The Prisoner: Free For All

March 18th, 2007

Episode 2

The Prisoner is a 1967 British television series, starring Patrick McGoohan as “Number 6,” a top-level government agent who resigns his post. As a result, he’s kidnapped and imprisoned in “The Village”, where his captors hope to interrogate him for “information.” The series documents Number 6’s repeated escape attempts and the progressively more extreme methods employed by his captors to break his will.

One strange thing about The Prisoner is that the exact episode order is unclear. Free For All aired as number 4, while it’s number 2 on the DVD set. This series of blog posts follows the DVD order.

Synopsis

The individual known as Number 2 changes in almost every episode. The new Number 2 (Eric Portman) pays Number 6 a visit, introduces himself, and a young foreign woman, Number 58 (Rachel Herbert), who is cheerful and seemingly a bit dumb. There’s an election for a new Number 2, and Number 6 is more or less drafted into running, with Number 58 as his assistant.

Number 6 is initially skeptical of the proposition, but is promised he’ll get to meet Number 1 if he wins. He may also learn more about The Village and a means of escape.

In his initial campaign speech, Number 6 informs the villagers they’re all brainwashed like rotten cabbages (to no effect). That won’t do, so he’s shunted into a strange political meeting and a subterranean chamber, where he’s brainwashed by a doctor into the perfect, puppet candidate. The campaigning then becomes surreal, as Number 6 chants promises that sound meaningful but are devoid of content to the empty human vessels of The Village.

The brainwashing however, isn’t totally effective. During moments of lucidity, Number 6 attempts a failed escape by boat, and also voices some doubts in The Cat and Mouse night club (nice name) where he demands a stiff drink. As a result, he’s again captured and hospitalized for more brainwashing.

Despite his confusion, Number 6 wins the election and becomes the new Number 2, and is granted access to The Village control room, along with Number 58. Strangely, the usually enthusiastic Number 58 turns cruel and cold, and starts to slap Number 6, breaking him out of his brainwashed trance. The true Number 6 emerges, and he immediately tries to stage a revolt, shouting over the speakers to The Village denizens that they’re all free to leave The Village. There is no reaction from the population.

At this moment, guards appear and drag Number 6 off, but not after he’s seen the odd sight of four guards wearing sunglasses, watching a sleeping rover. Beaten, he’s lectured by Number 58 on his futile situation, also revealing that she’s perfectly fluent in English – and was a plant all along. The entire election was a farce partly designed to break the will of Number 6.

Thoughts

This episode demonstrates various powers of coercion at The Village’s disposal: brainwashing, people not who they seem to be, and contrived situations – all designed to mess with Number 6’s mind and edge him closer to confession.

Brainwashing: I really liked the brainwashing sequence, where Number 6 is seated in a chair, while a silhouette shows both a lie and the truth moving towards his head simultaneously using a circle and a square set on ramps. It’s a simple but eerily effective image. Throughout the series, The Village becomes more invasive with these psychological techniques.
Pretenders: Number 58 is a “watcher” and a plant – assigned to shadow Number 6. Through most of the episode she’s cheerful yet dumb, while the language barrier implies that she’s incapable of comprehension, and is therefore harmless. More two-faced citizens are yet to come.
Contrived Situations: The election is amusingly satirical in its pointlessness, as the vote accomplishes nothing in the closed environment of The Village. It really doesn’t matter what Number 2 or Number 6 say in their speeches – the result is essentially the same. There’s one particularly funny scene where Number 6 is riding on a car, megaphone in hand, chanting numbers. Also funny is a reporter questioning Number 6 questions and the words that end up in the paper are not his. The whole situation demonstrates how The Village can create complex, alternate realities at will.

Through these various means, The Village is able manipulate Number 6’s entire reality. When the bars clang shut at episode’s end, I’m left with the odd, soon to be familiar feeling, how is this guy ever going to get out of here? The capabilities of The Village are quite formidable indeed.

Next Episode: Dance Of The Dead
Previous Episode: The Arrival

IMDB: Free For All
Wikipedia: Free For All
The Prisoner Online: Free For All
Bookmice: Free For All

TV Shows: The Prisoner

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