The Prisoner – A. B. and C.

October 13, 1967 Season 1 Episode 3

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This episode turns the Village into a lab. Number Six is drugged and pulled into a three-part dream program, each scenario designed to crack him open and find out why he resigned. The title is literal, three separate “tests,” and the method is modern for the late 60s, not fists threats, but psychology, repetition, and control of the setting. I love dream sequences in shows, so I’m really happy with this one. 

The first sequence drops him into a rough version of his old life, with familiar faces and a push toward panic. The second shifts the tone, calmer on the surface and built to steer him into the same trap from a different angle. The third is the tightest and most direct. Number 2 is trying to guide him to a single answer through suggestion and pressure.  He keeps fighting for any piece of truth he can find. Each segment feels like a different door leading to the same room.

What makes this one stick is how it shows the Village evolving. They are less interested in punishment and more interested in results. Number Two isn’t just managing the place; he’s running experiments and taking notes. He is trying to solve a human being. Number Six, even half-awake and off-balance, still won’t give them the one thing they want. The episode ends without any comfort at all. They can trap you, study you, and even rewrite your reality for an hour.  But they still can’t own what you choose to keep. Another one where Number 6 turns the tables on Number 2. Be Seeing You!

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

36 thoughts on “The Prisoner – A. B. and C.”

  1. Pingback: The Prisoner – A. B. and C. – MobsterTiger

      1. It says? I’ve always missed it, then. Or, more likely, interpreted what was presented in a different manner. Trust me, I’m in for the full run of 17 episodes.

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  9. I thought this one was far more clever than the first 2. #2 in this one seems far more anxious about being replaced than the first 2. #14 is very shrewd but maybe a bit impulsive, but who could blame her for the pressure being put on her. #6 always seems to be one step ahead of them, but the combined forces of everyone and everything hasn’t effected escape just yet. Really good episode.

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    1. This number 2 was an ass…none of them are prizes but this one is a different kind. I loved how the reveal went when the mask came off.
      Usually whoever is Number 2 doesn’t want him dead at all…this one was willing to gamble more. I like #14 as well.

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      6. Yes a female number 2 is coming…but gay? I don’t know…it never mentions either way…of color…I don’t think so. Their mistake in this is…they should have had them from different countries…all were all British I think. You do see Russians, French, and other villagers from everywhere…but never Number 2… unless I forgot it…which is possible!

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      8. Oh yes it is…England was always better about that…but worse in the class system.
        Also the look of it…I’m writing the Portmeirion post now about the place. Way ahead of it’s time.

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  11. I think that bringing in social concerns such as sexuality would deter from some of what the show is about. The show masterfully uses stereotypes. The characters are archetypes. Only Number 6 is a fully developed character, and even then he is not complete. Every one in The Village has the potential of being a force of the power system that wants to know why Number 6 resigned.

    The man who goes to the London apartment and, while it isn’t shown, we assume is responsible for the gas that puts the agent under so he can be taken to The Village is dressed in such a way as to represent the power structure. What details were are given (the big black car, his clothing, etc.) all point to the British power structure. That doesn’t mean The Village is the British government, it does show the Pre-Village Number 6 would imagine a non-descript agent of the faceless power structure.

    The show’s use of these stereotypes comforts the audience. Not the type of thing that a show that is about individuality would do. The conflict is delicious, and a basic part of the show

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    1. I was surprised they didn’t bring the class system in. On alot of BBC shows I watch from that period or a little later like “Are You Being Served” it really dwells on the class system but yea…it wouldn’t have fit here. There were no romances on here…it would have detracted from the show…plus Patrick did not like kissing women because he felt it wasn’t right to his wife. He was pretty strict about that.

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      1. I was on You Tube researching something else and lo and behold I found

        as well as

        Secret Agent was called Danger Man. It is the series McGoohan was in before the Prisoner.

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