There is an element of escape in this
episode, the watery equivalent of the attempted escape of the Prisoner by
Mini-Moke in ‘Arrival.’ And just as the Prisoner was thrown out the taxi on the
beach {the cause being that the taxi hits something in the sand} so that he
could be confronted by the white membranic Guardian. This time Number 6
abandons the boat, so that the Guardian can subdue him, and then with the aid of
two smaller Guardians, take the Prisoner back to the beach. This is the re-use
of the same technique used against Nadia who during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’
attempted to swim away from The Village, and is eventually returned to the
beach by three Guardians which I have to say I find somewhat ridiculous. As for
Number 6’s attempted escape, that only comes about because the weak mind
conditioning is beginning to wear off!
‘Free For All’ is political! It is a satirist
commentary on politics. It reveals the flaws in the democratic process.
Everyone votes for a dictator, and that’s just what the electorate of The
Village did. Seeing as at the end Number 6, then the newly elected Number 2,
attempting to force his will upon the
people “I am in command, obey be and be free!” But no-one was listening! No-one
cared for the man’s idea for freedom.
In between the election politics of the
episode it seems to contain nothing more than scenes designed to fill out the
episode. After Number 6’s mind has been conditioned to take him through the election
period, he occasionally has to have a “booster,” and is even given a drug by a
chemist in the Therapy Zone…why the need to “Top up” the mind conditioning?
When in the following episode Number 6 is put through a very extensive mind conditioning
period, and there is no need for any further “boosters” of that conditioning!
Playing Devil’s advocate, perhaps because in the way Number 6 accepts Number 2’s
offer to stand against him in the forth coming election, there is no time for
any extensive mind conditioning as with ‘The Schizoid Man.’ And so the condition
has to be on-going through the episode.
The Cat and Mouse night club is aptly named.
However had the waitress given Number 6 what he wanted, an alcoholic drink. Then
the waitress could have administered the drug, instead of the chemist. Then
there would have been no need for the Therapy Zone scene, which is a concocted
scene of misdirection and manipulation, in order that Number 6 would drink the
drug, when it could have been so easily done before without so much fuss and
bother.
Number 6 may have won the election, and yet
as he stands on the steps of the Town Hall he is faced with suspicion and
indifference which borders on hostility. And it might have been expected that
the new Number 2 should have addressed
the electorate from the steps of the Town Hall, even if it was only to thank
them for their support and belief in him. This leads into what may be called
the endgame, in which power is handed over from the out-going Number 2 to the new Number 2. There is no explanation of
how anything works. If Number 2 wants to know anything, he’s only to press a
button and ask!
Eric Portman who enjoyed a very solid film
career, is one of the oldest Number 2’s, in fact he was ill at the time, and
the sequences in which he appeared had to be filmed line by line. One of my
favourite films in which he stars as Magistrate Thomas Culpepper is ‘A Canterbury
Tale.’ As Number 2, Portman is impressive. His manner is mellow in approach, a
sign of his age and experience. What’s more, and as far as we know, his is the
only Number 2 to fly himself out of The Village aboard the helicopter!
Be seeing you
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