Zeonprime
Irene"We want information! Information! INFORMATION!"
July 10th 2009 03:39
Short-lived television series The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan, only ran for seventeen episodes before it went off the air. Now considered a cult classic, the series is a fast-paced and sometimes chilling mix of genres, including suspense, mystery, and science fiction.
The protagonist of the show quits his intelligence job and prepares for a holiday. But he's scarcely packed his bags when a mysterious man drives up to his flat and fills the place with a gas that renders the protagonist unconscious.
Our man wakes up in "the village", a resort-like villa by the sea. Although all of the people who live in the village are constantly monitored (via some very high-tech devices, including a giant white ball, a.k.a. Rover, which could also disable and/or kill people--trippy enough yet?) and have no way of contacting the outside world, they seem to be content. Are they all acting in an elaborate ruse, or have they been somehow mind-controlled into complacence? (And as a side note, it is very nice in the village. Husband Zeonprime says, "Why'd they want to leave anyway? It's nice and everything is done for you." Riiiight--I hope I never become imprisoned with him in a resort village.) Everyone in the village is assigned a number, with the highest-ranking person known as Number 2. Our man is Number 6 in the hierarchy.
Number 2 claims that he wants 'information' on why Number 6 retired; indeed, many episodes revolve around this plot point, as well as Number 6's multiple escape attempts (a particularly cool one involves Number 6's sculpture for the village art show). After the first few failed attempts at escape, Number 6 realises that he can't trust anyone in the village to help him.
The Prisoner is about much more than just a cat-and-mouse game, however; some significant themes in the series include personal identity, the nature of reality, and individualism. But be forewarned if you don't like open endings: the final episode is extremely ambiguous on a number of issues (who would have thought that "All You Need Is Love" could be used so ironically?).
If you've never seen the series, or if you yearn to see some episodes again, check out AMC's The Prisoner portal. AMC has the entire series available for streaming; it's a promotion for the upcoming remake (miniseries) starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen.
Be seeing you!
The protagonist of the show quits his intelligence job and prepares for a holiday. But he's scarcely packed his bags when a mysterious man drives up to his flat and fills the place with a gas that renders the protagonist unconscious.
The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan
Our man wakes up in "the village", a resort-like villa by the sea. Although all of the people who live in the village are constantly monitored (via some very high-tech devices, including a giant white ball, a.k.a. Rover, which could also disable and/or kill people--trippy enough yet?) and have no way of contacting the outside world, they seem to be content. Are they all acting in an elaborate ruse, or have they been somehow mind-controlled into complacence? (And as a side note, it is very nice in the village. Husband Zeonprime says, "Why'd they want to leave anyway? It's nice and everything is done for you." Riiiight--I hope I never become imprisoned with him in a resort village.) Everyone in the village is assigned a number, with the highest-ranking person known as Number 2. Our man is Number 6 in the hierarchy.
Number 2 claims that he wants 'information' on why Number 6 retired; indeed, many episodes revolve around this plot point, as well as Number 6's multiple escape attempts (a particularly cool one involves Number 6's sculpture for the village art show). After the first few failed attempts at escape, Number 6 realises that he can't trust anyone in the village to help him.
The Prisoner is about much more than just a cat-and-mouse game, however; some significant themes in the series include personal identity, the nature of reality, and individualism. But be forewarned if you don't like open endings: the final episode is extremely ambiguous on a number of issues (who would have thought that "All You Need Is Love" could be used so ironically?).
If you've never seen the series, or if you yearn to see some episodes again, check out AMC's The Prisoner portal. AMC has the entire series available for streaming; it's a promotion for the upcoming remake (miniseries) starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen.
Be seeing you!
The Prisoner parody on The Simpsons
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Comment by quatro
Secret Writers Business
Time to Read !
I saw some of this series on dvd about 5 years ago.Sadly I never ended watching the last few episodes.
I've oft thought about it and now your post makes me want to go back and watch the whole series from start to the END.
thank you for the timely prompt...
Comment by Irene
Grammar Matters
Cooking Monkey