Be seeing you
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.
Tuesday, 16 September 2014
Number 6 The New Number 2!
For Number 6 to have become a new Number
2 he would have had to accept The Village. In ‘Once Upon A Time’ Number 2 told
Number 1, or some other superior, that he was a good man, that he is a good
man, but if they get Number 6 he will be better. So I presume we're talking
about getting Number 6 as the next Number 2. Going on the basis that ‘Once Upon
A Time’ was originally to have been the last episode of the first series, and
seeing that it was Number 6 who walked out of the Embryo Room and not Number 2,
it strikes me that “they” got their man. And should there have been a second
series to ‘the Prisoner,’ it simply couldn’t have carried on with more of the
same, Number 6 doing his best to escape, and counteracting the machinations of
Number 2. No, best to have Number 6 as the next Number 2, then a new adversary
could have been brought to The Village. Someone who had resigned, was stubborn
and wouldn’t talk, and then the canvas deck shoe would be on the other foot. Mind
you having just typed that, if Patrick McGoohan had been chosen for the
role of Two in the 2009 series of THEPRIS6NER, and been well enough at the time to have taken on the role, then after some forty-one years later we could have had that second series with Number 6 as the next Number 2!
I think the Village most certainly was aiming at winning No. 6 over, meaning: cooperation and conforming. Perhaps, as No. 2 in "Arrival" put it, he'd be given a position of importance. But was their plan really to hand the leading position of No. 2 to No. 6 in the end? I doubt that. As No. 6 was incalculable, even unpredictable a character he would have been a permanent danger to the Village system. Unless made compliant by the use of drugs. The other reason for me to think it is rather improbable is because at the time this episode was shot there was no real direction the general plot of the series was heading towards. And PMcG himself, would he have approved of it? - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHi! Somehow I think it would have been just the ultimate victory for the Village to win Number 6 as the new Number 2, because it would have meant that they had find a way to integrate him and make him cooperate or confirm. Maybe with the help of drugs or brainwash, but nevertheless. One could even interpret Fall Out in this direction. A mind game: if Degree Absolute had been a full success and a complete brainwash, and if OUAT really had been the finale of a first series, the second series might have dealt with the new Number 2 slowly overcoming the brainwash.
ReplyDeleteVery best wishes,
Jana
BCNU
Hello Arno and Jana,
ReplyDeleteTwo very interesting comments. Of course we can never know what PMcG would have thought about Number 6 being the new Number 2. But certainly if there had been a second series of 'the Prisoner' it couldn't have carried on as the first series, it would have become boring, even if they had had enough scripts and money to carry on. As for Number 6 being given a position of authority, Number 6 admitted to the Colonel of 'Many happy Returns' that he could have been a member of the Town Council....which I suppose on the whole was a lucky escape for him!
They wanted Number 6 whith a whole heart, body and soul. Remember they didn't want to damage the tissue, meaning they didn't want to damage the brain. So I'm sure that they wanted Number 6 to be won over, to accept The Village of his own free will. There would be no victory if they had had to drug or brainwash Number 6, he might very well have ended up like those poor brainwashed souls on the Town Council!
Very kind regards to you both
David
BCNU
After all, why would a personality like No. 6, who had quit his highly confidential postion of a system that he had thought of was "different" with - well - rather incalculabe effects, why would such a character willingly accept the No. 2 position of an establishment like the Village? Sounds unikely. - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteYes Number 6 has a strong personality, but remember he had also faced the "ultimate" test, which means last or final, there would be no more tests after Degree Absolute. It had to be one or the other of them, and it happened to be Number 6, now he has become a very important person in The Village. Besides people change, and if things do not change they go on as they have before, and fictionally speaking that would be very boring. Why Number 6 would willingly accept the both The Village and the position of Number 2....I cannot say. I've thought and thought about it, I don't know, and in that lies the flaw in my argument.
Very kind regards
David
BCNU
Fair comments, they would not want to damage Number 6, and an undamaged Number 6 normally wouldn't accept the position of Number 2. But I think they wouldn't have counted a win over Number 6 in Degree Absolute as damaging him, even if his resistance had been broken. They wanted to convince him to accept the Village by all means, but in any case their victory would have left Number 6 a broken man, in my opinion. It seems quite muddled..
ReplyDeleteMind games. We'll never know..
Best wishes
Jana
BCNU
Hello Jana,
DeleteYes it is rather muddled. If there had been a second series of 'the Priosner' I can only see that things could not go on as before. Number 6 had survived the "ultimate" test, meaning it was the end, and that the second series couldn't simply carry on as before, something would have had to change, and what more dramatic than commencing with Number 6 rising up out of the floor sitting in Number 2's chair?
Very kind regards
David
BCNU