William Shatner Movie:

		List Price: $19.99		Label: CBS Paramount International Television Salesrank: 16851 Released: November 27, 2001
		Our Price: $9.50
		Used Price: $3.95
		MPAA Rating: Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
"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.

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 38 - Episodes 75 & 76: The Way to Eden / Requiem for Methuselah Reviews:
Requiem repeated
2008-08-16 - He fell but did not die. He loved a thousand times and lost them all. James Daly plays one of the most compelling parts in all of this series. Flint's weary smugness owing to all that he has seen, endured and created is truly a classic portrayal by Daly. Spock's comment after learning of Flint's impeding death is one of the most emotional that he could express. "On that say I shall mourn"

More Average Episodes From the Worst Season! The Birth of the Highlander!
2007-03-07 - Having reached this stage of the 3rd and final season of Classic Trek, I find myself wishing someone would put this dying horse to sleep out of mercy. It was truly heart-wrenching for this fan of TOS to have to make myself watch through the entire 3rd season with its many ups and far too many more downs while remembering the great acting, scriptwriting and overall quality of the first two seasons and here in what would be the 3rd last volume of the 3rd season, we get two average quality episodes.

For the first episode, "The Way to Eden", one has to put the episode and hence the story into the context of the times i.e. 1969. Obviously, taken in today's context the episode is ridiculously bad but for an audience in 1969, the plot has deep meaning what with the civil rights movement and the growing dissension against the Vietnam War, that audience could definitely relate to this parable of those very troubling events of their time. Viewed from that context, I think this is actually not too bad an episode which tries to show the points of view of the various parties involved: the demonstrators (Adam and the rest), the sympathisers (Spock) and the non-sympathisers (Scott and Kirk). I thought taken as an overall episode, this metaphor of the major civil demonstrations of the late 60's was very good. The moral is that one should fight for what is right but one should also beware of being made a tool for someone else's agenda who may not have as pure an intention as you. So why do I still rate this average? Because, I too didn't like the far too frequent outbreaks of pop ditties ala Love or The Zombies that Adam breaks into. Still, an average episode overall.

For the second episode, there were some pluses and some minuses as well. The plot that sounds a lot like the idea from which the whole "Highlander" series came about is a good one but what I don't understand is why Daly's character becomes jealous of Kirk and an android! Also, just because a man is immortal why does that automatically make him have to be the greatest geniuses of history? This is why the "Highlander" series that this episode spawned is far more believable for me; that individual was just a normal immortal trying hard to suppress his immortality to avoid persecution and not Einstein or Newton or my Grandpa. Still, for giving us the whole "Highlander" premise, this makes it to the average category of me.

Overall, this volume falls under the "nice to have but not essential" category if you are deciding which volumes to keep.

A Pale Flicker In A Dark Season
2004-03-10 - 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.

"I'M TALKIN 'BOUT YOU!...I'M TALKIN' BOUT ME!..."
2003-03-21 - 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!

A Requiem for the Loved and Lost
2002-09-29 - A requiem is a mass for the dead. Methuselah lived 900 years but did die. Not so Mr. Flint, and old and tired man who cannot die but who has been dead for millenia.

This is one of the most powerful displays of television drama I have seen. James Daly, the guest star, creates a compelling character of depth, with pitiable resignation in a man who has known all there is to know--and yet is alone (sounds like V'ger, now that I think of it...).

Although there are inconsistencies in the plot, I find them minor compared to Shatner's portrayal of anguish and desperation in the final act, leading to Rayna's death from a broken heart.

All who have loved and lost will see themselves in "Requiem for Methuselah" and understand it perfectly.

Oh yeah--pretend "The Way to Eden" isn't here. It would be for the best.