The Prisoner – Once Upon A Time

January 25, 1968 Season 1 Episode 16

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

This episode is basically a two-person show. Some of the best acting happens in this episode, and it is a life-and-death match between Number 2 and 6. One thing about this episode. It was recorded much earlier; it was the 6th show filmed. That is why Leo McKern, who appears in this, has a slightly different look in the last one.

As the series nears its end, Number Two decides there is only one way left to break Number Six. He takes him deep beneath the Village and subjects him to a process called “Degree Absolute.” The method strips away layers of a person’s life and personality. Number Six is forced to relive stages of his past. He moves backward through adulthood, youth, childhood, and even infancy. Number Two hopes that somewhere along the way he will discover why Number Six resigned and finally make him reveal his secrets.

Some of the very best acting is in this episode between Patrick McGoohan and a return of Leo McKern as Number 2. It is one of my favorite episodes. I’ll drop a little trivia here before we continue. The strain of filming this episode caused Leo McKern to suffer either a nervous breakdown or a heart attack (accounts differ), forcing production to stop for a time. You can tell how tense it was by just watching.

Most of the episode takes place in a single room. There are few sets and very little action. Instead, it becomes a contest between the two men. Number Two pushes and tries very much to manipulate. Number Six resists every step of the way. It’s like an emotional chess or tennis match. At times the process seems to be working. At other times Number Six turns the tables on Number 6. The line between prisoner and interrogator begins to blur. Patrick McGoohan and Leo McKern carry nearly the entire episode by themselves.

By the end, the strain becomes too much for both men. Number Six refuses to surrender the one thing he has fought to protect throughout the series, his individuality. The contest leaves both men exhausted and broken. Rather than finding the answers he wants, Number Two finds himself trapped by the very process he hoped would beat Number Six. It is one of the most intense episodes of The Prisoner. Two powerful personalities locked in a struggle over freedom and control. There is more, but I’ll let you watch and find out.

This was originally going to be the final episode of the first season. When it was decided to end the series, McGoohan used it as the springboard for the final episode he filmed to sum up the story. McGoohan has said this was his favorite episode of the series. Be Seeing You!

Discover more from PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Unknown's avatar

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.

22 thoughts on “The Prisoner – Once Upon A Time”

  1. Pingback: The Prisoner – Once Upon A Time – MobsterTiger

  2. I haven’t been following along, but just from your description, it brings to mind 1984, and O’Brien and Winston in the Ministry Of Love. Now that I ‘m done with my school job for a couple of months, maybe I can watch some of these episodes.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I do have the DVD, but I’ve read the book several times. If you haven’t, you should read it. It’s scary how much of it came, or is coming true.

        Liked by 2 people

  3. Even though it is clear what they were trying to do in this episode, for me it was too chaotic and almost unwatchable. I admit to skipping 10 seconds on repeat for several of the segments. It was messing with my head. I think it is probably how they really torture prisoners in some places. I remember reading about how a woman was tortured in China by Mao’s agents over time and it broke her. Once she and her daughter escaped China to Hong Kong and then to USA, the daughter and later her granddaughter were left to pick up the pieces.

    So only one more episode to go? It’s been interesting, but I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see it go.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. lol…I love the last episode…now when I say that…it IS crazy but interesting to say the least. It goes off the rails at around the 13th episode…. this one was intense…and they did have some good acting in this one. It’s not one I rewatch a lot though.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. One I’ll have to look at tonight or tomorrow. Time is taken up at the moment with unmatched amounts of football matches. World Cup matches- I’ll be seeing you! (Sorry, but it had to be punned.🙄)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. To be fair I have to pull back- I mean I have nothing riding on a game between, say, Outer Mongolia and The Solomon Islands or somesuch. I must get a little perspective, and I will. Too much of a good thing. Now I know how the parents of those PlayStation kids must have felt: ‘Get off that stupid game and do something usefulll!’

        Liked by 1 person

  5. I recall the name of Leon McKern, I guess from the previous episodes but, man what a great actor. I looked up his IMBd page. Some great roles. Looking forward to watching this one, looks pretty epic.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. 1984 is one of the scariest books I have ever read. I have read it three times, once in high school, once in college and then a few years ago. My response was the same, and I dare say I’ve never felt afraid of a book so much. I don’t have the guts to see any of the movie adaptations.

    Yes, The Prisoner is very much a part of the post-1984 world. Very much

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. Pingback: The Prisoner – Fall Out – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Leave a comment