One of the reasons I decided to watch the original short-lived series, The Prisoner, was the news that AMC was producing this remake. It also didn’t hurt that the new series was planned from the start to last only six hours and had two stellar stars attached to it: James Caviezel and Ian McKellen. By the time I got through the original series, though, I wasn’t sure I cared about a remake/retelling/reboot of the series, because I just wasn’t into it at all.
After watching the first two hours of this series, having watched the original only served to tell me that I like this one much better and would have done just fine not having watched the original at all.
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I’m sure that many original Prisoner fans hated this to pieces. This is not The Prisoner of the past; it bares little resemblance to to it and, because of that, many will hate it for piggybacking onto the name of a cult favorite. Sure, the show has had its definite shout-outs to the original, but the look, feel and personality of it is completely new, not to mention the sound of it. Yes, the sound is that important, because the music of the original simply killed me, and this series has a wonderful soundtrack that perfectly matches the mood of the situations.
So, what’s similar between the two series? Well, of course we have the numbered individuals and The Village, though how Six winds up at The Village is much more of a mystery here. Why would he wake up outside The Village and not on a comfy bed out couch, as in the original? Once again we see that Six has resigned from an unknown job that seems to have some sort of higher purpose than most, though this time we have some idea of why he left. We’re not constantly reminded that Two and anyone else of authority wants to extract “information!” from him.
Also similar from the original series is the use of mind tricks to keep Six under submission. Very early on we have Six believing he’s a happy and functioning part of this strange, desert-bound community, which definitely sung out to the original series’ episode with a similar title (“Living in Harmony”). It appears that we’re getting some explanation as to how the rest of the residents of The Village are being kept under control, as we often see them spraying some substance into their mouths. I’m betting that has some connection to their being ignorantly content.
One small but definite homage to the original series was the scene in the general store, where Six asks for a map. The map wasn’t nearly as “large” in the original, but the point was the same: The Village is in the middle of freaking nowhere, and as far as everyone’s concerned, it’s the only place there is.
Of course we also have the mysterious Rovers, the big, white balloons that serve as the “security system” for The Village. As you quickly find out, they don’t necessarily kill people. They certainly seem more ominous in this new series, and they share a very similar sound the Rovers made from the original. Oh, who am I kidding: they’re still silly as hell.
A few other things noted from the original: the pig heads on Six’s pretend brother’s family, during his strange hallucinations; the English vehicles; lots of chess playing; “be seeing you”; Six has a cool car. I’m sure there are more, so please shout out in the comments.
What’s notably different in this series — other than the obvious — is Six’s sense of authority and confidence. McGoohan’s Six was basically a bad ass who wasn’t going to take this crap being fed to him by the many Number Twos who tried to force-feed it. Fisticuffs were engaged and boats were carved out of single logs in order for him to get the hell out of that creepy place. McGoohan always had the upper hand. It’s possible this new Six could become just as infuriating to Two in his resilience later, but so far he’s putty in his hands.
Speaking of Number Two, it appears we may only get the one Two in this series, whereas we got a new Two nearly every episode of the original. Not that I want to see McKellan leave, mind you — he makes a perfect Two.
While I do have all six hours on DVD for previewing, I haven’t looked ahead beyond these two episodes. So, it’s safe for me to mention any theories I have without outright ruining the experience. So far it appears that Six could be hallucinating the entire experience of The Village, and he’s actually still in New York City on an incredibly awful drug trip. There were many scenes where Six would have an odd vision flash before him, and he’d suddenly be seeing the streets of New York rather than those of The Village. Then there are the mysterious crystal towers — something that wasn’t in the original at all — that are definitely reminiscent of the fallen World Trade Center towers.
So, we have the desert and towers. This is probably a stretch, but could it be that Six is actually a soldier fighting in the deserts of Iraq? Perhaps he’s wounded and having this strange dream or the enemy has captured him and is doing this to him? Or maybe, like in the original, we’ll simply never know?
So far I’m liking this new series. Making this a mini-series rather than an attempt to bring a dragged out full series to the table makes it all the more palatable. Hopefully anyone who’s snubbing it from being nothing like the original can just take it for what it is and see the whole thing through before judging it. C’mon, it’s only six hours!
Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on Nov 15, 2009 @ 22:00 EST5EDT
I tried to watch the original when you were writing about it, and found I could not bear it.
All the reviews I’ve read have been negative, so I’m glad you found it likable, that way I know I should give it a chance tonight.
Woah. Trippy.
I do think their is something to his watching people as a profession. The people here somehow correspond to the people he watched on camera. Maybe he assigned numbers for everyone. He remembered the tv show numbers so well. – Don’t know. Also, he has such a low number, like Two, surely that’s significant in some way….
No crosses in the graveyard. Big, white danger ball, I thought, Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot what does this represent?
In short, I know nothing, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
That should be “there”. And I should be sleeping!
Six never had the upper hand in the original series; he had the appearance of the upper hand, but was always foiled in the end.
As a fan of the original series, I’ve been simultaneously looking forward to and dreading this re-imagining. Half the reviews loved it, the other half dismissed it. I’ve just finished parts 1 and 2, and I’m really enjoying it. I don’t want to see the same story retold–I’m happy to have a new one. There are lots of elements of the original. I’m sure #93 at the beginning (dressed in McGoohan’s outfit) was the cameo role they offered him. His house even had the same-shaped door. This 6 yelling “I’m not a number, I’m a free man!” was one of the more direct tributes. The Village speakers broadcasting happy talk announcements. The unified (although, unfortunately not the same) font style and lettering on Village signs and merchandise.
Yet at the same time, we have a #2 with a wife and a son. A #6 waking up in the middle of the desert and stumbling his way to the Village–not a neat & tidy kidnapping. A #6 who isn’t even trained as a spy. A cab driver helping out. A cafe that blows up at the end of part 1, and yet is in perfect shape a few minutes into part 2(!). A recurring bus theme. And ocean theme.
I’m along for the ride!
The AMC “Prisoner” remake couldn’t hold a candle to the original series (my all time favorite, BTW) but it was interesting and compelling to watch, even though it perplexed me. In this particular version, the Village was not an interrogation center/prison camp for spies who have resigned and/or too dangerous to be left around; it struck me as being a dreamworld…a panacea to counter the world’s pain…which, when reality threatened to the illusion, the monstrous sinkholes formed in the ground. Like the original, there were enigmatic symbols. What did the towers represent? Were they simply a mirage, or perhaps the home of One? Did they represent a symbol of something that once was? I preferred the multiple Number Twos that appeared in the original, as they gave the series an ambiguity as the protagonist never could tell who actually ran the village. Portmeirion was a better locale as the diverse architecture gave a sense of being everywhere and nowhere. This desert location was aesthetically unappealing and all of the dwellings looked identical save for Two’s palatial residence. Patrick McGoohan brought a more complex intellectual depth to the character where Jim Cavaziel’s Six struck me as being too stiff and one-dimensional. The frustration and anger he felt at being held captive in a strange, macabre land was nullified to the point of being inert. He simply couldn’t inject a raw primal and compelling charisma that characterized McGoohan’s Six. Still, the remake was worth a watch and hopefully will encourage some deep thinking and debate. But I seriously doubt if it will have the same lasting impact that the original program had. I suppose the inevitable motion picture is next. Be seeing you.
A poster on another site regarding the “Prisoner” remake theorized that Patrick Stewart would have made as good a Number Two as Ian McKellen. I’m inclined to agree, given Stewart’s cold aloof portrayal of Captain Nemo in the 2005 “Mysterious Island” remake.