Restoring The Prisoner (1967-1968).

It was one more show which I made tries to watch more than once and made it eventually in 2016 by seeing all seventeen episodes. I wouldn’t do it today as everything that I don’t like. I wrote impressions back then.

According to plot, a main character, whose name is not revealed, resigns from some British secret service and intends to go on vacation but he loses consciousness due to gas released into his apartment. He wakes up as seemed in his room, but soon realizes that a house completely replicates his London apartment. It turns out that a protagonist situates in the Village, a place where retired agents are sent and held for extract information. All residents of settlement are put as numbers as well as a lead personage becomes “six” here. An intriguing conception is initially interesting in methods of getting information from a lead personage but it becomes increasingly absurd further. When the actor playing "Number Six" Patrick McGoohan realized during filming that there willn’t a second season, he turned storyline into a preposterous farce.

I liked the protagonist for his approach of answering question with a question by putting his opponent in critical position, intellectual and erudite talents and knowledge in various arts and sciences, occasional cynicism and, as well as, how McGoohan portrayed his character. A series managed to depict a society that doesn’t resist system but is submissively obedient to it. The society itself considers for crime to be an individuality. Other significant element and brilliant illustration is dialogue between a lead hero and totalitarian representative Number Two playing in opening of almost every episode:

- Where am I?

- In the Village.

- What do you want?

- Information.

- Whose side are you on?

- That would be telling. We want information... information... information!

- You won't get it!

- By hook or by crook, we will.

- Who are you?

- The new Number Two.

- Who is Number One?

- You are Number Six.

- I am not a number! I AM A FREE MAN!

[Number Two laughing]

Such situation has reality of such societies to that in the Village (and it can be extremely worst.). No one questions, "Why should I do for them?" and has no anger by considering slave conditions as normality. The entering of numbers is wouldn’t be impossible in places where majority perceives such indifferently.

The Prisoner isn’t interesting because nobody makes efforts to break the unnamed protagonist. Nobody can’t retort on his counter-question. He situates in quite comfortable conditions and his opponents behave unprofessionally. Why don’t simply use familiar methods of torture? After all, as it was once said in the series, everybody has a breaking point. However, what’s about Buddhist monks? I recall one of them who self-immolated himself (he was even helped.) in protest against persecution of his monastery brothers by Diem government in South Vietnam. It was Thich Quang Duc. When the monk was engulfed in flames, he didn’t make sound and didn’t move muscle. He froze in praying position. And why not give such endurance to the main personage of the show? It would be right if a main hero could show resistance or apathy if give him a romantic interest but it wasn’t implemented correctly. The main character must be ignore all that in such circumstances. Don’t trust to anyone. Be more cynical. But The Prisoner wasn’t becoming a valid series.