Talk:Requiem for Methuselah (episode)

Orderly?
Star Trek Concordance lists a John Buonomo as an orderly in this ep, yet no orderly appears. Does anyone have any info on this? Could it have been the orderly appearing in "The Tholian Web"? --Myko 19:14, 4 Apr 2005 (EDT)


 * According to what I've heard, a scene in sickbay was filmed for the opening, but was then cut from the show. As to what John Buonomo looked like, have not seen his name anywhere else. -- 164.116.80.49

Da Vinci
Hey, who keeps removing the "Da Vinci" error info? It happens to be true-- I see no reason that someone keeps pulling it off the page! :( It is correct to call him "Leonardo da Vinci", which means "Leonardo from Vinci", but it is a gaffe to call him "da Vinci", using it as if it's his last name. You would not refer to William of Orange as " Of Orange" or to Robin of Locksley as "Of Locksley." People would not have a clue to whom you were referring!


 * Tell that to the author of The da Vinci Code then. Everyone calls him da Vinci, right or wrong. It's acepted and while you are correct, you are also the lone voice in the wilderness.


 * The Da Vinci Code IS incorrect in using that term, and anyone with a cursory education in art history knows this. Trust me, "everyone" doesn't call him "Da Vinci" and I never heard ANYONE (in real life) call him anything but Leonardo or Leonardo da Vinci until that book came out.


 * I did. I often heard "da Vinci" in the late 1960s even by people who should have known better. I didn't even realize it was wrong until I had an Italian language instructor in the mid '70s who gave us a short lecture on the "da Vinci" error and why people say it that way anyhow. --KTJ 00:34, February 1, 2011 (UTC)


 * Don't forget, surnames didn't always exist. Some of them came from professions (such as "Smith"), and some of them came from relationships ("Johnson" from "John's son").  "da Vinci" may have originally meant "from Vinci", but at this point it's also valid as the surname "DaVinci". 93.182.170.179 00:57, June 22, 2012 (UTC)

Nitpick removal
I am removing this error: "Kirk apparently broke his promise to Flint as Captain Kathryn Janeway mentioned the fact that he claimed to have met Leonardo da Vinci in . Although Spock suggested it, Kirk never promised it. The end of the episode suggest no secret was going to be made of his history. The end suggest Flint was going to come clean and use his knowledge for the good of mankind. I think the person who added this is thinking of --TOSrules 02:12, 19 Nov 2005 (UTC)


 * Flint says that he was in Constantinople during the Black Death epidemic of the bubonic plague during the summer of 1334. However, the plague did not reach Constantinople until 1347.


 * Removed the above as a nitpick per MA:NIT. 31dot (talk) 09:26, July 16, 2012 (UTC)

Reena or Rayna in credits
I have removed all references to Rayna's name being misspelled in the end credits as "Reena" since this was not true.
 * Is it not true? Can we get some confirmation from someone with the DVDs? --OuroborosCobra talk 04:22, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
 * "Louise Sorel as Reena" --GNDN 04:31, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks muchly :-) --OuroborosCobra talk 04:33, 18 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Interesting. On the VHS/LaserDisc prints, it's spelled "Rayna." See below. I've edited the comment to reflect the difference in the prints. Interesting the difference that pop up among the different prints, eh? -- 


 * Not to whip a rotting corpse, but I removed the credit listing of Rayna as "Reena" since this is pretty clearly a error in the episode's credits and not the actual spelling of the character's name. When the landing party discovers the covered prior versions of the android, the name tags say "Rayna." With this confirmation, and the fact that the earlier prints spell it "Rayna," it's safe to assume the prints used for the DVDs are mistaken. I have notated the error in the background info, however. Scott son of Pete 16:40, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

Rayna's name
"Rayna" (the perfect woman) is an anagram of "Aryan" 10:36, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

"Blooper Reels"
This page and several others frequently mention "the first season/second season/third season blooper reel" does this or shows that, but no indication is ever given of how to see these blooper reels or where people originally saw them.


 * My understanding is that they are routinely shown at conventions. I've seen some of them myself around the net. Check Youtube. 65.12.135.63 04:30, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Peering through the viewscreen
"Captain Kirk peers into the bridge of the Enterprise through the viewscreen, much like Q does when he shrinks the USS Voyager to the size of a Christmas ornament in VOY: "Death Wish"."


 * Anyone know how this is possible? Q is a supernatural being, but how is Kirk able to do this? For one, the viewscreen is not two-way. And then, everything on the Enterprise is in stasis so that the viewscreen could not work.80.141.216.144 18:22, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

Removed Quotes
"If you do not leave voluntarily, I have the power to force you to leave – or kill you where you stand."

(opening communicator) "Mr. Scott, lock phasers onto these coordinates."

"Aye, captain; all phasers locked on."

"Mr. Flint, if anything happens to us – four deaths. And then, my crew comes down and takes that ryetalyn."

"An interesting test of power; your enormous forces against mine. Who would win?"

"Unless you are... certain, I suggest you refrain from a most useless experiment."
 * - Flint, Kirk, and Spock

"Have you ever seen a victim of Rigelian Fever? They die in one day; the effects are like Bubonic Plague."

"Constantinople; summer, 1334. It marched through the streets, the sewers. It left the city by oxcart, by sea, to kill half of Europe. The rats, rustling and squealing in the night as they, too, died. The rats..."

"Are you a student of history, sir?"

(recovers) "I am."
 * - McCoy, Flint, and Spock

"Mr. Spock, I know you won't have one; heaven forbid those mathematically perfect brain waves be corrupted by this all too Human vice."

"Thank you, doctor; I will have a brandy."

"Do you think the two of us can handle a drunk Vulcan? Once alcohol hits that green blood..."

"If I appear distracted, it is because of what I have seen. I am close to experiencing an unaccustomed emotion."

"I'll drink to that! What emotion?"

"Envy. None of these da Vinci paintings has ever been cataloged or reproduced... as undiscovered da Vincis, they would be priceless."

"Would be? You mean you think they're fakes?''"

"Most strange; a man of Flint's obvious wealth and impeccable taste scarcely needs to hang fakes. Yet my tricorder analysis indicates that the canvas and pigments used are of contemporary origin."
 * -  McCoy, Spock and Kirk

"I... am Brahms."

"And DaVinci?"

"Yes."

"How many other names shall we call you?"

"Solomon, Alexander, Lazarus, Methuselah, Merlin, Abrahmson – a hundred other names you do not know."

"You were born?"

"In that region of Earth later called Mesopotamia in the year 3834 BC, as the millenia are now reckoned. I was (chuckle) Akharin; a soldier, a bully – and a fool. I fell in battle, pierced to the heart... and did not die."

"Instant tissue regeneration, coupled with some perfect form of biological renewal – you learned that you were immortal!"

"And to conceal it. To live some portion of a life. To pretend to age, and then move on before my nature was suspected."
 * - Spock, Flint, and McCoy

"You'd wipe out four hundred lives?"

"I have seen a hundred billion fall! I know death better than any man – I have tossed enemies into his grasp! And I know mercy; your crew is not dead, but suspended."

"Worse than dead! Restore them; restore my ship!"

"In time; a thousand, two thousand years. You will know the future, Captain Kirk."
 * - Kirk and Flint

"You have been such men, you've known and created such beauty, you've watched your race evolve from cruelty and barbarism throughout your enormous life – and, yet, now you would do this to us?"

"The flowers of my past... but I hold the nettles of the present. I am Flint, now, with my needs."

"What needs?"

"Tonight, I have seen something wondrous happen; something I have worked for, labored for – nothing must endanger it. At last, Rayna's emotions have stirred to life. Now they will turn to me in this solitude which I preserve."
 * - McCoy, Flint, Kirk

"Your report, doctor?" "Yes – those tricorder readings on Flint are finally correlated; he's dying. You see, Flint, in leaving Earth and all of the complex fields in which he was formed, sacrificed immortality. He'll live the remainder of a normal lifespan... then, finally, die."

"On that day, I shall mourn. Does he know?"

"Yes – I told him myself. He intends to devote the remainder of his years and great abilities to the improvement of the Human condition... and who knows what he might come up with?"

"Well, that's all for now; I can tell Jim later or... you can. Considering his opponent's longevity – truly an eternal triangle. You wouldn't understand that, would you Spock? You see, I feel sorrier for you than I do for him, because you'll never know the things that love can drive a man to. The ecstasies, the miseries... the broken rules, the desperate chances, the glorious failures – and the glorious victories; all of these things you'll never know, simply because the word "love" isn't written into your book. Good night, Spock."

"Good night, doctor."
 * - McCoy and Spock

-- DhaliaUnsung 15:32, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

Literaries Sources
In this episode I saw two literaries sources:

- Cervantes: the novel and the play "The curious impertinent": a man tests the fidelity of his wife. This subject is common in boulevard theatre and in the television.

- Molière: the play "The school of wifes": the play shows a character who resolves to marry his young, and naïve girl. The man educated the woman since the childhood.

Also, in Greek Mythology, Pygmalion was a sculptor who carved a woman out of ivory. He created a statue so realistic that he fell in love with it.

Michelangelo created the sculpture "Pietà" so perfect, that he said: "Parla!" ("Speak!" in Italian).


 * I'm not sure what your question is- are you proposing this be added to the article? If you have evidence that the writers of this episode deliberately referenced these aspects of literature, it could be, but it cannot be done without such evidence.--31dot 23:56, May 5, 2010 (UTC)

It's just an observation and perhaps a contribution. I noticed a similarity in this episode with the examples cited and I suppose some influence. I write a kind of analysis of the plots and themes of the episodes of the Classical Star Trek. My name is Edson Ortolan. I'm from Brazil. Thank you.