Number 6 once said he’d like to be the first
man on the Moon, and that’s fine, because when Number 6 spoke those words to
Number 2 during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ man had not yet set foot upon the Moon.
However that one line “I’d like to be the first man on the Moon” does date ‘the
Prisoner.’ Because of that, this particular episode cannot take place after July
20th 1969
when Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the Moon.
I understand why Number 6 should want
to be the first man on the Moon, but it seems to be a bit extreme. But with
the whole Earth as The Village,
perhaps he saw no other alternative for himself. But of course it would be
impossible for Number 6 to attain his dream on his own. He would need a rocket,
rocket scientists, a huge support team, a way to launch a rocket, and a site to
launch it from, all of which Number 1 already had under The Village space
programme. And seeing as Number 1 and Number 6 are the alter ego of each other,
perhaps Number 6 did make it to the Moon, but through his alter ego. Mixing
fiction with fact, there was no sign of anyone having landed on the moon when
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were there. However it’s always possible that
Number 1 managed to land on the far side of the Moon, or perhaps the dark side
would be more appropriate in Number 1’s case!
Then again, looking at it from another
angle..... with Number 6 having once come face to face his doppelganger in
Curtis, perhaps Curtis was resuscitated like Number 2, then dressed up as
Number 1 in readiness to face Number 6 with the awful truth that he is
responsible, and can only blame himself for his incarceration in The Village. It
was no wonder Curtis was in a state of unsteady mind! But Number 6 having been
faced with himself once more, managed to turn the tables again. What must have
been going through Curtis’ mind after Number 6 had sealed him in the nose cone
of the rocket. Then the sudden pull of G-force as the rocket blasted off out of
the underground silo. What must have been going through his mind? If things had
not been bad enough for Curtis in The Village, there he was sealed in a rocket with
a one-way ticket destined to, to God knows where, and being powerless to do
anything about it. And nothing to look forward to but a quick death! Oh how
Curtis must have panicked in that rocket as it blasted off, but he might have
felt noting, he may have lapsed into unconsciousness unable to stand the
G-force. Perhaps Curtis’ last thought was about those who had used him so badly
in the name of their own cause against a man who looked the very image of
himself, and having brought him to such an end. And in those final few seconds,
to see the last human face he was ever likely to see staring up at him, his own
face, just before he dropped the hatch, must have been a nightmare for him.
Such a terrible fate for either Number 1 or Curtis. It must have seemed as
though either had sealed their own fate themselves!
Be seeing you
Your claim that this particular episode cannot take place after July 20th 1969, when Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the Moon, presupposes that the Village would allow such news access to its residents.
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