Tag: Living In Harmony

December 29, 1967 Season 1 Episode 14

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

And away we go! We trade the village scenery for the Old West. This one does away with the regular intro, and we start off with Number 6 riding a horse in the town of Harmony after a fight. This was Patrick McGoohan’s favorite episode to make. This episode is one of the strangest episodes of The Prisoner, and that is saying something. When it starts, you are wondering what is going on. Is this the right show? Then everything starts falling into place after a few minutes. It’s now an episode that I love.

Number Six suddenly finds himself in what looks like the American Old West. This town, Harmony which is run by the Judge, with the Kid, a young gunslinger, as his murderous assistant. Number 6 is a former sheriff who has resigned his position, much like he resigned from his old life before arriving in the Village. The townspeople do not trust him. The new authorities want him gone. No matter where he turns, he is pressured to explain why he resigned. Just like in the Village, nobody accepts his right to make his own choices.

As the story moves on, Number Six faces harassment and constant attempts to break his spirit. The Western setting is different, but the methods are familiar. The town is really another form of prison. The people around him are playing assigned roles. The authorities try to push him into violence or force him to submit. Number Six refuses to give them what they want. He continues to resist even when the odds are against him.

Near the end, the illusion begins to crack. The western town is revealed to be another experiment designed to control and study him. They try to make him more disposed to killing. The familiar faces of the Village return. Number Six learns that changing the scenery changes nothing. Whether he is in a modern Village or a frontier town, the battle remains the same. It is a fight for freedom, individuality, and the right to remain his own man. Be Seeing You!

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