Customer Reviews

Prisoner #2, the:Checkmate/Chi

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Patrick McGoohan's classic 1967 miniseries begins as an offbeat spy thriller and ends as a surrealistic allegory. It concerns an ex-secret agent (McGoohan) held captive in The Village, a prison camp that looks like a vacation resort. Everyone is identified solely by number, and our protagonist is No. 6. The Village is managed by No. 2, who reports to an unseen and unidentified No. 1 -- and who gets replaced regularly. THEY want to know why No. 6 resigned, he wants to know who THEY are and where he is.

A&E presents the miniseries in a revised order, intended to arrange events in their proper sequence, but having several additional benefits:

-Showing No. 6's increasing level of confidence and command of his situation

-Beginning with some of the more surrealistic episodes (in set 1), thus foreshadowing the surrealistic and allegorical conclusion.

-Keeping the original concept as intact as possible. McGoohan wanted only seven episodes, but was required to do seventeen. A&E groups five of the seven "essentials" together, at the beginning, in McGoohan's prescribed order. All ten additional episodes are inserted before the two that must conclude the series.

"Checkmate" is now one of the early episodes because of a reference to No. 6 being new. It also gives us our first look at the kind of "treatment" one gets in the hospital. I suspect "Checkmate" was originally postponed to save the large-scale escape attempt for later, but I feel it shows that No. 6 still had a lesson to learn. He'd progressed beyond the half-baked escape attempt in "Free for All," but still hadn't learned how few people he could trust. Although I felt the specific reason for his plan's failure was a bit predictable, I also found it interesting in light of how one of the BIG QUESTIONS would ultimately be answered in the final episode. A&E corrects a technical blooper found in the MPI release. "Checkmate" is an episode where the actor who will play No. 2 also performs the introductory dialog. But in the MPI release, the first few lines are done with that "generic" No. 2 (Robert Rietty) before switching to the correct voice -- with a rather obvious splice.

"Chimes of Big Ben" has been moved from second* to fifth -- which makes perfect sense to me. Yes, it also makes sense to put one of the more straightforward episodes at the beginning, but, as A&E points out, "Chimes" takes place over several months and establishes that No. 6 has been missing for several months, so it cannot precede the three episodes that call No. 6 "new." Furthermore, No. 6 has completed his transition from defensive to offensive tactics, and knows his way around The Village, as evidenced by his taking charge with Nadia. Two details that stood out for me were (1) his giving Nadia the nonalcoholic liquor spiel we saw him getting in "Free for All," and (2) his telling Nadia that an attempt to escape by sea has already been tried -- presumably a reference to "Checkmate." And it seems that No. 6 has learned his lesson from "Checkmate." This time, he involves only Nadia in his escape attempt, because she's a new arrival and hasn't been infected by Village mentality -- or so he believes. What I find interesting about the ending is that it combines victory and defeat. No. 6 fails to escape, but thwarts a plan to trick him into revealing information. The ending also suggest that his own people might be running The Village.

And now for the nonessential episodes. "A. B. and C." originally came early -- third* -- at least partly, I suspect, because it's both straightforward and upbeat. No. 6 doesn't escape, but he does make fools of No. 2 and the lady doctor who's been enlisted to help force information out of him. A&E places this episode later because dangerous drugs wouldn't have been used on No. 6 until other methods had failed. I agree with this reasoning, and would add two more points. First, No. 6 appears to have taken as much command of his station as possible. Second. I prefer this episode as an antidote to "Free for All," rather than a setup for the defeatism of that episode. I also find No 2's terrified discourse with No. 1 on the red phone interesting now that I've seen the whole miniseries and thus know who No. 1 is.

"The General" is what I call a "side trip" episode. Departing from the central conflict, it concerns an instant university-level education that's really a scheme to brainwash most of the Village population This episode introduces us to the gray-uniformed, white-helmeted goons we'll see in the final episode, as well as some of the equipment and underground corridors seen in that episode.

This is one place where I would debate A&E's order. Yes, "General" must come after "A. B. and C." because it features the same No. 2, who states the "No. 6 and I are old friends." But should it come IMMEDIATELY afterward? A&E theorizes that No. 1 said, "Okay, you get one more chance," but he could have just as easily said "You're fired," then later, "I'm calling you back in," as implied by the original order*. A&E also claims "General" must precede "Schizoid Man,"because the No. 12 in "General" has been there "a long time," and so can't logically appear after the recently-arrived No. 12 in "Schizoid Man." This makes it wrong to put "General" IMMEDIATELY after "Schizoid Man," but the insertion of several episodes in between would solve the plausibility problem.

The bonus material in this set is limited, but that's not a major problem, considering it includes four episodes. I do wish, however, that the alternate version of "Chimes of Big Ben" had been put here instead of in set 1.

*In both the U.K. and U.S.

Back in 1967, an allegorical television show emerged that has yet to be topped by any other English television series. The show: The Prisoner. Starring Patrick McGoohan, he plays the role of No. 6, a former secret service agent who resigned for unknown reasons and then finds himself knocked unconscious and trapped in a seemingly peaceful place called "the Village." Each episode features a new No. 2 (with a few exceptions), who watches his every move and strives to find out why he resigned. The only superior is the unseen No. 1, the supposed ruler of the Village. The only other characters that reoccur are The Supervisor (also called Controller), played by Peter Stanwick, and The Butler, played by Angelo Muscat.

In "Checkmate," the Prisoner is inspired to gather other people who still have their individuality after watching a chess game in which people act as the pawns in the game and are told to move by the chess player. The question asked in this episode is whether or not we are pawns in life. This harks back to the pilot episode "Arrival," when the retired admiral tells a woman that "we're all pawns."

In "The Chimes of Big Ben," a russian agent (?) is brought to The Village and is in the same exact position that the Prisoner's in. He decides to cooperate in the arts & crafts show so that she'll not get hurt... but of course, he still is defiant towards Number 2. One of my favorites in the series, he is hesitant on whether or not he should trust this beautiful russian prisoner.

In "A,B, and C," the Prisoner is sedated and captured in a laboratory. The new Number 2 uses untested drugs to probe through his dreams to find out why he resigned. An interesting plot point at the end keeps this from being average, as we find out that the Prisoner did not intend to sell out.

In "The General," the same Number 2 returns, this time utilizing a "speed learning" program (run by the Professor, sort of...) in which everyone learns something in merely 15 seconds. What Number 6 soon realizes is that one merely memorizes the information as opposed to learning it. This one's hard to analyze, but I think McGoohan tried to convey the message that technology is getting the better of us, and the technology is interfering with the growth of knowledge (either that, or we are misusing the technology to that effect.).

The Butler never speaks. He always serves his master faithfully and unconditionally. In the "Prisoner Companion" that came with the DVD set (or if you get the "Fall Out" volume), it is stated that the Butler represents all the little people in the world who blindly follow the strongest leader just so they'll be alright. I agree with that. What's up with the Bicycle? We see it on the number badges, the signs, and practically everywhere else in the Village. Could it mean that technology is getting the better of us (as supposedly stated in "The General"), or could it mean that we should slow the growth of technology? I agree with the latter, although the first possibility could be a true statement.

"Questions are a burden to others."
"Answers are a prison for oneself."
Two phrases used prominently throughout the Village. These two are probably individuality at its most basic. Without questions, you cannot build on friendships or even just simply gain knowledge! Without answers, one simply doesn't know and is forever confined in secrecy. This leads someone to think for themselves and form opinions. Naturally, opinions are not allowed in the Village.

A great series with messages in each episode. Preferably, I give every episode 5 stars, but I highly recommend getting the megaset and watching the series all the way through as opposed to the individual volumes.

Of the 17 episodes produced for the show, near midpoint there seems to be a slight shift in No. 6's plan from one of outright escape to making things miserable for No. 2. However, with the possible exception of "The General", escape is still uppermost in No. 6's mind in the episodes of Set 2.

In "Checkmate", No. 6 witnesses the manipulation of a human pawn in a giant, outdoor chess game. No. 6 attempts to determine who is a true "villager" like himself and who is a planted guard on the island. Through the relationship with the pawn, No. 6 thinks he's found himself an ally in escape. But has he?

"The Chimes of Big Ben", arguably one of the best of the series, allows No. 6 to meet a beautiful woman prisoner who has already been foiled by Rover (you know, that giant bubble thing). No. 6 agrees to help No. 8 escape and he does so by entering in a village sponsored arts and crafts exhibition. This is fun to watch. Be sure to pay close attention as it all unfolds at the end and No. 6 realizes some crucial details he had overlooked before.

A great episode, "A, B, and C", has No. 2, played well by Colin Gordon, using drugs to get at No. 2's past. Hardly possible in real life but definitely fun and intriguing on the screen.

Finally, "The General" is the weakest of these four episodes but it should be said that there's no such thing as a bad episode from this show. No. 2 has decided that mind control through something called "speed learn" and operated by a giant computer called "The General" will eventually cause No. 6 to reveal that information that they so desperately want ("Why did you resign?!"). Enjoy these episodes and watch them in order along with the others in the series. This is TV at its best.

the prisoner series even had it's own collectable magazine that would often go into detail on the MEANING of the show plots. the star, # 6, patrick was a voice on the simpsons in an episode, and there are at least two simpsons episodes that make references to the prisoner and especially "rover" the big killer balloon that guards the water around the village - if it's good enough for the simpsons to reference, it's good enough to own all of the episodes - which i do on video and i plan to aquire all of the episodes on DVD so my four-year-old son can watch this classic series when he gets older. if you've never seen this series, i HIGHLY recommend it. peace.

Movie Summary: Four more exciting episodes find our hero British Secret Agent number 6 playing the part of a pawn in Checkmate, hatching an escape plan in The Chimes of Big Ben, fighting the dream police in A, B, and C, and dealing with speed learning in The General. Number 2 still wants information and by hook and by crook he keeps trying to get it. There is still only one problem; Number 6 isn't talking.

My Opinion: I enjoyed this second set even more than the first. Hence the upgrade to 5 stars. It's very intelligent and ahead of its time. They use cordless phones and other technology that is very advanced for the 1960's. The plots are very well developed and involved. Number 6 is a very likeable main character. It's very easy to root for him. The first seven episodes seem to be pretty much independent of order. The stories don't run from one to the other like they do in some of the current one hour dramas. There could still be some subtle story threads that I haven't picked up yet. I am very excited to get the third set and continue watching them. Hopefully they will just keep getting better! Be seeing you at the reviews for the third set.

DVD Quality: Full Screen Dolby 2.0 Mono. This is a two disc set containing the next four episodes of the series. Extras include trailers, trivia, stills, and an interactive map.

What You Should Do: Rent it if you've never seen it. At this point I still can't recommend buying all five sets, but I am leaning more that way. What I have seen is extremely enjoyable but things could still go wrong although I'm starting to doubt that they will.

Related Movies To Check Out: Quantum Leap, Space 1999, The X Files

Having reviewed Volume 1 and given it only 4 stars due to to a couple of average episodes and the next-to-unwatchable alternative version of "Chimes of Big Ben", I can now finally award 5 stars for this collection of 4 complete episodes. As I've said before, Prisoner episodes are rather hit and miss - they are either average or superb. We kick off with Checkmate where Number Six gathers a group of trusted villagers together and decides to find out who are the "real" prisoners and who are the wardens in disguise. The Chimes of Big Ben sees Number Six team up with a Russian in an attempt to escape, A, B and C is a rather disturbing episode where Number Two decides to use a combination of drugs and a machine capable of projecting images into Number Six's brain in an attempt to get answers - even if it means killing him, and The General provides a somewhat confusing and weak ending to the set where Number Six tries to unmask the evil side of The General's "Speedlearn" courses where you can earn a degree in seconds as the information in blasted into your brain using a subliminal learning technique. So, 3 classic episodes followed by one average outing into the absurd. What puzzles me is why Number Six left the partition in the crate in Chimes of Big Ben. If you were going to be locked in a box with a beautiful Russan woman for hours and hours, wouldn't you find some interesting ways to pass the time?

If you plan on purchasing only a single set of The Prisoner DVDs, then this would probably be the one because the episodes here are some of the finest that the series produced. Each one highlights a different method used of breaking down the individual, each with its own degree of success or failure.

One of the standouts of this set is Leo McKern's portrayal of one of the villainous Number Twos. His character is a delight to watch -- unpredictable, amusing and dangerous. The other Number Twos on this DVD are certainly passable. Colin Gordon appears twice and his character isn't nearly as strong as McKern's, yet the episodes featuring him reflect this, letting Patrick McGoohan's Prisoner subtlety undermine his authority.

The whole series of The Prisoner comes highly recommended, but this particular set would be an excellent choice to show someone unfamiliar with the show. The four episodes contained ("Checkmate", "The Chimes of Big Ben", "A, B and C" and "The General") exemplify the best of 60's style paranoia and individualism-over-conformity that is still important today.

"The Prisoner" is one of the handful of all-time great television series (one of the others - "I, Claudius" - is also now on DVD).

After seeing the series originally on a 9-inch B&W TV and then later on a very snowy UHF PBS channel, it's great to see it now in DVD quality.

Unlike one of the other reviewers, I find this particular set to be possibly the best of the lot (although certainly Set One is the best starting point).

The episode "A, B, and C" has many levels, and is an excellent spy story, an outstanding "dream" story, and would be appreciated by fans of Dr. Who, Forbidden Planet or the Twilight Zone, as well. Amongst the other colorful elements is a posh 1960s party for the upper crust of society.

While not wanting to reveal any spoilers, I can say that the scene where Number Two and his accomplice both turn to look at the door is one of the great moments in TV drama.

Enjoy!

Patrick McGoohan's `The Prisoner' TV series is perhaps one of the most intelligent and interesting programs ever created. The basic premise is that a British secret agent resigns for some reason. After turning in his notice, he is kidnapped and moved to a secret location called `The Village'. The series follows the efforts of his mysterious kidnappers to find out the reason why he quit and shows his repeated escape attempts.

The series is filled with nuances that need multiple viewings to enjoy all of them. The DVD transfer is first rate with the picture quality excellent. The "technicolor" sets are shown in their vivid color. Highly recommended.

This set continues to develop the series further and should only be viewed after seeing the first three episodes. "Checkmate" is a great example of the paranoia that McGoohan was able to capture in `The Prisoner.'

As a consultant on the A&E release, (liner notes, DVD Trivia Quiz, etc.) and as the American Coordinator of "The Prisoner Appreciation Society", I can confirm that we were the first to point out the Set Two audio problems to A&E.

We were also responsible for convincing A&E to remaster the Set Two DVDs (and tapes) and to have customers be able to exchange them. Details on how to send in your faulty product will be posted on our website (URL shown on the tape and DVD box).

I look forward to the new release so my "two star" rating can (hopefully) be improved. But as it stands now, I find the Set Two audio track unacceptable. The replacement product will probably be ready by the end of January 2001.