Synopsis:

An edit combining Star Trek TOS episodes 'The Way To Eden' and 'Requiem For Methuselah' into one extended episode, with the connective tissue being that the Synthococcusnovae disease and 'Eden' planet in the former, are now both represented in the latter, with 'Eden' being Flint's planet.

Intentions:

Although not one of the most popular episodes of the series, Requiem for Methuselah is my favourite episode. Maybe because it’s one of the first I remember watching during the 1990s repeats on the BBC, maybe because of the complexity of the character of Flint. I later thought of suggesting the planet in The Way To Eden could potentially be Flint's planet, thus linking one story through to the next. Flint’s planet is now the Eden planet, which compliments the dialogue. In 'The Way To Eden', Spock detects no life other than that aboard the stolen shuttlecraft containing the hippies. Flint’s planet is surrounded by screens, which he says “create the impression of lifelessness”.

Change List:

CUTS: - Replacement of the original Act I opening music (used several times throughout The Way To Eden) and Captain’s Log, with the bold 'Ship In Orbit' season two library cue. - The portion of the Kirk/Spock bridge scene in which Spock tells Kirk what 'Herbert' is. I like that we don't know! - The first Chekhov/Irina scene has been truncated. - After McCoy informs Kirk that the disease is a virulent strain, I cut to a close up of Kirk from 'Day of the Dove', with the dramatic 'boom' sting, before dissolving into the following bridge scene, completely removing the scene of Sulu being seduced to become a 'follower'. - The majority of the hippies' songs. The only major piece I've kept in is Spock playing his Vulcan harp with a hippie who looks like she's playing a bicycle wheel! I had to keep this in as it was the distraction that allowed the hippies to take over the ship. - I've also cut all references in the plot of The Way To Eden in which Spock and Chekhov help locate Eden. If the crew is endangered by an infection, surely the priority is to head to the nearest Starbase for additional medical assistance? In my edit, the hippies simply take over the auxillary control room because Irina had found Chekhov working in there and sussed out what its purpose was. - All references to Romulans and Romulan space are cut. Eden/Flint's planet is remote still, but remains in Federation space. - When the hippies steal a shuttle and head for Eden, there was originally just an orbit shot of the Enterprise. This edit uses a shot of a shuttle exit the hangar deck from The Doomsday Machine. - Prior to the M4 robot appearing for the first time, a cutaway exterior shot of the shuttlecraft returning to the Enterprise is shown with Chekhov returning with the four surviving hippies. - A shot of the M4 robot moving away from Kirk and the landing party after being ordered to by Flint, has been truncated. The original shot clearly showed the robot attached to the camera. - Kirk's reference to Flint's planet being 'Holberg 917G' has been cut. - Several trims are made to the 'Requiem For Methuselah' segment, to balance out the proportion of both episodes. Amongst others, the following cuts are based on the original syndication edits: - After a commercial break, the newly introduced Rayna and Flint approach the landing party. - McCoy wonders what else interests Rayna besides gravity phenomena, and Rayna responds that everything does. - Kirk entering Flint's lab. - Rayna indicates that Flint has ordered her never to go into a specific room in the lab. In the original episode, Rayna answers "I do not know" to two of Kirk’s questions. Here, I drop the first "I do not know" and all dialogue until the second. - Following a commercial break, M4 approaches Kirk and Rayna, followed by Kirk pushing her away before trying to hide behind the screen. - Flint and Rayna discuss why M4 attacked Kirk. Here, I simply cut back to Kirk and Spock when Flint turns off the monitor. - A pair of reaction shots after Spock reminds Kirk that the rytelayn should be their immediate concern. - During the playing of the Waltz, I add in an exterior shot of Flint’s castle, and I 'echo' the music, giving the impression we are hearing the music from a distance outside. It’s one of the few touches I think enhances and differs the edit from the original episode. - I much prefer the original title music, so this will underscore the remastered opening titles. - I cut McCoy's dialogue concerning Flint dying. This is because a) he's supposed to be immortal and it kinda ruins the entire story for me, and b) it spoils the idea of an immortal man creating an immortal android to keep him company. If he were dying why worry about creating a lifelong android? I always felt it was done to 'finish off' the Flint storyline. - The starbase at the end of 'The Way To Eden' is in space rather than planet-side, using Space Station K7 from 'The Trouble With Tribbles'. I would have preferred to use the starbase from 'The Ultimate Computer', but there is less useable footage to play with. - Newly sequenced end credits, with the alternate variant of the Season Three end theme. CONTINUITY: - I’ve adjusted the planet-side scenes so that only the fruit are deadly to human life. I had to keep this in to kill off Sevrin and ‘finish’ the hippie segment of the narrative. Keeping the planet as acidic wouldn’t have worked, else Flint would not be here. Of course, this means that Flint can’t eat any native fruit, but he says his M4 robot is his ‘butler’, so he probably eats replicated food. - The crew begins to feel the effects of the illness during The Way To Eden segment. I’ve used footage from The Tholian Web to show an engineer beginning to feel the disease’s effects. - After the hippies take over the ship, I use McCoy’s dialogue from The Immunity Syndrome in which he says the crew are all dying, before a reaction shot of Kirk on the bridge from 'The Lights of Zetar' leading into a newly-compiled

Additional Notes:

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Other Sources:

- A variety of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes - Star Trek: The Original Series Soundtrack Collection - Star Trek: Sound Effects

Special Thanks:

Benjamin Fidler, my partner, for helping film my additional exterior sequences.