“Questions are a burden to others. Answers are a prison for oneself.”
A bit of a downturn in quality this episode; it isn’t bad, far from it, but seems a little incoherent. Certainly this is less high concept than any previous episode, there being no particular big idea at its centre.
The basic concept is, if anything, a bit ho-hum; Number Six finds a body on the beach and a radio with it, to which he listens a bit. He is caught, tried and condemned but gets away on a technicality. That’s it. Oh, and the body is made to look like him so he can be thought dead.
So there’s not much here to hang the episode on. What saves it are the details- Mary Morris as the only female Number Two, or at least the only one present throughout. A nice surreal little cameo by Aubrey Morris, and indeed the whole spectacle of the fancy dress trial, conducted as in Revolutionary France. There’s the fascinating girl who watches Number Six throughout, a true believer in the “rules” no one gets to see and a good little authoritarian drone, yet fascinated as well and repulsed by Number Six’s rebellious ways. There’s also interesting dialogue from Number Two suggesting that Number Six is somehow important; others are expendable, but he is not, and it is important to truly win him over rather than use the torture they use on his unfortunate friend Dutton.
Not the greatest episode, then, but nicely surreal and with a real sense of the Kafkaesque.
Showing posts with label Anthony Skene. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anthony Skene. Show all posts
Friday, 5 July 2019
Thursday, 4 July 2019
The Prisoner: Many Happy Returns
”Where is this?”
Seven episodes in and I’m still fascinated in what plots can be got out of such a seemingly limited premise. This episode centres around a conceit which could be done only once; Number Six genuinely escapes- but his own curiosity in locating the Village leads him to return in the conceptually cleverest way possible.
It’s a weird, and simple, premise- Number Six wakes up alone in the Village. No people, no Rover; nothing to prevent his escape. So escape he does, as simple as that, and we go through the motions of seeing him build a raft, stow away on a gun running vessel, make his way to an obviously real London, and speak to the rather nice lady who now lives in his flat and drives his car. So, he’s free, and that’s seemingly it- although he seems to have no close personal friends or relatives. And he certainly seems to be well-trained in the James Bond stuff. National Service, probably.
But Number Six is curious, and wants to find where the Village is. So, with help from his former establishment employers (was he a spy?) he traces its location- just outside the entrance to the Med, apparently; is this official? And, as a final act of hubris, he flies over it, only to be forcibly ejected back into the Village where he finds the same nice lady, who has prepared a birthday cake and a terrible pun. It’s all rather clever. This is another good one, even though it’s nearly 22 minutes until anybody speaks. And there’s no Number Two, no regular cast aside from Patrick McGoohan himself. Most unusual.
Seven episodes in and I’m still fascinated in what plots can be got out of such a seemingly limited premise. This episode centres around a conceit which could be done only once; Number Six genuinely escapes- but his own curiosity in locating the Village leads him to return in the conceptually cleverest way possible.
It’s a weird, and simple, premise- Number Six wakes up alone in the Village. No people, no Rover; nothing to prevent his escape. So escape he does, as simple as that, and we go through the motions of seeing him build a raft, stow away on a gun running vessel, make his way to an obviously real London, and speak to the rather nice lady who now lives in his flat and drives his car. So, he’s free, and that’s seemingly it- although he seems to have no close personal friends or relatives. And he certainly seems to be well-trained in the James Bond stuff. National Service, probably.
But Number Six is curious, and wants to find where the Village is. So, with help from his former establishment employers (was he a spy?) he traces its location- just outside the entrance to the Med, apparently; is this official? And, as a final act of hubris, he flies over it, only to be forcibly ejected back into the Village where he finds the same nice lady, who has prepared a birthday cake and a terrible pun. It’s all rather clever. This is another good one, even though it’s nearly 22 minutes until anybody speaks. And there’s no Number Two, no regular cast aside from Patrick McGoohan himself. Most unusual.
Thursday, 6 June 2019
The Prisoner: A. B. and C
"This is a dreamy party..."
Well, that was certainly different.
I suppose this is early in the series, it's too soon to have fully explored the possible formats, but this one is decidedly odd. Yes, we again begin with Number Six waking in the village- will we always? There's a new Number Two- will there be a different one each time? I was amused to note we had the same opening dialogue between Numbers Six and Two, but with a different Number Two. Will this be a thing?
All that was familiar. And yet...
This week we don't really explore the Village, although I note Number Two has by now accepted a maid. No, instead we follow a science fiction scheme to control Number Six's dreams to attempt to find out which of three possible individuals from within the spy world Number Six was attempting to sell out to. And we may actually have discovered something; we don't know why Number Six resigned, but he wasn't switching loyalies to another side.
And that's pretty much it. Number Six gets a bit of agency in that he realises what is happening and ends up taking control of his own dream narrative. But it all feels suspiciously like filler, as I understand many of the seventeen episodes pretty much were.
This isn't a bad episode. But compared to its two predecessors it feels a little perfunctory.
Well, that was certainly different.
I suppose this is early in the series, it's too soon to have fully explored the possible formats, but this one is decidedly odd. Yes, we again begin with Number Six waking in the village- will we always? There's a new Number Two- will there be a different one each time? I was amused to note we had the same opening dialogue between Numbers Six and Two, but with a different Number Two. Will this be a thing?
All that was familiar. And yet...
This week we don't really explore the Village, although I note Number Two has by now accepted a maid. No, instead we follow a science fiction scheme to control Number Six's dreams to attempt to find out which of three possible individuals from within the spy world Number Six was attempting to sell out to. And we may actually have discovered something; we don't know why Number Six resigned, but he wasn't switching loyalies to another side.
And that's pretty much it. Number Six gets a bit of agency in that he realises what is happening and ends up taking control of his own dream narrative. But it all feels suspiciously like filler, as I understand many of the seventeen episodes pretty much were.
This isn't a bad episode. But compared to its two predecessors it feels a little perfunctory.
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