The Prisoner may not be the greatest television series of all time, but for me it will do until something better comes along. I was one of the millions of people in the UK who watched the series when it was first televised and sat enthralled every week.
But rather than extol the virtues of the show overall, as many contributors to these pages have done, I would like to voice my love and support for the final episode.
INEVITABLY SOME SPOILERS
I loved the final episode and have watched it many times over the years. The first thing that has to be said, before one gets into its meaning and its relationship with the other episodes, is to acknowledge that it is an absolute virtuoso piece of television. The sheer imagination and creativity of the episode boggles the mind. The dialogue is quite astonishing, it's like avant garde poetry. The energy of the whole piece is staggering.
I believe McGoohan wrote the whole script and knocked it off in about a day. How he did it I do not know, but to say it was inspired is an understatement.
More importantly the episode is of a piece and complements all that went before. Where I think a lot of people have been thrown with The Prisoner well perhaps that's a bit condescending .the key issue one has to address and acknowledge with the show, is that it presents an allegory of the human condition wrapped up in a fantasy; surreal, almost Alice in Wonderland in style; and then tells the tale using the conventions of a (brilliantly executed) action adventure series.
But you have to accept that it is the allegorical, stylised presentation that drives the show. Therefore one cannot expect a rational, neat conclusion. Who could the people behind the Village be? Who could Number 1 be? The Russians? The CIA, Ernst Stavro Blofeld? It just could not be anyone of these. In the context of the Village, my earlier comparison with Alice makes more sense; Number 1 might just be the Queen Of Hearts.
But the reality of McGoohan's imagination is much more compelling. First of all he took the conclusion and climax in an obvious direction; to move further away from even the notion of reality and to challenge us with ideas. And to express those ideas in the totally bizarre and wonderful setting of trial is quite stunning.
The whole series is about us, about the individual and how we confront the world and the oppressive evil in it; and how we express our own humanity. The Prisoner is about ourselves, the good, the bad; the strong; the weak. And to express that as an allegorical fantasy is, I think, something close to genius.
I think the question one has to ask is who else could Number 1 be, if not ourselves; or because this is a series in which McGoohan is the hero, Number 6. And Number 6 is us; with all our strengths, weaknesses, anger, frustrations and, believe it or not, hope, despite all that outside forces may throw at us.
But even having taken this line, McGoohan surely does not leave the "rationalists" empty handed. There is a conclusion, they do escape (albeit in a surreal way, bursting out onto the A2 incidentally try driving down the A2 at 70 mph today; that would be surreal!),
And even the ending, with the Hearse driving up again and the compressed air "swoosh" of his house door opening, tells you the dark side may yet win.
The whole episode is perfect, and more importantly, to repeat myself, is a totally satisfactory ending to what has gone before.
Incidentally, as a coda, one comment on the whole series. Look at many of the episodes again, and evaluate the underlying themes of the whole series. Take away the sixties style and look, and doesn't the show resonate even more today than it did even then. What The Prisoner is fighting is more terrifying now than ever. And we are losing the battle with ourselves and letting it happen
But rather than extol the virtues of the show overall, as many contributors to these pages have done, I would like to voice my love and support for the final episode.
INEVITABLY SOME SPOILERS
I loved the final episode and have watched it many times over the years. The first thing that has to be said, before one gets into its meaning and its relationship with the other episodes, is to acknowledge that it is an absolute virtuoso piece of television. The sheer imagination and creativity of the episode boggles the mind. The dialogue is quite astonishing, it's like avant garde poetry. The energy of the whole piece is staggering.
I believe McGoohan wrote the whole script and knocked it off in about a day. How he did it I do not know, but to say it was inspired is an understatement.
More importantly the episode is of a piece and complements all that went before. Where I think a lot of people have been thrown with The Prisoner well perhaps that's a bit condescending .the key issue one has to address and acknowledge with the show, is that it presents an allegory of the human condition wrapped up in a fantasy; surreal, almost Alice in Wonderland in style; and then tells the tale using the conventions of a (brilliantly executed) action adventure series.
But you have to accept that it is the allegorical, stylised presentation that drives the show. Therefore one cannot expect a rational, neat conclusion. Who could the people behind the Village be? Who could Number 1 be? The Russians? The CIA, Ernst Stavro Blofeld? It just could not be anyone of these. In the context of the Village, my earlier comparison with Alice makes more sense; Number 1 might just be the Queen Of Hearts.
But the reality of McGoohan's imagination is much more compelling. First of all he took the conclusion and climax in an obvious direction; to move further away from even the notion of reality and to challenge us with ideas. And to express those ideas in the totally bizarre and wonderful setting of trial is quite stunning.
The whole series is about us, about the individual and how we confront the world and the oppressive evil in it; and how we express our own humanity. The Prisoner is about ourselves, the good, the bad; the strong; the weak. And to express that as an allegorical fantasy is, I think, something close to genius.
I think the question one has to ask is who else could Number 1 be, if not ourselves; or because this is a series in which McGoohan is the hero, Number 6. And Number 6 is us; with all our strengths, weaknesses, anger, frustrations and, believe it or not, hope, despite all that outside forces may throw at us.
But even having taken this line, McGoohan surely does not leave the "rationalists" empty handed. There is a conclusion, they do escape (albeit in a surreal way, bursting out onto the A2 incidentally try driving down the A2 at 70 mph today; that would be surreal!),
And even the ending, with the Hearse driving up again and the compressed air "swoosh" of his house door opening, tells you the dark side may yet win.
The whole episode is perfect, and more importantly, to repeat myself, is a totally satisfactory ending to what has gone before.
Incidentally, as a coda, one comment on the whole series. Look at many of the episodes again, and evaluate the underlying themes of the whole series. Take away the sixties style and look, and doesn't the show resonate even more today than it did even then. What The Prisoner is fighting is more terrifying now than ever. And we are losing the battle with ourselves and letting it happen