The Prisoner (original)...

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Perhaps there IS no Number One? The Village could have been built entirely for Six's benefit. Meaning: The Village and everything in it would be built for him, to get him to reveal why he resigned. Thus, since he is the most important person in the Village, Number Six is Number One.

I haven't seen it myself but from what I have read, this would be my most likely guess. Then again I am excessively literal and so the truth would probably be more complicated.

 

[Sindatur]

Perhaps there IS no Number One? The Village could have been built entirely for Six's benefit. Meaning: The Village and everything in it would be built for him, to get him to reveal why he resigned. Thus, since he is the most important person in the Village, Number Six is Number One.

I haven't seen it myself but from what I have read, this would be my most likely guess. Then again I am excessively literal and so the truth would probably be more complicated.

I don't think there is any "RIGHT" answer, the series is a self-reflection, so, it is whatever it presents itself to you as, IMHO.

I need to take a run through it myself, some time in the near future, only seen it a couple of times (And I believe each time was in a different episode order, so, of course the story progression prior to the Finale has a different emphasis)

 

[Warped9]

Bummer, sorry to read you didn't enjoy the conclusion

I didn't hate it. It's very '60s and rather manic. And like other stuff in the '60s (which was a very experimental time in many areas particularly the creative arts) maybe this is just too much symbolism crammed into the story.

The world is a crazy place and, really, which rules are you supposed to conform to? It's possible by conforming to one thing you piss off someone else. We also often see institutions (government and what have you) do counterintuitive things that go against what we see as self-evident common sense.

Whether you conform or rebel there is always a price to be paid. So what are you willing to pay?

 

[Christopher]

^"Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out" should definitely be watched more than once. Perhaps you should revisit them -- and the rest of the series -- after a few months, or however long feels appropriate. There are probably many ways to perceive and interpret them.

As for the question of whether Number One exists, I like the idea that Number One is a red herring, a smokescreen for the people who are really in charge. Although on a symbolic level, maybe "Who is Number One?" represents our search for a single clear answer to why things happen to us, a straightforward explanation that makes sense of all that we go through. Maybe "Fall Out" is saying that ultimately there is no such simple answer, that by looking for one single force or entity in charge of everything, we're asking the wrong question about life. Maybe the important question isn't "Who is Number One," who's in charge -- but "Who am I?" And that's the one question that Number Six had a solid, unwavering answer to, and that's why he ultimately prevailed -- insofar as anyone can prevail within the Village that is life.

 

[Warped9]

At the beginning of each episode---well, most of the episodes---we hear Number 6 ask, "Who is Number1?" The only answer he gets is, "You are Number 6.'

But what if the answer is actually, "You are, Number 6."

 

[C.E. Evans]

At the beginning of each episode---well, most of the episodes---we hear Number 6 ask, "Who is Number1?" The only answer he gets is, "You are Number 6.'

But what if the answer is actually, "You are, Number 6."

A million other Prisoner fans have asked the same question.

 

[auntiehill]

At the beginning of each episode---well, most of the episodes---we hear Number 6 ask, "Who is Number1?" The only answer he gets is, "You are Number 6.'

But what if the answer is actually, "You are, Number 6."

Exactly.

Number 6 is Number 1. We are all Prisoners in Villages of our own making. That is why, under the masks, is McGoohan's own face staring back at him. That is why, when he gets back to his "old life," the door opens automatically, just like in the Village. It never ends. The struggle always continues.

I freakin' love that.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I was disappointed in the conclusion. I'm a 60s guy and I love psychedelia and symbolism and all that, but I didn't think it was done well in this case, and I thought it was too inconsistent with the rest of the series to work well.

 

[Gov Kodos]

I was disappointed in the conclusion. I'm a 60s guy and I love psychedelia and symbolism and all that, but I didn't think it was done well in this case, and I thought it was too inconsistent with the rest of the series to work well.

Be seeing you.

 

[RJDiogenes]

 

[Sindatur]

I was disappointed in the conclusion. I'm a 60s guy and I love psychedelia and symbolism and all that, but I didn't think it was done well in this case, and I thought it was too inconsistent with the rest of the series to work well.

Be seeing you.

Speaking of Which, does everybody remember Bester's gesture in Babylon 5?

 

[Misfit Toy]

But what if the answer is actually, "You are, Number 6."

Exactly.

Number 6 is Number 1. We are all Prisoners in Villages of our own making. That is why, under the masks, is McGoohan's own face staring back at him.

Is that why Luke sees his own face beneath Vader's mask on Dagobah?

 

[137th Gebirg]

I was disappointed in the conclusion. I'm a 60s guy and I love psychedelia and symbolism and all that, but I didn't think it was done well in this case, and I thought it was too inconsistent with the rest of the series to work well.

Be seeing you.

Speaking of Which, does everybody remember Bester's gesture in Babylon 5?

Yep! Clear homage to The Prisoner. IIRC, in NuBSG, the most prominent Cylon in the beginning was called "Six" - also as a tip o' the hat.

I think Iron Maiden wrote two songs about the show as well.

"Questions are a burden to others, answers, a burden to oneself".

 

[Christopher]

If we're listing homages, the whole UPN series Nowhere Man was a Prisoner homage, though it didn't work as well, since it was also following the Fugitive model with the protagonist wandering from town to town. The idea that everything in his life was being manipulated by a secret conspiracy didn't make much sense outside of a confined environment like the Village; it pretty much required the majority of the population of the United States to be part of the conspiracy against the protagonist, which defeats the whole purpose of a conspiracy. Nowhere Man did, however, do one episode that had the hero trapped in a Village-like town, the most blatant homage of all.

The Star Trek: TNG episode "The Schizoid Man" was named in honor of the Prisoner episode of that title, and they originally hoped to get Patrick McGoohan to play the role that went to W. Morgan Sheppard.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

.

As for the question of whether Number One exists, I like the idea that Number One is a red herring, a smokescreen for the people who are really in charge.

Is it ever revealed who those people are? Meaning, are Six's superiors in the British government responsible? Or has he been captured by an enemy nation, such as the Soviet Union?

 

[Christopher]

.

As for the question of whether Number One exists, I like the idea that Number One is a red herring, a smokescreen for the people who are really in charge.

Is it ever revealed who those people are? Meaning, are Six's superiors in the British government responsible? Or has he been captured by an enemy nation, such as the Soviet Union?

Nothing is ever really revealed in the show, but there is a strong implication that he's been captured by his own people -- or else that the Village is run by both sides' intelligence communities as part of their "Great Game," that maybe there isn't any real difference between the two.

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ That was my take on it as well. This is particularly due to the fact that each masked and cloaked figure in the "jury box" in "Fallout" had signage in front of them, representing different archetypal aspects of human nature - some aspects appeared to be able to easily conflict with each other. I would take that as the Village being run by people who manipulate all sides of the Game for their own ends.

Edit: The nameplates are as follows:

• activists
• defectors
• education
• entertainment
• identification
• nationalists
• pacifists
• recreation
• reactionists
• therapy
• welfare
• youngsters

It is a spooky list. All schools of thought and/or means of control. Youngsters? Early indoctrination of a population's youth reaps great rewards for the despot who "educates" and "entertains".

Another edit - Come to think of it, seems like there are at least four pairs of opposites here:

• activists vs pacifists
• defectors vs nationalists
• education vs recreation
• reactionists vs youngsters (the latter being more akin to radicals)

Not quite sure where entertainment, identification, therapy and welfare fit, other than the fact that they are all four aspects of institutional control and/or indoctrination.

 

[Starkers]

At the beginning of each episode---well, most of the episodes---we hear Number 6 ask, "Who is Number1?" The only answer he gets is, "You are Number 6.'

But what if the answer is actually, "You are, Number 6."

Which is very interesting if its written down, but there's no pause when its spoken.

Its a great show but I don't think I've ever been that enamoured of the last couple of episodes, I think it got a little too surreal for me. This thread has prompted me to look into finally getting the DVDs however

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

.

As for the question of whether Number One exists, I like the idea that Number One is a red herring, a smokescreen for the people who are really in charge.

Is it ever revealed who those people are? Meaning, are Six's superiors in the British government responsible? Or has he been captured by an enemy nation, such as the Soviet Union?

Nothing is ever really revealed in the show, but there is a strong implication that he's been captured by his own people

Which would seem to be borne out by something I read where George Markstein said this:

Spoiler: why Six resigned

Six himself was the one who actually invented the concept of the Village, as a sort of retirement home for spies, but resigned when he found that the Village had actually been built and was being used for nefarious purposes.

 

[Warped9]

At some point I will watch it again, but I'm inclined to skip the filler episodes, the ones I was less-than-enamored with. They're just a waste of time.