The Prisoner – A Change Of Mind

December 15, 1967  Season 1 Episode 12

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

Last week I said that this episode starts going into more different territory, but after rewatching it, it doesn’t go too far at all.  Overall, it does stay rooted more in what we have been seeing…but don’t worry, a change is coming. 

Number Six becomes the target of a campaign against people labeled “unmutual.” In the Village, that word is used for anyone who refuses to fit in. Citizens are expected to smile, cooperate, and agree with the system. Number Six does none of that. Soon, people begin turning against him in public meetings. They accuse him of being selfish and dangerous. The Village leadership pushes the idea that independent thinking is a disease that needs to be cured.

The episode plays heavily on public pressure and mob behavior. Number Six is brought before committees where crowds openly criticize him. Number 2, played by John Sharp, oversees the process and talks about “Instant Social Conversion” (a euphemism for a lobotomy). The treatment is supposed to remove aggression and rebellious behavior. The procedure was just a psychological trick, though. They did not use the lasers or anything to do a lobotomy. They just gave him drugs to alter his personality.  The reason for not really doing it is that it would destroy his brain and he would be useless to them. After he woke up from being knocked out on the table, Number Six wakes up smiling. He is not sure at first what was going on. 

He is back at his home, and the doctor (Number 86) is slipping a drug in his tea. He sees this and avoids taking it. She does it again later, and Number 6 switches the tea, and she drinks it. Now she is drugged, and he gets the truth out of her and hypnotizes her into telling Number 2 that the Instant Social Conversion worked on him. Before she does, Number 6 pays a visit to Number 2 and reinforces that the drugs are working. Number 6 is allowed to talk to the village and get other people with secrets to tell them. In other words, Number 6 sets up Number 2 like a bowling pin and, with the help of the drugged Number 86, turns the village against Number 2. It’s a wonderful thing to see! You know, after re-reading what I wrote, half the battle in describing this show is the lack of proper names. It gets confusing following Numbers.

Behind the scenes, McGoohan and the staff were exhausted. McGoohan drove everyone, including himself, to the brink. It started to show in the scripts and the different directions it would take. I’m sure I will repeat this in the future, but while some say the show got too bizarre, we are still talking about it almost 60 years later…all for a 17-episode spy drama in the late 1960s. So that is a success to me. Be Seeing You!

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. View all posts by Badfinger (Max)