A life time fan and Prisonerologist of the 1960's series 'the Prisoner', a leading authority on the subject, a short story writer, and now Prisoner novelist.
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Friday, 31 August 2012
Teabreak Teaser
"Don't worry, you did your best. I'll stress it in my report."
Taking into account who Number One is she had to report to Everyman.. hasn't she? Only, she did not know it by this time. I guess she assumed that she had to report to the ones in charge. And she was right.
That's an interesting, and I think quite original thought, "Taking into account who Number One is she had to report to Everyman.." I've not come across anyone voicing that thought before.
Yes, Nadia had to report to the external forces behind the Village, whoever they are! I presume a British government department of some kind. But not Number 1!
Why not Number 1? Because it is usually the case that Number 2 reports to Number 1 by telephone within the confines of the Village. So Number 2 in 'The Chimes of Big Ben' should have been the one to make the report. But it's Nadia, that's the problem. She was brought into the Village as a plant, assigned to Number Six. Why then should an agent brought into the Village report to Number 1? I would have thought that was Number 2's task. As Nadia stands on the gantry and speaks the words to Number 2 "Don't worry, you did your best. I'll stress it in my report,' she gives me the impression that she is about to leave the Village, as Cobb did in 'Arrival.' It is suggestive to me that Nadia is going to report to an authority outside the Village. And that is what Number 2 might have been doing via the tele printer in 'Dance of the Dead. In a scene in 'Dance of the Dead,' Number 2 is speaking to Number 1 on the telephone, as on the wall screen we see Number 6 shaving. Yet later in the Town Hall, Number 40 meets with Number 2, he asks her if she is going into a room, to report? "Yes" Number 2 replies. To report via the teleprinter, to whom? Other Number 2's have made their reports via the telephone, from either their office in the Green Dome, or from the confines of the Control Room, as Number 2 did earlier in the episode. So why the need for a teleprinter, unless Number 2 is reporting to an authority outside the Village? Such actions are conflicting, with the accepted norm of other episodes.
Why not assume that there isn't just a No. 2 (in the Village) and a or the No. 1 somewhere else but there could be, say, a couple of more subordinate levels of responsibility who Nadia would have reported to. People with more influence than the Village authority No. 2. As with Kafka's novel "The Castle" where there are numerous administrative levels each just a bit closer to the real powers but never ever directly in touch with it. - BCNU!
There are indeed other subordiante levels within the Village Administration, the Board of education for one, to whom Number 2 was held accountable to in 'The General.' And the Committee in 'A Change of Mind' which was, according to Number 2, nothing to do with him. A committee independant of Number 2, if we are to believe him. Then there are all the men dressed in black suits, black overcoats, and top hats of the Village Administration. Not to mention the delegates of the Assembly seen in 'Fall Out,' each one representative of each aspect of society. When one takes all this into consideration, the authoritive figure of Number 1 diminishes a little, perhaps to only a figurehead for the Village.
So we have Number 1, and the possibility of a higher authority than Number 1, possibly an outside authority. And then there's the President - well they have Presidents in France, and the French President is the equivolent to a Court Judge, and that is what the President is, a Judge presiding over the trial of three men, Number 48, the 'late Number 2, and the former Number 6. And that is all the President is, a Judge, and comes no higher in the order of things than that. He is a former Number 2 who has been brought back to the Village to hold court over three individuals "at a time of democratic crisis."
All I wanted to say was Nadia didn't necessarily have to report to No. 1 although presumably any viewer would take that for granted. And, honestly, we are supposed to believe it. Still, knowing about the ending of The Prisoner leaves us with inconsistencies that just cannot be resolved properly. To me there's no way that Nadia would report to No. 6's alter ego No. 1. That wouldn't make "sense" at all. - BCNU!
Just my own train of thought, Nadia didn't have to report to Number 1, and I don't think she was going to. I think she was going to report to someone outside and far away from the Village. As you say, Nadia reporting to Number 6's alter ego Number 1, doesn't make any sense at all. I quite agree.
It's alright the idea of Number 6 being the alter ego of Number 1 in 'Fall out.' But it doesn't go well with what has gone before in the series. If we are to accept that Number 6 is Number 1 and vice versa, then any Number 2 who talks to Number 1 would surely recognise the voice of Number 6.
Taking into account who Number One is she had to report to Everyman.. hasn't she? Only, she did not know it by this time. I guess she assumed that she had to report to the ones in charge. And she was right.
ReplyDeleteKind regards
Jana
BCNU
Hi Jana,
DeleteThat's an interesting, and I think quite original thought, "Taking into account who Number One is she had to report to Everyman.." I've not come across anyone voicing that thought before.
Yes, Nadia had to report to the external forces behind the Village, whoever they are! I presume a British government department of some kind. But not Number 1!
Regards
David
BCNU
Hi David,
Deletewhat do you think, why not Number 1? That makes me curious.
Kind regards
Jana
BCNU
Hi Jana,
DeleteWhy not Number 1? Because it is usually the case that Number 2 reports to Number 1 by telephone within the confines of the Village. So Number 2 in 'The Chimes of Big Ben' should have been the one to make the report. But it's Nadia, that's the problem. She was brought into the Village as a plant, assigned to Number Six. Why then should an agent brought into the Village report to Number 1? I would have thought that was Number 2's task.
As Nadia stands on the gantry and speaks the words to Number 2 "Don't worry, you did your best. I'll stress it in my report,' she gives me the impression that she is about to leave the Village, as Cobb did in 'Arrival.' It is suggestive to me that Nadia is going to report to an authority outside the Village. And that is what Number 2 might have been doing via the tele printer in 'Dance of the Dead.
In a scene in 'Dance of the Dead,' Number 2 is speaking to Number 1 on the telephone, as on the wall screen we see Number 6 shaving. Yet later in the Town Hall, Number 40 meets with Number 2, he asks her if she is going into a room, to report? "Yes" Number 2 replies. To report via the teleprinter, to whom? Other Number 2's have made their reports via the telephone, from either their office in the Green Dome, or from the confines of the Control Room, as Number 2 did earlier in the episode. So why the need for a teleprinter, unless Number 2 is reporting to an authority outside the Village? Such actions are conflicting, with the accepted norm of other episodes.
Kind regards
David
Be seeing you
Why not assume that there isn't just a No. 2 (in the Village) and a or the No. 1 somewhere else but there could be, say, a couple of more subordinate levels of responsibility who Nadia would have reported to. People with more influence than the Village authority No. 2. As with Kafka's novel "The Castle" where there are numerous administrative levels each just a bit closer to the real powers but never ever directly in touch with it. - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteThere are indeed other subordiante levels within the Village Administration, the Board of education for one, to whom Number 2 was held accountable to in 'The General.' And the Committee in 'A Change of Mind' which was, according to Number 2, nothing to do with him. A committee independant of Number 2, if we are to believe him.
Then there are all the men dressed in black suits, black overcoats, and top hats of the Village Administration. Not to mention the delegates of the Assembly seen in 'Fall Out,' each one representative of each aspect of society. When one takes all this into consideration, the authoritive figure of Number 1 diminishes a little, perhaps to only a figurehead for the Village.
Kind Regards
David
BCNU
That are good points you both made. Interesting point of view. Perhaps you could also use it to explain the status of the President of Fall Out.
ReplyDeleteKind Regards, BCNU
Jana
Hello Jana,
DeleteSo we have Number 1, and the possibility of a higher authority than Number 1, possibly an outside authority. And then there's the President - well they have Presidents in France, and the French President is the equivolent to a Court Judge, and that is what the President is, a Judge presiding over the trial of three men, Number 48, the 'late Number 2, and the former Number 6. And that is all the President is, a Judge, and comes no higher in the order of things than that. He is a former Number 2 who has been brought back to the Village to hold court over three individuals "at a time of democratic crisis."
Kind regards
David
BCNU
All I wanted to say was Nadia didn't necessarily have to report to No. 1 although presumably any viewer would take that for granted. And, honestly, we are supposed to believe it. Still, knowing about the ending of The Prisoner leaves us with inconsistencies that just cannot be resolved properly. To me there's no way that Nadia would report to No. 6's alter ego No. 1. That wouldn't make "sense" at all. - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteJust my own train of thought, Nadia didn't have to report to Number 1, and I don't think she was going to. I think she was going to report to someone outside and far away from the Village. As you say, Nadia reporting to Number 6's alter ego Number 1, doesn't make any sense at all. I quite agree.
It's alright the idea of Number 6 being the alter ego of Number 1 in 'Fall out.' But it doesn't go well with what has gone before in the series. If we are to accept that Number 6 is Number 1 and vice versa, then any Number 2 who talks to Number 1 would surely recognise the voice of Number 6.
Regards
David
Be seeing you