In the eyes of the Villages society, No.6 represents the ultimate threat, the lone individual who seeks the destruction of their society, of their way of life. "Society is at stake and we have the means to protect it!" states the President "we draw your attention to the regrettable bullet....." Two men sit at either end of the steel seesaw device previously seen in the Control Room. But here instead of a pair of monitors, a pair of Lewis machine guns have been fitted. Such is the seriousness of the democratic crisis which the Village Administration finds itself in.
Democratic crisis? Where in the village is there any democracy, so what crisis? The trouble with ‘Fall Out’ is, it stands too much alone, it doesn't fit in with the previous 16 episodes. Perhaps because it was written by Patrick McGoohan who was under pressure to find an ending to the series. However you define ‘Fall Out,’ one thing is certain, you cannot define the episode by what has preceded it. You will find no clue to ‘Fall Out’ throughout any of the previous episodes, and the only remark made to them is that fact that No.6 has survived the ultimate test of ‘Once Upon A Time,’ which was originally supposed to be simply another episode, as it's 15 compatriots, and not one which led to the ultimate conclusion of the Prisoner.
Be seeing you
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteI agree, Fall Out is a stand-alone episode. But I think in a way it is connected to the other episodes as a glimpse behind the scenes of the Village to reveal the underlying madness. And it's more explicit in that than the other episodes, so to say. Maybe the crisis of democracy is one example. Either the Village wants to see itself as a democracy but can't deal with defiants or it's more about a crisis due to democracy than it's a crisis of democracy. But both possibilities seem somehow similar if you look at the consequences in Fall Out.
Best wishes,
Jana
Be seeing you
Hello Jana,
DeleteI agree, 'Fall Out' is connected to the other episodes, it could be all you said. As well as the possibility that it could even precede the other episodes, there having been a falling out leading to the Prisoner's resignation, and subsequesntly it begins all over again, the cycle of a vicious circle! The Prisoner in the Underworld is one way to describe 'Fall Out, as in Orpheus in the Underworld. A final, desperate manipulation of the Prisoner-No.6 to try and break him by facing him with himself, although this is not the first time they had tried this!
I have always wondered about that democratic crisis, I thought that democracy had been dispenced with in the Village, No.2 said as much in 'Dance of the Dead.' But then I supose there are many forms of democracy.
Very best regards
David
BCNU
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteFall Out as the beginning, right! Thank you!
And as Orpheus in the Underworld, I like that, have to think about it.
Regarding democracy, I think that maybe some of the Number 2s would like to believe that they are democratic, and some are more realistic or maybe cynical. Perhaps it's more a question of make-believe than of reality.
Very best wishes,
Jana
Hello Jana,
DeleteNo.2 in 'Dance of the Dead' told No.6 that they are democratic....in some ways! But then any form of democracy is never perfect, perhaps this No.2 believed in equal rights, but then in the Village it seems to me that some are more equal than others!
Very kind regards
David
BCNU