WAY TO EDEN has to be one of the worst Star Trek episodes ever. By 1969 it was obvious that Star Trek’s ratings had hit rock bottom. In order to appeal to the younger generation and the fast growing hippie culture. A bunch of very unhip network executives came up with the idea of bringing flower power to Star Trek. This was a blatant and weak attempt to try to make Star Trek hip. The results are completely laughable. This episode basically finds the Enterprise picking up a band of space hippies. Led by the mad Dr.Sevrin (played quite well by Skip Homeirer) these hippies basically run around the ship singing awful songs about the legendary planet they want to venture to called Eden. Eventually the hippies take control of the ship when their demands are not met but in the end Eden proves to be as deadly as it is beautiful. This episode is really bad. Chekov’s relationship with his old flame is totally unconvincing and the acting is so bad it’s laughable and the hippie songs will make you cringe. In fact this episode is so bad it’s great. This may well be the (unintentionally) funniest Star Trek episode ever! Ungroovy people trying to make something groovy. This episode is a campy joke but that’s what makes it a hilarious classic.
The other episode here, REQUIEM FOR METHUSELAH is actually better but it’s overshadowed by the colourful campiness of THE WAY TO EDEN. This episode however has a plausible plot about control and the value of life in general. Good acting and nice plot twists and turns makes this episode a must. Somewhat of a tragic story brings out how serious this Trek outing actually is. This episode ends on a very low note, however it’s incredibly effective showing us that (despite the production wos) the Star Trek series still had some life in it, even by 1969.
Overall a good pair of episodes definetly worth getting. WAY TO EDEN is so laughable it has to seen no matter what and if it disappoints you then REQUIEM FOR METHUSELAH can always compensate for it. Highly recommended!
Rating: 5 / 5
4:58 pm on November 20th, 2009
If ever there was a nice, creamy (yet sharp), salaciously-melting, pleasantly-pungent-aroma-producing (whoa- for some strange reason, I’ve got a sudden hankerin’ for clabbered & processed dairy products!) chunk off the cheese ball that was the third season of Star Trek, `The Way To Eden’ is it! Along with `Spock’s Brain’, this little misadventure proves that even at its worst, classic `Trek is pretty freakin’ entertaining! Even the squarest `Herbert’ will enjoy goofin’ on this one! Space hippies takin’ over the Enterprise, and a `paradise’ planet that’s not as idyllic as it seems is what awaits you in this cornball `Trek!
Then there’s `Requiem for Methuselah’, featuring yet another version of the “would-be-romance-between Kirk-and-the-show’s-babe-of-the-week-going-tragically-awry” plot element. Speaking of tragic Kirkian romances, I heard rumors about William Shatner insisting on doing take after take after take of the kissing scenes until he felt he’d gotten it just right! Who knew the man behind Jimmers was a perfectionist with a strict work ethic? I tell ya, if it were me, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to endure that much punishment! But Shatner managed to take it like a man, and his extra effort really paid off!
`Late
Rating: 4 / 5
7:27 pm on November 20th, 2009
Two of the worst stories in the history of TOS, but for different reasons. The ‘Way to Eden’ makes the mistake of trying to be trendy, and so dates badly. What the real problem is though is that it makes the Enterprise crew seem to be the disapproving establishment, especially of all people Captain Kirk. ‘Requiem for Methuselah’ is at heart a reasonable story with the assertion that one man could be responsible for the work of Da Vinci, Brahms and others. What it completely fails to do is have any appreciation for Kirk’s relationships with women. Threre is no way any woman would have Kirk obsessed to the point he would fight for her, he is far to full of his own importance for that. This effectively trashes any credibility that the story would have had because this is the crux of the whole episode. A real pity.
Rating: 1 / 5