The Prisoner (original)...

[Holdfast]

We already know nothing in the Village happens by chance.

For me, this is the one tiny bit of The Prisoner that shows its age. The concept of a controllable conspiracy feels, to me, a little past its prime nowadays. That concept has a very Cold War feel to it (or at least, of a simpler time) and it weakens the allegorical nature of The Prisoner in some respects. I mean, one key parallel is that The Village is meant to represent the oppressive "system" that all of us function within.

But I think that the really scary system about the system is that it's not about controlling people, it's about preventing people from realising they're controlled... and that the control (or, rather, narrowing of choice) is almost an irrelevance; an emergent side-effect of all our joint actions.

The Prisoner does touch on this more scary aspect in a few of the later episodes though, especially the very last episode or two. You'll see when you get there, and it's good stuff.

 

[Warped9]

We already know nothing in the Village happens by chance.

For me, this is the one tiny bit of The Prisoner that shows its age. The concept of a controllable conspiracy feels, to me, a little past its prime nowadays. That concept has a very Cold War feel to it (or at least, of a simpler time) and it weakens the allegorical nature of The Prisoner in some respects. I mean, one key parallel is that The Village is meant to represent the oppressive "system" that all of us function within.

If we take the Village as credible and possible in the real world. Of course it's not. But for the purpose of allegorical storytelling it works just fine within the context of the show.


"A. B. and C." *****

Drugs and forced dreaming are brought to bear to pry secrets from Number 6.

Some definite surreality going on here as Number 6 learns to communicate and fight from within his own dreams. And in this episode it looks like the current Number 2 is going to face dire consequences for failing to uncover Number 6's secret.

In this one it really does seem they're bypassing trying to break 6's spirit and going to more direct interrogation methods, more or less. I sometimes suspect it's their own paranoia and suspicious natures that lead them to believe there is some deep dark secret for 6's resignation. Maybe he was just fed-up with the whole espionage business.

 

[23skidoo]

For me, this is the one tiny bit of The Prisoner that shows its age. The concept of a controllable conspiracy feels, to me, a little past its prime nowadays. That concept has a very Cold War feel to it (or at least, of a simpler time) and it weakens the allegorical nature of The Prisoner in some respects. I mean, one key parallel is that The Village is meant to represent the oppressive "system" that all of us function within.

Except there are still many people who believe in the controllable conspiracy. From those who believe 9/11 and everything that has followed is orchestrated, to the view (popularized recently by one of Jesse Ventura's Conspiracy Theory shows) that there's some shadow government group orchestrating world events in order to reduce the population to a manageable amount, to the more extreme birther arguments that suggest a grand conspiracy to put Obama in office has existed since he was born -- the notion that "nothing in the Village happens by chance" is still very relevant today. There are arguments put forward in "The General" that I've heard repeated - almost as if they were cribbed from the episode - by those who feel some aspects of the US education system are being used to indoctrinate the youth towards a particular way of thinking.

(Just as an aside, please please please no one flame me or start arguments about these things - they're acknowledged conspiracy theories. Discussion as to their validity or lack thereof should go in TNZ, please. I just cite them by way of example.)

Alex

 

[Warped9]

Nothing that happens in the Village is by accident....because it's in the script.

 

[Starkers]

Maybe some of you have seen this before, but I just found this fantastic homage to the Prisoner opening credit sequence on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4eUSmUWsUY&feature=related

That's great. I particularly like the inventive substitute for the Village

 

[Warped9]

"The General" ***

Number 6 is exposed to a form of brainwashing.

Number 6 undertakes to expose the secret of speed learning created by a Village persona known simply as the General. The General turns out to be a computer and in the end 6 pulls something of a Kirk to destroy it.

This one doesn't really seem to be about getting at Number 6 but more about an experiment in mind control. The experiment sets out to demonstrate that a human mind can be programmed much like a computer. And it seems pretty damned convinced and one can easily see why 6 wants to destroy it. Masses of people could be "educated" into "knowing" whatever is desired by those doing the educating.

One inconsistency I noted was that this episode doesn't seem to follow "A. B. And C." in terms of continuity. We have the same Number 2 who appeared to be in some very deep crap at the end of the preceding episode. But in "The General" we see none of that. It would make more sense to watch "The General" before "A. B. And C."

 

[Christopher]

^Which I believe I said a week or so ago.

 

[Kirkman1987]

I actually just finished my rewatch of the Prisoner a few days ago, and that combined with this thread convinced me it was time to upgrade to the Bluray. I doubt I'll be watching the episodes again for a while, but I can't wait to watch the feature length documentry. I've heard good things about it.

Schizoid Man is up next I believe. One of my favorites.

 

[Sindatur]

"The General" ***

Number 6 is exposed to a form of brainwashing.

Number 6 undertakes to expose the secret of speed learning created by a Village persona known simply as the General. The General turns out to be a computer and in the end 6 pulls something of a Kirk to destroy it.

This one doesn't really seem to be about getting at Number 6 but more about an experiment in mind control. The experiment sets out to demonstrate that a human mind can be programmed much like a computer. And it seems pretty damned convinced and one can easily see why 6 wants to destroy it. Masses of people could be "educated" into "knowing" whatever is desired by those doing the educating.

One inconsistency I noted was that this episode doesn't seem to follow "A. B. And C." in terms of continuity. We have the same Number 2 who appeared to be in some very deep crap at the end of the preceding episode. But in "The General" we see none of that. It would make more sense to watch "The General" before "A. B. And C."

Yup, it all depends upon what Plot flow you want to emphasize as to what order to watch the episodes, but, there are a few which should be kept in some order. The General before A, B, C; The First episode first; the last two episodes last; and just about everything else can be mixed up according to what you want to highlight

 

[Harvey]

One inconsistency I noted was that this episode doesn't seem to follow "A. B. And C." in terms of continuity. We have the same Number 2 who appeared to be in some very deep crap at the end of the preceding episode. But in "The General" we see none of that. It would make more sense to watch "The General" before "A. B. And C."

That's a problem in the airdate order. Wikipedia presents several possibilities; from my fading memory, I think I prefer the way the AV Club arranged it recently.

 

[Warped9]

"The Schizoid Man" ****

Number 6 is "programmed" to think he's someone else assigned to breaking the real Number 6.

After a weird beginning (what am I saying(?), they're all kinda weird ) the Village takes a new turn to try to break Number 6, this time by trying to convince him to impersonate himself(!!!) and break the "real" Number 6. Yeah, I could see how this could really mess with your sense of reality. But the "programming" is obviously flawed because 6 manages to hold onto (retrieve?) his identity and dispatch the imposter. He almost gets away with it only he's not up on the imposter's real identity and this gives him away. Escape foiled again.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

Yup, it all depends upon what Plot flow you want to emphasize as to what order to watch the episodes, but, there are a few which should be kept in some order. The General before A, B, C; The First episode first; the last two episodes last; and just about everything else can be mixed up according to what you want to highlight

Well, I still maintain you can put Fall Out first if you want to...

 

[Warped9]

"Many Happy Returns" *****

Number 6 awakens to find the Village deserted.

Hmm... Either they've found a way to really mess with his head (by letting him escape and then bringing him back) or Number 6 dreamed or hallucinated the whole thing.

I really don't know what else to make of this episode. But it does seem to me the woman now living in his flat looked very familiar. Wasn't she in an earlier episode and perhaps as a different character?

Weird. Just weird.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

"Many Happy Returns" *****

Number 6 awakens to find the Village deserted.

Hmm... Either they've found a way to really mess with his head (by letting him escape and then bringing him back) or Number 6 dreamed or hallucinated the whole thing.

I really don't know what else to make of this episode. But it does seem to me the woman now living in his flat looked very familiar. Wasn't she in an earlier episode and perhaps as a different character?

She's the woman in the third (C) dream sequence in A. B. and C., who gives him her earring to put on as a bet at the roulette wheel. ("No 6 is your lucky number") If the episodes are ordered with A. B. and C. after Many Happy Returns, as I do it, then it's a subtle joke and a clue that the Prisoner is onto what's happening, by including a previous no. 2 in his dream sequence.

 

[RJDiogenes]

"Many Happy Returns" is my favorite episode. It's like one of those long, elaborate "Valley of the Trids" or "Nate the Snake" jokes, using the standard Village greeting as the punchline. Just thinking about it cracks me up.

I never thought it was a dream or hallucination. I saw it as confirmation that his own people were in charge of the Village, or part of whatever was in charge of the Village-- or at least that the conspiracy reached that deeply.

 

[Warped9]

I never thought it was a dream or hallucination. I saw it as confirmation that his own people were in charge of the Village, or part of whatever was in charge of the Village-- or at least that the conspiracy reached that deeply.

Hmm... Interesting thought.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

The Prisoner is one of my favorite programs, and looking forward to this "revisiting."

I like the way its able to tell the story within 17 episodes, rather than going on and on.

 

[Warped9]

"It's Your Funeral" ***

Number 6 learns of a plot to assassinate Number 2.

I didn't really care for this one. It wasn't bad, just okay and didn't really engage me. Of course Number 6 is skeptical at first, after all the tricks and manipulation he's been exposed to I'm surprised he chooses to bother trying to save Number 2's life. And then they pull a fast one and we learn it's another Number 2's life thats in jeopardy. Did 6 really believe there would be retaliation against the whole community.

All this just struck me as somewhat bogus.

 

[Christopher]

Why wouldn't there be retaliation against the whole community? That's the way a police state works. It's not enough just to punish whatever specific individual rose up against authority; it's necessary to intimidate the whole population so they're too scared to try or support anything like that again. It's all about dominance and psychological control.

 

[Warped9]

If they really want to off one of their own just for an excuse to come down hard on the community then why bother tricking Number 6 into warning the target. The only slip is that the second time 6 actually warns the real target instead of who he thought had been the target.

Maybe I'm just missing something here.