Requiem for Methuselah: In which a single slash scene can make it worth watching a shitty episode
Before I start in, if you're a big fan of both Star Trek and satire, there was this awesome episode parody written for this episode and I just had to physically scan and share with you guys. It's called Requiem for a Hack. It had me laughing my freaking ass off.
I subjected myself once again to the episode Requiem for Methuselah. I had only seen this episode once all the way through, way back in the summer when I gradually went through all of them. And let me tell you, unlike when I rewatched Return of the Archons earlier this week, this episode did not get any better. I wouldn't call it the worst Star Trek episode, but it definitely ranks pretty low. About the only thing good about this episode is undeniably the final scene, which is when Spock erases Kirk's memory of the android Rayna. But what makes this scene so good that I'm forced to keep the episode on my computer for vidding purposes? Is there anything else to salvage from this crap episode?
This episode is just like And the Children Shall Lead. Shit episode, one EPIC slash scene. In that case it was The Elevator Scene™, which makes me wonder how the eff people can't see the slash. Seriously, replace just one of them with a girl and would anyone misinterpret that scene for anything but epic romance? Not at all.
But I digress. This episode tries to be brainier than that one, but fails. It takes the Star Trek trope of "alien beings that turn out to be a part of Earth's history" to its final breaking point. Flint turns out to be an immortal being that has taken many rock star names like Brahms and Da Vinci. This Flint guy created Rayna, an android, though we don't know that she's an android until later. Kirk falls instantly in love with her, and unlike how he fell instantly in love with Edith, the audience can't understand what the dude sees in the vacuous Rayna. But like all women (real or otherwise) that Kirk develops real feelings for, she is quite temporary, in this kicking the bucket.
Now before we get to The Forget Scene™, I want to talk about what happens right after Rayna dies, because it's freaking fascinating. Rayna bites the dust, and Kirk looks lost and asks, "what happened?" You'd expect McCoy to answer, right? Because this is about feelings? But oh no, it's Spock who answers, "she loved you, Captain" and then explains that Rayna could not adjust to the huge emotions she was feeling. Dude, isn't it mighty interesting that Spock could easily see what happened when this was entirely about emotions? Why did the writers not just use McCoy, since he's supposed to be the purely emotional one and the one who's role is to be Kirk's consience? I get that it's a set up to McCoy's suave speech later, but why do they end the episode in this way? Well whatever the reason, it gives us a nice look into Spock's clinical view of love and the danger of emotions. He flat out says that because she was becoming Human, she died in the onslaught of its chaos. Sound familiar? It shows us that Spock has more of a reason not to show his feelings than just being a perfect Vulcan; he doesn't want his emotions to show because he believes he'll be consumed by them. Just look at Amok Time and how he acts around Kirk when his shields are fucked. That whole episode is about Spock on the verge of losing control. Hell, look at the first ST movie. Right after Spock merges with V'ger, Spock looks pretty messed up, and no wonder-he'd been majorly bottling up his emotions, and all of a sudden they all flood into him and we get the lovely Simple Feeling Scene™. Rayna's death just further proves to Spock that the release of emotions=bad.
So, The Forget Scene™.
I love McCoy's speech here because it's simple but very beautiful, and it fits his character perfectly, simple but passionate. Now if they didn't want this scene to be slashy, McCoy could have said his speech, left, and the credits would roll. But no. Instead, they give us this amazing speech that sums up the agonies and ecstasies of love and then we get Spock's response to it. McCoy says that Spock will never know what love is, and he feels sorry for him. I personally believe McCoy knows about Kirk and Spock, but his speech was made because even if Spock is capable of love, McCoy believes firmly that Spock won't let himself be in love, won't open his mind to it and live in it. This is why he looks so damn surprised when Spock grabs Kirk's hand in TMP. He's like, "ho shit, the green-blooded bastard is finally making a move!" Back in the episode at hand, McCoy leaves, and we're treated with Epic Slash. The music turns to those violins that seem to follow Kirk and Spock around (srsly, I'm tempted to find them all because there's this scene, the elevator scene, that one scene in the empath, the ultimate computer, and idek what other places, good gravy), and Spock mind melds with Kirk and makes him forget about his love for Rayna.
First of all, the action itself is enough to convince me of romantic intent. When have you ever seen Spock use his telepathic abilities like this? Never. When we first see him use it on the crazy dude in Dagger of the Mind, he is hesitant about even melding with the dude (heh, but notice that when McCoy mentions that Kirk is in trouble, Spock's like "oh okay then.") yet here he's doing something morally unconscionable by removing Kirk's memories. This certainly sounds like one of those things that love can drive a man to do, doesn't it? *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* Then we've got the aforementioned violins, and you can't tell me the director looked at that and decided 'hey, that looks great, no gay here at all.' Then, oh then, my favorite part of all. Spock actually saying 'forget.' Someone used the word 'desperation' to describe how Spock says that word, and boy, that fits perfect. Go back and listen to just that word, it's so freaking fascinating how he says it. Spock's expression is open, raw, and I can find no better word but desperation. That one word, just like the 'Jim' Spock mutters in the Elevator Scene, is filled with so much emotion that it's flat-out stupid to believe that Spock doesn't love this man.
I subjected myself once again to the episode Requiem for Methuselah. I had only seen this episode once all the way through, way back in the summer when I gradually went through all of them. And let me tell you, unlike when I rewatched Return of the Archons earlier this week, this episode did not get any better. I wouldn't call it the worst Star Trek episode, but it definitely ranks pretty low. About the only thing good about this episode is undeniably the final scene, which is when Spock erases Kirk's memory of the android Rayna. But what makes this scene so good that I'm forced to keep the episode on my computer for vidding purposes? Is there anything else to salvage from this crap episode?
This episode is just like And the Children Shall Lead. Shit episode, one EPIC slash scene. In that case it was The Elevator Scene™, which makes me wonder how the eff people can't see the slash. Seriously, replace just one of them with a girl and would anyone misinterpret that scene for anything but epic romance? Not at all.
But I digress. This episode tries to be brainier than that one, but fails. It takes the Star Trek trope of "alien beings that turn out to be a part of Earth's history" to its final breaking point. Flint turns out to be an immortal being that has taken many rock star names like Brahms and Da Vinci. This Flint guy created Rayna, an android, though we don't know that she's an android until later. Kirk falls instantly in love with her, and unlike how he fell instantly in love with Edith, the audience can't understand what the dude sees in the vacuous Rayna. But like all women (real or otherwise) that Kirk develops real feelings for, she is quite temporary, in this kicking the bucket.
Now before we get to The Forget Scene™, I want to talk about what happens right after Rayna dies, because it's freaking fascinating. Rayna bites the dust, and Kirk looks lost and asks, "what happened?" You'd expect McCoy to answer, right? Because this is about feelings? But oh no, it's Spock who answers, "she loved you, Captain" and then explains that Rayna could not adjust to the huge emotions she was feeling. Dude, isn't it mighty interesting that Spock could easily see what happened when this was entirely about emotions? Why did the writers not just use McCoy, since he's supposed to be the purely emotional one and the one who's role is to be Kirk's consience? I get that it's a set up to McCoy's suave speech later, but why do they end the episode in this way? Well whatever the reason, it gives us a nice look into Spock's clinical view of love and the danger of emotions. He flat out says that because she was becoming Human, she died in the onslaught of its chaos. Sound familiar? It shows us that Spock has more of a reason not to show his feelings than just being a perfect Vulcan; he doesn't want his emotions to show because he believes he'll be consumed by them. Just look at Amok Time and how he acts around Kirk when his shields are fucked. That whole episode is about Spock on the verge of losing control. Hell, look at the first ST movie. Right after Spock merges with V'ger, Spock looks pretty messed up, and no wonder-he'd been majorly bottling up his emotions, and all of a sudden they all flood into him and we get the lovely Simple Feeling Scene™. Rayna's death just further proves to Spock that the release of emotions=bad.
So, The Forget Scene™.
Click to viewI love McCoy's speech here because it's simple but very beautiful, and it fits his character perfectly, simple but passionate. Now if they didn't want this scene to be slashy, McCoy could have said his speech, left, and the credits would roll. But no. Instead, they give us this amazing speech that sums up the agonies and ecstasies of love and then we get Spock's response to it. McCoy says that Spock will never know what love is, and he feels sorry for him. I personally believe McCoy knows about Kirk and Spock, but his speech was made because even if Spock is capable of love, McCoy believes firmly that Spock won't let himself be in love, won't open his mind to it and live in it. This is why he looks so damn surprised when Spock grabs Kirk's hand in TMP. He's like, "ho shit, the green-blooded bastard is finally making a move!" Back in the episode at hand, McCoy leaves, and we're treated with Epic Slash. The music turns to those violins that seem to follow Kirk and Spock around (srsly, I'm tempted to find them all because there's this scene, the elevator scene, that one scene in the empath, the ultimate computer, and idek what other places, good gravy), and Spock mind melds with Kirk and makes him forget about his love for Rayna.
First of all, the action itself is enough to convince me of romantic intent. When have you ever seen Spock use his telepathic abilities like this? Never. When we first see him use it on the crazy dude in Dagger of the Mind, he is hesitant about even melding with the dude (heh, but notice that when McCoy mentions that Kirk is in trouble, Spock's like "oh okay then.") yet here he's doing something morally unconscionable by removing Kirk's memories. This certainly sounds like one of those things that love can drive a man to do, doesn't it? *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* Then we've got the aforementioned violins, and you can't tell me the director looked at that and decided 'hey, that looks great, no gay here at all.' Then, oh then, my favorite part of all. Spock actually saying 'forget.' Someone used the word 'desperation' to describe how Spock says that word, and boy, that fits perfect. Go back and listen to just that word, it's so freaking fascinating how he says it. Spock's expression is open, raw, and I can find no better word but desperation. That one word, just like the 'Jim' Spock mutters in the Elevator Scene, is filled with so much emotion that it's flat-out stupid to believe that Spock doesn't love this man.