Requiem for Methuselah (Episode)
| Series | Star Trek |
| Season | 3 |
| Episode | 19 |
| Production Number | 76 |
| Release Date | 14 Feb 1969 |
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Stardate 5843.7: Kirk and crew meet an immortal human named Flint.
When an outbreak of deadly Rigellian fever strikes aboard the Enterprise, the starship travels to planet Holberg 917-G in search of ryetalyn — the disease's only known antidote. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to the supposedly uninhabited planet's surface, only to discover a mysterious man named Flint. Despite his initial anger over their presence, Flint orders his robot servant to gather the crucial mineral while he and his ward Rayna Kapec entertain the Enterprise landing party. Spock notices that Flint's home is filled with rare art treasures, including an unknown Brahms waltz. Meanwhile, Rayna and the captain are swiftly developing feelings for one another.
When Flint's robot proves to be more of a hindrance than a help in gathering the ryetalyn, the landing party strikes off on its own and makes a shocking discovery — a succession of Rayna androids, the latest of which is the one that Kirk knows. Flint reveals that he is an immortal who wandered the Earth for millennia, existing as da Vinci, Brahms, and many other important individuals. He came to Holberg 917-G to rest at last — and to ease his loneliness, he built the Rayna androids. He initially encouraged the present Rayna's involvement with Kirk in the hope that it would accelerate her emotional development, but is now intensely jealous. As he and Kirk begin to fight over Rayna, the android, sensitive and confused by her newfound and conflicting emotions, short-circuits and dies. The landing party collects the ryetalyn and returns to the Enterprise, where McCoy tells Kirk and Spock that Flint, too, will soon die: in leaving Earth, Flint also left behind the source of his immortality. To help ease Kirk's heartache at Rayna's death, Spock uses a Vulcan mind meld to erase the painful memory from Kirk's mind.
Writer
Jerome Bixby
Director
Murray Golden
Starring
William Shatner … Captain Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Also Starring
James Doohan … Scott
George Takei … Sulu
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Guest Starring
James Daly … Flint
Louise Sorel … Rayna Kapec
