"The Man Who Would Not Die" Season 2 Episode 2

The episode "The Man Who Would Not Die" first aired on December 31, 1977 . It was written and produced by Nicholas Webster.

Just as the season premiere was on Christmas Eve, I find it interesting that the follow up was on New Year's Eve! People sitting around the old TV watching this over College Football or heading out to ring in the New Year? You don't see too many new episodes air of anything air on New Year's Eve anymore.

Nimoy plunges into France in the 1760's. He describes a man on the run who appeared 40, but many claimed he was at least 150 years old! The Count of St. Germain was considered to be a genius by many. Why was he also known as the man who would not die?

I like this so far. I have never heard of this guy, and I'm a sucker for anything historical. There is something creepy about these reenactments from the 1760's done in the 1970's. Nimoy tells us how the Court of Versailles in 1757 was still a court of splendor and traditional royal ideas and fashions. Nimoy references memoirs written by St. Germain that tells us he was a great violinist able to play from memory.

(Versailles)

(an engraving of the Count of St. Germain)

 Apparently even King Louis XV liked the Count! We see sort of a modern reality TV type segment where an actor portraying Louis talks to the camera in a bad French accent about how much he liked the Count. Thumbs down on this piece! Please don't tell me this is where the show is headed!!

Louis explains that the Count once removed a flaw from one of his diamonds, increasing its wealth. He also taught Louis chemistry. St. Germain claimed that he learned to remove flaws from diamonds and turn metal into gold on a trip to India.

Nimoy tells us the Count never confirmed nor denied any of the rumors about him. He spoke at least a dozen languages and when asked how old he was he evaded an answer as if he enjoyed the mystery. Apparently St. Germain may have been born in Transylvania. Evidence suggests that St. Germain's father was Prince Francis Rakoczi and that he may have sent St. Germain to Florence under the protection of the Medici family. This would explain his extraordinary education and appreciation of art. The descriptions of St. Germain show his charisma and charm. He supposedly had a relationship with Louis' own mistress Madame Pompadour. Now the cheesy reality style actor playing Pompadour speaks to the camera. She raves about his charm and all the languages he could speak. She always says some of her elderly friends at court knew him for fifty years and yet he never seemed to age. She giggles at the thought he may have had a magic elixir of life.

The famous charmer of ladies, Casanova, speaks to the camera next. In a bad Italian accent he questions the Count's legitimacy and accuses him of lying. Clearly he saw him as a rival. Casanova implies that it is easy to amuse ladies. Casanova claims he has never seen him any food. Nimoy tells us he was known to eat very small meals.

French philosopher Voltaire was an admirer of of the Count. Voltaire tells us in a breathy French accent that the Count's knowledge of history is so detailed that you would believe he lived through the events himself. Louis also is amazed at how much St. Germain knew and in such amazing detail. Louis tells us he trusted him to send him on secret mission to England. Once discovered, Louis had to disavow any knowledge he had sent him and instead ordered him arrested. These cheesy talks into the camera are starting to ruin this for me.

Louis' foreign minister went after St. Germain and ordered him shot as an English spy. He further circulated rumors around Europe of all sorts. Not the least of which was that he was Portuguese and of questionable parentage. St. Germain was able to escape to London without being caught. However the rumors followed him. He eventually made his way to Russia and joined a conspiracy to overthrow Tsar Peter in 1762. He won favor from Catherine the Great thanks to his battlefield strategy. Most of his activities were shrouded in mystery, but he did create secret societies connected to the occult and predicted the collapse of the French Monarchy.He wrote a book titled "The Most Holy Trinosophia" considered to be a classic and a blend of modern and ancient languages.

We are told that the Count spent the final years of his life in Germany practicing alchemy and meeting with various secret societies. His last known confidant was Prince Charles.

In 1784 the Count lay mortally ill in the Castle of Prince Charles. Lucky us, Prince Charles is available for an interview! Charles tells us that St. Germain confided in him that Prince Francis of Transylvania was indeed his father. He also mentions the Medici family. Charles gushes about how great he was. Surprisingly, Prince Charles didn't attend the funeral and his burial was not recorded.

Nimoy tells us that sightings of the Count were reported after his supposed death, even into the 19th century. He then tells us there have been eve more recent sightings!

We are now introduced to Elizabeth Claire Prophet who is not an actress, she is alive in 1977. She believes the Count speaks through her to the world. She says a bunch of strange things very calmly. She claims he was a priest at ancient Atlantis. She seems confident of her knowledge.

She believes that St. Germain has appeared on Earth at key times in human history. She talks about his presence at the death of Christ, King Arthur, etc. I find her completely unbelievable, annoying in her sing-songy voice, and just plain weird. She talks about how he was known as the wonderman of Europe for 200 years and how wonderful he was. His main mission was to warn the Monarchs of Europe of the coming fall of most of their reigns.

Now we meet a historian and professor of European history with a different opinion from Prophet. Big surprise! He thinks St. Germain was similar to Casanova and other adventurers in the 18th century. He was looking to make money form the gullible.

Back to Prophet who seems to have been talking the whole time we were away and is still talking. She claims St. Germain gave a speech inspiring the delegates in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Now a chorus of strange people singing about St. Germain. In Pasadena at her church, Prophet leads her congregation in this song. She allows the camera to show her claiming the spirit of St. Germain is flowing through her. she speaks in an odd voice and is so unbelievable it makes one laugh out loud. She and her congregation chant "Hail St. Germain" over and over again. Wow is this cheesy!!

"Evidence recently discovered in the library of the British Museum indicates that St. Germain might well have been the lost third son of Prince Francis Rakoczi, born in Transylvania in 1694. If he died in Germany in 1784 he lived 90 years. The average life expectancy in the 18th century was 35 years. 50 was a ripe old age. 90 was forever." Nimoy doesn't even seem to buy the mystery of St. Germain himself.

Boo for this episode! Not very good at all. It started out ok with the history and the story I had never heard of. But the poor production quality of the actors speaking into the camera really ruined for it me. Throw in the strange and laughable Elizabeth Claire Prophet and this episode was a waste of my time. I hope they do a much better job in the future with the production and avoid actors pretending like they are on a reality TV show. Remember what I said in the beginning about a first run episode being shown on New Year's Eve feeling odd? Maybe we now know why! The episode was made and they knew it was a dud so show it on New Year's Eve and maybe no one will see it! Just skip this one.


You can watch this episode "The Man Who Would Not Die" below,  but I wouldn't recommend it.