The Prisoner – The Girl Who Was Death

January 18, 1968 Season 1 Episode 15

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

The script for this show was a leftover script from McGoohan’s earlier show Danger Man. They turned it into a Prisoner episode, and yes, it gets confusing. I’ll do my best to explain this one, but explaining the next two episodes will be hard. I watched this episode, and I was wondering how they could make it make sense. They do!

This is one of the most unusual episodes of The Prisoner. Number Six is enjoying a rare day outside the Village (you don’t know how or why) when he encounters a mysterious young woman who seems determined to kill him after she already killed someone else. She uses one elaborate trap after another. She has already killed another spy. Number Six barely escapes each one. At first, he has no idea why he is being targeted. The episode is more like a spy adventure than a typical Village story.

It quickly turns into something closer to a comic-strip adventure. A glamorous assassin and a smug announcer push the story into a world where danger is real, but everything is staged like entertainment. The Girl herself is the main weapon; she’s charming, always one step ahead, and the whole thing plays out like a game designed to break his rhythm and make him look foolish.

As the story unfolds, Number Six discovers that the woman is working for her father, a dangerous scientist who has created a weapon capable of threatening Britain. The scientist hides his plans behind riddles, clues, and puzzles. Number Six follows the trail across the countryside. Along the way, he faces more traps and narrow escapes. The episode is filled with disguises, secret messages, and a sense of fun that is very different from the darker episodes of the series.

In the end, Number Six uncovers the scientist’s plan and races to stop the weapon before it can be used. The final confrontation reveals that things are not quite what they seem. That’s all I’ll say, or I would give it away. That’s what makes this show fun. They can explain almost anything with the Village. It remains one of the most debated and unique episodes in the entire series that is full of them.

The character “Bowler” is portrayed by an actor named John Drake. Not only is John Drake the name of Patrick McGoohan’s character in his old show Danger Man, but it is also possibly the true identity of Number 6 in this show. McGoohan hired Drake because he was amused by the coincidence. Be Seeing You!

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