# What was "The Prisoner" all about? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 29, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481 "2010-09-29T15:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/1 "2010-09-29T15:46:08Z")
> **[What was the cult TV series “The Prisoner” all about?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341558/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about)** If anyone could make sense out of that show, the Perfect Master could… and even he fell short! Ah, well, can’t be helped. Here’s a thread on the AMC remake last fall: [The Prisoner on AMC (open spoilers after each airing) - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=540103) Be seeing you. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/2 "2010-09-29T15:54:39Z")
It was about 17 episodes long. ---
**Author:** ![Kenyth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kenyth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenyth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/3 "2010-09-29T16:24:53Z")
Hallucinogenic drugs were all the rage back then you know. Particularly in Hollywood. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/4 "2010-09-29T16:59:14Z")
On the face of it, **The Prisoner** was a tale of a former secret agent, abducted and held in a high-security facility by persons unknown, who were trying to find out why he resigned. The subtext of the show however was all about the major meme of the Sixties: rebellion against authority and conformity. Number Six is there because he bucked the status quo, and the Village is a microcosm (one might say parody) of society, where humanity is ignored and only one’s place in society- one’s “number”- matters. As to what the ending of the series (“Fallout”) meant, I have maintained that it’s a prime example of what writers do when they don’t actually have an ending for their story: they go allegorical. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/5 "2010-09-29T17:56:12Z")
> [@Kenyth](#): > > Hallucinogenic drugs were all the rage back then you know. Particularly in Hollywood. 😉 It was a British show. Not sure what Hollywood has to do with anything 😉 ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/6 "2010-09-29T18:37:20Z")
I’ve always thought the show was something of a Foucauldian allegory, though I’m almost certainly wrong strictly speaking as Foucault was not yet in vogue at the time. Number Six is a prisoner of the same network of which he was a part–or of that network’s binary opposite which consitutes the necessity of his network’s existence, and can thus be taken as a complementary part of that same network. Number Six ostensibly wishes to separate himself from that network, refusing to engage in the discourse that consitutes its power. However, his very refusal, including his eschewing of token symbols of that discourse (such as his badge and hat) is in effect discourse in and of itself. Further, in at least two episodes, Number Six’s behavior is so much like his oppressors’ that he is mistaken for one of them–and his plans for escape are foiled by suspicious co-conspirators. I’d throw out that Number Six’s alternate refusals and attempts to subvert his captors are effectively reproducing the discourse that he’s trapped in. The allegory, I would propose, is that those who purport to seek freedom from “the system” or whatever are, in many ways, acting as part of that system, reproducing its discourse and excercising its power. This follows Foucault’s line about anyone in any circumstance being trapped in the relevant discourse. The system can be critiqued and dissected, but there is no ready means to escape. As long as Number Six continues to resist, he’s perpetuating the discourse that he’s trapped in. In ‘Fallout’, we see a recourse to utter absurdity as the only way out of this discourse–dissociative consciousness as the only way to dissociate from the network. Of course, this doesn’t make a lick of sense, and that’s kind of the point. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/7 "2010-09-29T19:01:51Z")
As mentioned by **dropzone** deep down in the thread **Elendil’s Heir** linked to, the key to the series is in the opening sequence of every show: > [@](#): > > Number 6: Who is Number 1? > Number 2: You are [very short pause] Number 6. Also, Cecil didn’t note the crucial final shot of the final episode: Number 6 gets to his pre-Island home, and the door opens automatically, _just like doors on The Island_. So, yeah, McGoohan is (arguably) saying that you’ve seen 17 episodes of allegory. He has said that he originally wanted The Prisoner to consist of only 7 episodes, but that he had to pad it out ([cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner#cite_note-10)) to 17. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/8 "2010-09-29T19:05:16Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > As mentioned by **dropzone** deep down in the thread **Elendil’s Heir** linked to, the key to the series is in the opening sequence of every show: > > > [@](#): > > > > Number 6: Who is Number 1? > > Number 2: You are [very short pause] Number 6. Exactly. He is his own jailer. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/9 "2010-09-29T19:05:23Z")
And then of course there’s the question of whether Number Six did or could ultimately escape at all; although if nothing else, he did succeed in refusing to be a number. Any support for the idea that Number Six was a Nietzschean superman, simply beyond the dictates of society? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/10 "2010-09-29T20:22:25Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > …Cecil didn’t note the crucial final shot of the final episode: Number 6 gets to his pre-Island home, and the door opens automatically, _just like doors on The Island_… I presume you mean “The Village.” So by walking in and making himself comfortable, Six accepts that he can never escape, or agrees to live with the illusion that he has already done so? Heavy. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/11 "2010-09-29T20:34:34Z")
Actually, it’s even more depressing. He give the impression that he doesn’t even realize it. He thinks he’s escaped; that he’s his own man. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/12 "2010-09-29T20:46:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@Punoqllads](#): > > > > …Cecil didn’t note the crucial final shot of the final episode: Number 6 gets to his pre-Island home, and the door opens automatically, _just like doors on The Island_… > > I presume you mean “The Village.” > > So by walking in and making himself comfortable, Six accepts that he can never escape, or agrees to live with the illusion that he has already done so? Heavy. > [@Punoqllads](#): > > Actually, it’s even more depressing. He give the impression that he doesn’t even realize it. He thinks he’s escaped; that he’s his own man. Or less depressingly, perhaps the whole world is ultimately a Village. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/13 "2010-09-29T22:06:15Z")
Please, whatever _The Prisoner[_ is, it ain’t an “allegory”. An allegory is an extended story that works consistently and systematically on at least two levels. Just having an odd bit of symbolism here and there doesn’t cut it, especially when no one agrees about the alleged symbols. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/14 "2010-09-29T22:20:34Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Or less depressingly, perhaps the whole world is ultimately a Village. If so, it’s doing a lousy job raising its children. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/15 "2010-09-29T22:25:06Z")
On one level it’s a spy thriller. On another level, it’s about civilization and freedom. Arguing that it’s not an allegory is like arguing that the Twilight books aren’t vampire novels. Which people do, of course… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/16 "2010-09-29T23:42:56Z")
After watching The Prisoner again, we watched all of Danger Man/Secret Agent. In several episodes Drake’s bosses screw him over, and he is so enraged that his eventual resignation should be no surprise. Now, I know that officially Number 6 is not Drake, but if he were McGoohan would have to pay royalties to the creator of Danger Man. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/17 "2010-09-29T23:48:01Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > > [@Punoqllads](#): > > > > As mentioned by **dropzone** deep down in the thread **Elendil’s Heir** linked to, the key to the series is in the opening sequence of every show: > > Exactly. He is his own jailer. One more clue. In the last episode, the tower takes off as a rocket. Now, this might mean that their are aliens involved supplying all the advanced technology the Village uses, but it provide another clue. In “The Girl Who was Death” there is a similar rocket take off, this one being a lighthouse. But that was a story told by Number 6 to the children of Number 2. Therefore, he clearly was subconsciously aware that the tower was a rocket, and it came out in the story. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/18 "2010-09-30T05:29:53Z")
What I’m dying to know is if there are spoons? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/19 "2010-09-30T14:30:17Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > Please, whatever _The Prisoner[_ is, it ain’t an “allegory”. An allegory is an extended story that works consistently and systematically on at least two levels. Just having an odd bit of symbolism here and there doesn’t cut it, especially when no one agrees about the alleged symbols. Bollocks. Saying \*The Prisoner \*has an odd bit of symbolism here and there is like saying one or two men would like to make love to Sofia Vergara. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481/20 "2010-09-30T22:02:22Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > On one level it’s a spy thriller. On another level, it’s about civilization and freedom. Arguing that it’s not an allegory is like arguing that the Twilight books aren’t vampire novels. What part of “consistently and systematically” didn’t you understand? Words have meanings. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-prisoner-all-about/555481.md?page=2)