The Prisoner: A, B, And C

August 27th, 2007

Episode 6

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.

Synopsis

In this psychological, mind game of an episode, the new Number 2 calls up number 14 in order to perform a medical experiment on Number 6. A sedated number 6 is brought to The Village hospital where he’s strapped to a table. His thoughts are monitored and projected on a large screen. Number 2 and Number 14 can now see that while asleep, Number 6 dreams of his resignation, over and over.

A drug which allows number 2 and 14 to manipulate Number 6’s dreams. They induce a party situation, where he’ll meet a person he once had a relationship with. It’s hoped that Number 6 will tell one of these people his reason for resignation, and with the dream being monitored, secrets will be revealed.

The first individual Number 6 meets is “A”, a defector. Number 6 proves hard to crack and no information is divulged.

24 hours must elapse between each dose of the drug, so Number 6 is returned home. The next day he feels terrible, but something feels amiss. He glances at his wrist and notices a needle puncture.

The second night, back at the hospital, Number 6 dreams of the same party but this time meets “B”, a woman. Number 6 knows her well but he still doesn’t reveal the reason for his resignation.

After Number 6 wakes in his apartment the next morning, he sneaks away and climbs up a cliff overlooking The Village. He finds an air duct that enters the hospital compound. After making his way into the hospital, he finds the very table on which he’s been nocturnally interrogated. He soon figures out that he’s been fed the party dream in an effort to extract the information. Finally, he finds the syringes, and with two empty slots realizes there’ only one left. He takes this third syringe, empties it, and fills it with water, effectively negating the drug.

On the third night, number 6 is injected with the negated water. The party projected on screen looks noticeably different. Number 6 is basically creating this party with his conscious mind to fool both number 2 and Number 14. The third person Number 6 is supposed to meet – “C” – is not divulged so the interrogators don’t know who they’re looking for.

Eventually, Number 6’s dream makes its way to a castle. The voice of “C” comes out from the darkness, and a man in a cap with a black mask over his face. The mask is removed to reveal the face of Number 2.

The screen then shows Number 6 going through a door and entering the hospital room. He gives number 2 an envelope. Inside are travel brochures. His resignation really did precede and over seas holiday. “I wasn’t selling out. That wasn’t the reason why I resigned.”

Thoughts

This episode is a slick movie within a movie and I enjoyed the use of a film to depict the mental state of Number 6. We also saw how deep Number 6’s convictions are – he doesn’t sell out, even during his dreams. The Village has a formidable adversary indeed.

I also found it interesting that this episode’s Number 2 is under more pressure than the others. Someone keeps calling him on the phone, inquiring about the progress made in extracting information. I think it’s a safe bet the impatient caller is Number 1.

Next Episode: The General
Previous Episode: Chimes Of Big Ben

IMDB: A, B, And C
Wikipedia: A, B, And C
The Prisoner Online: A, B, And C
Bookmice: A, B, And C

TV Shows: The Prisoner

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