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Thursday 15 December 2011

The Therapy Zone

The Schizoid Man

 "Even I won't be able to Tell You Apart. You'll Need A Password, The Password Is Gemini"

    Gemini as we know, is of course the astrological sign for The Twins, yet No.6 and Curtis-No.12 were not twins, even though looks can be deceptive , but definitely not in this case. Curtis-No.12 was either a very good look-a-like for No.6, or he underwent some extraordinary plastic surgery which either left not scars, or the scars were very well hidden. The mole on No.12's left wrist was false however, and the mole on No.6's left wrist having been surgically removed. There is a unique curiosity to the episode of The Schizoid man, and it is this. There is no evidence that No.6 checked the body of Curtis after he lost his nerve and was attacked by the village guardian Rover, and judging by what we see no evidence to say that Curtis actually died, he may simply have been unconscious. And if Curtis had still been alive, then what price Curtis remaining in the village as he was? After all administration couldn't have two No.6's running around loose in the village... could they? And if that had been the case, and if Curtis had not undergone plastic surgery previously, he would certainly have been faced with that prospect, if this were the case. After all with the episode of Dance of the Dead No.2 told No.6 that the body washed up on the beach and which then lay in  a long drawer in the mortuary of the Town Hall, would be amended slightly, so that it was No.6 who had died in an accident at sea. This then is yet another indication to the extent of both surgical and medical capabilities and techniques, to be employed by doctors at the hospital.

    When it comes to the question of twins in the village, there are two such cases that we know of. The first demonstrated in Arrival, that of the electrician who attends '6 Private' the Prisoner's cottage, this to replace the busted loudspeaker which the Prisoner trampled under foot. And that of the gardener whom the Prisoner encountered after he left the cottage, feeling like a bit of a walk. The gardener who asks No.6 to "Mind the plants," and who seems to be a twin to that of the electrician, and not just a twin, but an identical twin!

    The second demonstration for the possibility of twins in the village comes in the episode of Free for All, this between the photographer No.113b and the publisher of The Tally Ho upon that quirky looking press device outside of the Town Hall    "Get your election edition now." Again this appears to be another case of identical twins in the village, which is I suppose acceptable, well we have to accept it do we not? Because if not then there is a possible case for cloning within the confines of the village. Indeed it has been suggested that Curtis was a clone of No.6, a suggestion or theory which I have to say I do not subscribe to.  Yet if not cloning, then we must take to the possibility that twins, and for that matter identical twins were either being brought to the village of their own free will, or twins who were abducted. But what would be the point in the abduction of twins to the village? The prisoner was brought to the village because he resigned from his job and they wanted to know the reason. But if the Prisoner had had a twin brother, what would the village gain by having his twin brother abducted to the village? Well none that I can think of, unless of course for experimental purposes in the hospital.

   There is however one further explanation as to the two sets of identical twins in the village, that they were born here!

Be seeing you

11 comments:

  1. The twin thing: electrician - gardener. So they would've been sought after, selected, then brought to the Village. To which aim? Supposing that the Village was set up not especially for Number Six alone but for various other people with delicate knowledge to be kept or to be extracted. Just puzzling Number Six upon his arrival would have meant too much time and money. Improbable. No, they're no twins at all. It's a matter or dramatisation that eventually provides one more touch of surrealism to The Prisoner. Surrealism that mostly comes as a tautological circle which is typical of the series in general. - BCNU!

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  2. I recall that in the 1960 episode of Danger Man, called 'The Prisoner', Drake had to sort through the no less than 12 men that were located around the world who could pass as doppelgangers for the imprisoned musician Drake was tasked to set free. The modern celebrity lookalike industry proves that this phenomenon is far less unusual than we might think.

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  3. Hello Arno,

    Yes, I like the idea of the twins in the Village being used as a 'matter of dramatisation that eventually provides one more touch of surrealism' I bet the Prisoner got a shock when he bumped into the man he thought he'd left in his cottage only a few moments before.
    'The Prisoner' a tautological circle, yes, seeing as how the Prisoner ends up whe he began, and still a prisoner. I've looked upon the series as a vicious circle, from which there is not escape. In the Prisoner's end is his beginning, or something of that nature,

    Regards
    David
    Be seeing you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Moor,

    Ah yes 'Danger Man - the Prisoner' I had forgotten about that episode.
    They do say that everyone had a doppleganger, and I've been taken for Patrick McGoohan in or out of costume. But now as the years progress I still look like McGoohan, but as he was in the television programme 'Greatest Hits.' More than that, with a slightly receding hairline, the face of Steinmetz from Columbo's 'Identity Crisis' is beginning to emerge!

    Regards
    David.......or whoever is looking back at me through the mirror!

    Be seeing you.

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  5. I remember my first impression on watching this sequence was: a demonstration that the Village is capable of doing almost anything. That must be the purpose of it. The "surrealistic incursion" notwithstanding. In later eps we hardly find instances of a similar impact. - BCNU

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  6. Hello Arno,

    There is one other such sequence involving "twins," and that comes in 'Free For All,' when No.6 is faced with the Tally Ho vender outside the Town Hall, the "twin" of the photographer No.113b, who is waving as No.6 turns away from his "twin." But you are quite right, there are no such instances in later episodes, perhaos because so much had been put into the early episodes.

    As ever
    David
    Be seeing you

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  7. Hello David

    Governments have long investigated the telepathic abilities of twins. Perhaps The Village 'weaponized' twins (such as in the film Scanners).

    No.1 could have been to powerful to control so No.6 was brought in to take his place .... Curtis could simply have been a part of triplets... powerful look alike but little ESP (which No.6 shows in Schizoid Man).

    Sincerely

    Mr. Anonymous

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  8. Hello Moor Larkin

    There should have been no great shock to fans of The Prisoner when No.6 encounters No.1, as John Drake had already battled No.1 in a fist fight in the Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove.

    Sincerely

    Mr. Anonymous

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  9. Hello Moor and Mister Anonymous,

    That is a possibility, that the fight between John Drake and himself may very well have been an inspiration for the meeting between No.6 and No.1. But before that of course for 'The Schizoid Man,' and the fight scene which ensued between No.6 and Curtis, that is also symbolic of No.6's struggle against himself.

    As ever
    David
    BCNU

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello Mister Anonymous

    I used to go to school with two boys in the same class as me, who were identical twins. If one got hurt his brother would feel it...true, true.

    That is a different take on the No.6, Curtis, and No.1 situation I've not come across before. Highly original as No.6 would say.

    Regards
    David
    Be seeing you

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  11. Hello David

    Do not forget the 'exposure' of No.2 when his own face is 'unmasked' in A.B.&C. Certainly an early hint of 'Who is No.1?'.

    Sincerely

    Mr. Anonymous

    ReplyDelete