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Tuesday 28 January 2014

The Therapy Zone

Merry Quips
   No.6 is tied with securely with mountaineering rope, "This rope will hold an Elephant" the Girl tells him. "I must remember that next time I go climbing with one" he quips.

A B & C
   Well was there something in the water?
    No.6's personal maid brought him his nightcap of hot chocolate, which No.6 poured down the sink. Then picking up a glass, he duly filled it with water from the cold tap. Having taken a sip of water, No.6 turned to retire for the night, however on his way to bed No.6 collapses on the floor.
   I cannot see No.6 feigning unconsciousness, having presumably drunk the drugged hot chocolate, as the doctor-No.14 would surely have noticed that No.6 wasn't in fact unconscious.
   So whatever drug it was in the tap-water, it was highly potent, as No.6 only took a sip of the water!

Colin Gordon - The General
   I suppose Colin Gordon really has no right to be playing the ruthless, yet frightened Number 2 in a series like the Prisoner where the character of No.2 changes with each episode.
   "I've never been so flattered" was Colin Gordon's comment "Especially as this is the first time I've played a part quite like this."
   Although screened after ‘A B and C,’ ‘The General’ in which Colin Gordon plays Number 2, was in fact filmed before ‘A B and C,’ so that he makes his return appearance five weeks before his debut!
   The story-line of ‘The General’ was altered so as to allow for this, although the provision was not needed as the episodes were screened in the reverse order to their filming. Number 2 in ‘The General’ was originally to have met his death at the end of the episode, a victim of "the Generals" short circuiting, and explosive self-destruction. But Colin Gordon's performance as Number 2 was admired so much, that he was reprieved, simply to pave the way for his appearance in the later episode of ‘A B and C.’

Number 2
   Number 2 is portrayed as being very English even when played by Australian actors Guy Doleman and Leo McKern. However they did get it right with Living In Harmony with American born actor David Bauer as the Judge/No.2.
    If there is one thing which stands out in the Prisoner it's very Englishness. It is thought that the Prisoner-No.6 is English. But he isn't. Not having been played by Irish-American born Patrick McGoohan. The Village maybe an International community, yet in this cosmopolitan village it is it's very Englishness which make you think that the installation known as the village is actually run by the British. But if that it the case, why should the village be thought to be behind the Iron Curtain in the episode ‘The Chimes of Big Ben?’ Well simply going by the information given by Nadia, which if true, makes both the Colonel and Fotheringay as having gone over to the other side. But of course the village is nowhere near the Iron Curtain, let alone behind it. Those 25 days the Prisoner spent at sea, on a north-easterly course, during the episode ‘Many Happy Returns’ goes to prove that much.
    As Prisoner production manager Bernard Williams once said "Perhaps it would have been better if we'd used other, non-English actors as Number Two." Well that would certainly have added to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the Village

Be seeing you

6 comments:

  1. Hi David,

    has the water been drugged? I used to think that Number 6 faked his fainting, but I also like your thought that the doctor would have recognized it. There was this moment, when Number 6 reacted to the drug. This made me think that his state of mind was different compared to the previous treatments. But is there a way to fake a collapse? If the collapse was real, his efforts to avoid to be drugged were as pointless as they had been when he poured his chocolate to drink drugged water instead.

    Very kind regards,
    Jana
    BCNU

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Jana,
      That's a fair enough comment. I don't know, but to fake a collapse I expect one would have to put oneself in a trance-like state, I really don't know, perhaps someone reading this does.
      And I agree with you, if the collapse of Number 6 had been real, then his efforts to avoid being drugged were pointless, but then he was not to know that the water was drugged as well. Perhaps he thought the tap water would be a safe bet!

      Very best regards
      David
      BCNU

      Delete
    2. Hello David,
      I agree, he wouldn't have known it. But then again, even if he had been right regarding the water I don't think that he expected to collapse on the operation table, neither. What makes me think, too, is if he really had planned to manipulate his dream or what he had in mind when he diluted the contents of the syringe. It seems a little bit like sabotage at a venture. He couldn't have been sure if it works, could he?

      Best wishes
      Jana
      BCNU

      Delete
    3. Hello Jana,
      Fair comment. The collapse on the operating table was for real, otherwise why bother to fake that? Regarding the dilution of the third dose of the drug, no he couldn't be sure if it would work. But I suppose No.6 thought that diluting it, it would have weakend the drug. But then to what effect? Is it possible that by having diluting the drug, that that brought about No.6's collapse on the operating table?

      Very best regards
      David
      BCNU

      Delete
    4. Hello David,
      if the syringe included stablizing medication, too, I could imagine it..
      I like how you can read this episode in so many ways, just like a dream.
      So if the collapse was for real, it's even more astonishing how Number 6 managed to manipulate his dream..
      Very best regards,
      Jana
      BCNU

      Delete
    5. Hello Jana,
      Fair comment, one minute No.6 has collapsed, the next minute he is back manipulating his dream, remarkable! And I agree, that it is astonishing that if the one is for real, how he was able to manipulate his dream.
      And there are many ways of looking at this dream, as in when No.6 is about to reveal who 'C' is. But is No.6 saying "C" as in 'A B and C,' or is he saying "see" as in showing those who are watching, {and I mean the television viewer as well as No.2 and 14} who this man of mystery is.

      Very kind regards
      David
      BCNU

      Delete