Quincy M.E. (TV Series) Requiem for the Living (1978) User Reviews

A reworking of the Edmond O'Brien film "DOA".

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 16 April 2013]

The plot for "Requiem for the Living" is a reworking of the old film noir classic "DOA". In this film, Edmond O'Brien has just learn he's been poisoned and only has about a day to live. So, he spends that day digging for the truth--to learn who has given him the lethal dose. In this "Quincy" episode, Mr. DiNardi (John Vernon) has learned that he's been poisoned. But instead of searching for who and how himself, he has his henchmen 'convince' Quincy and Sam to investigate--an odd case where they will have him do an autopsy on a man about to die! The problem is that if they refuse, they'll be dead before DiNardi! So, they really have no choice but help the gangster.

This is an enjoyable episode--even more so if you haven't seen "DOA". That's because it seems pretty original and different but if you know the roots of the show, you'll realize it isn't. But, enjoyable and interesting nevertheless.

Great Quincy episode.

[poolandrews · 8/10 · 8 November 2008]

Great Quincy episode. Rating 8 *** This comment may contain spoilers *** Quincy M.E.: Requiem for the Living starts late one night as Los Angeles chief medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) & his assistant Sam (Robert Ito) are finally able to leave the laboratory after a long day & head to Danny's for a game of poker with the boy's. However while in the parking lot Quincy & Sam are taken hostage at gunpoint by mob boss Vincent DiNardi (John Vernon), escorted back into the laboratory DiNardi reveals that he has just found out he is dying from lung disease & has less than twenty four hours to live, DiNardi claims that he has been poisoned & that he wants Quincy to perform an autopsy on himself while still alive to determine the cause of the poisoning & who was responsible at which point DiNardi will order that persons death as one final act of revenge...

Episode 20 from season 3 Requiem for the Living was the final episode of the third season of Quincy & it was a cracking last episode, directed by Rowe Wallerstein this is yet another story which proves how versatile the premise of Quincy actually was & how varied the stories could actually be & certainly during it's first five or six season were. The main gimmick of Requiem for the Living is that Quincy is ordered to perform an autopsy on a living person rather than a cadaver which is a nice twist & one that the series used a number of times as during the eight season run Quincy autopsied animals including horses & goldfish, Egyptian Mummies, murder cases, suicides & even nothing more than a few bones. I enjoy the crime based Quincy episodes much more than the moralistic ones & it's great that there's a murder mystery element here, there's the personal threat as Sam & Quincy are held hostage at gunpoint & there's even a nice little twist at the end which I for one didn't see coming, the killers motives are not exactly brilliant (why kill someone who has just brought you an entire apartment complex?) but it's only a fifty minute episode, what do you want? This one has a great pace about it, there's some nice interplay & dialogue between Quincy & DiNardi as he tries to convince Quincy that despite his line of work & who he is he is an honourable man. All in all a great episode that Quincy fans should love.

As usual this episode of Quincy is not going to win any awards for style but the terrific story more than makes up for the slightly dull visuals. Set almost entirely in the laboratory, we never actually find out what happens to Chuck the security guard. He isn't shown being rescued so maybe poor old Chuck starved to death tied up as everyone forgot about him & his skeleton is lying around somewhere in the Los Angeles county coroner's office ready to be discovered & have a Quincy like pathologist poke around it trying to figure out if it was murder... There's some great casting here as the late prolific John Vernon plays the heavy role he is so good at although I can't decide if I liked him better in Requiem for the Living or the amazingly loopy & brilliant Killer Klown from Outer Space (1988), Jack Klugman as Quincy is superb as usual but I come to expect no less from such a terrific actor.

Requiem for the Living is an absolutely terrific classic episode of Quincy with a great plot, a solid murder mystery where the victim is still alive & some good twists which help make this one of my favourite Quincy episodes.

Fair episode that mostly takes place in the lab

[rayoflite24 · 7/10 · 2 September 2015]

Requiem for the Living begins with mobster Vincent DiNardi (John Vernon) receiving a grave diagnosis from his doctor that he has a deadly infection and less than 24 hours to live. Later in the evening at the coroner lab, Quincy (Jack Klugman) and Sam (Robert Ito) are leaving when they are confronted in the parking garage by DiNardi and his associates. DiNardi forces Quincy and Sam back into the lab so that they can test him and determine how he acquired the infection and who was responsible so that he can enact revenge before he dies. Meanwhile, Dr. Asten (John S. Ragin), Lt. Monahan (Garry Walberg) and the rest of the crew are having a poker night at Danny's and become suspicious as to why both Quincy and Sam canceled so abruptly to stay at the lab.

I would say that this is a fair Season 3 episode that takes place almost entirely in the lab. There is a mystery featured and it is rather unique in that the victim is still alive unlike most Quincy murder mysteries we see, but this really wasn't enough to make this a great episode in my opinion. John Vernon's guest star performance as the conflicted mobster who is slowly deteriorating while succumbing to his illness was definitely captivating and a highlight in my opinion, but too many slow and sedate scenes in the lab just make for a dull overall episode here.

This was the 20th and final episode of Quincy Season 3, and when I first realized that I wondered why there weren't more episodes since this was the first full season of the series and most primetime shows air between 22-26 episodes per season. Per the trivia section, NBC had ordered 2 more episodes for the season, but Jack Klugman was too burned out and went on vacation early instead. Interesting that he was able to get out of those last two episodes while under contract and I have to wonder if that ended up being another huge blow-up between him and the producers at the time?

Enjoyable But Flawed

[ramsfan · 8/10 · 14 May 2022]

Quincy was an entertaining Jack Klugman vehicle which aired shortly after The Odd Couple went off the air. Klugman played a Medical Examiner who routinely assisted Law Enforcement with questionable cases that came across his coroner's table. Eschewing the autopsy theme, Requiem For The Living presents a unique plot in which Quincy tries to determine what will cause a man's death before it actually happens.

When Mob boss Vincent DiNardi (John Vernon) suddenly takes ill, he's told there has been massive destruction to the air sacs in his lungs and has 24 hours to live. Fearing he has been poisoned, DiNardi and his henchmen corner Quincy and partner Sam Fujiyama in the office parking garage and coerce him into running tests to determine the cause of his condition. Knowing DiNardi will seek revenge and order the deaths of those responsible, Quincy refuses to assist him further, but when Sam is threatened at gunpoint, he relents, knowing full well a dying man has nothing to lose.

Accompanied by Dinardi's right hand man Carlo Russo (Val Avery), Quincy spends the bulk of the episode looking for the location of the poison as he searches every place DiNardi has visited alone in the past couple of days. Of course Quincy narrows the search and closes the case with the answers presenting a bit of a surprise for the viewer.

Tonight's questionable plotlines: Nickel Carbonate, the poison DiNardi was exposed to, is only moderately toxic and in no way could cause the kind of immediate deterioration we see in him. And Quincy, a trained professional, casually looks for this poison without any protective gear- no respirator, no mask and no hazmat suit- a breach of safety etiquette that while not destroying the episode certainly damages its credibility.

Guest John Vernon was one of the great small screen villains for three decades, seemingly appearing in every popular detective show of the era. His sonorous voice lent a commanding presence to his portrayals, and in "Requiem" he once again shines. He skillfully avoids a characterization of the stereotypical Italian Gangster, and his introspective conversations with Quincy as he faces death lend depth and believability to the character. Good too is Val Avery, himself a prolific actor who played low-life mid-level villains throughout his career.

Overall a good episode and viewing experience buoyed by the principal characters. Recommended watch.