I adore Patrick M."Prisoner".A brilliant piece of work!I would have loved to meet up with the man and had discourse with him.He was truly ahead of his time. An extra ordinary man in many ways.I hope he has found peace in the ethers or wherever he may be ."The Prisoner ", is forever on point, especially today.
I saw this in the 80s when i was young, since then i grew to understand what was going on, pretty much :) it taught me much about society etc. a work of genius. I learned very young what the word 'allegory' meant - after i saw an interview with Pat and he said that's what it was. Brilliant.
This really underscores McGoohan's later comments about #1 being a reference to "oneself". The fact that he took an abstract approach of presenting this concept to the viewing public is both beautiful and frustrating.
This final episode without an ending in a way, allows you to re watch the entire series over and over again looking for theories and clues. An explanation ending would have answered it all and deprived the viewers their involvement in the series. There is no other TV experience like it the first time you see Fall Out. Mine was in 1990.
@bederrick There are clues scattered around the series that 6 is 1. As you say, even the opening spiel contains a huge clue: "Who is Number 1?" can be read as "You are, Number 6". Crafty, eh? Do Not Foresake Me Oh My Darling contains the line: "It will all be one in the end." 6's home in London is Number 1 Buckingham Place, and then there's 'Six of one, half a dozen of the other' in Arrival.
From the very beginning when he asks who is number one? He is answered; you are, number six. To me that was very evident especially after watching the entire thing the first time.
I thought the last episode was genius. It made the series into a metaphor about life and individuality too me. It ends with the gate closing with no human help, showing how he's still not free even though he thinks he escapes.
It wasn't until seeing the series (spasmodically) that I finally saw the ending. By brain was duly blown, and I eventually got the entire series sent to me on VHS. Wow! Seeing it all, in the right order!!! Bought the DVD box a few years back.... but waiting for the right moment. I just remember too much about it!
No 6 i also insane at the end. That's really the only way to explain all the stuff that makes no sense and the purpose of "degree absolute" which he was told would end in death of him or No 2. No 2 is probably not dead.
Fall Out is perhaps the most accurate depiction of a drug experience ever composed by a man who never took LSD or smoked pot in his life. [McGoohan drank hard liquor and smoked tobacco, but that's it.] Acid's 'ego death' experience is replicated in 6's rejecting the part of himself that was Number 1. 6 shoots his own id into space, quite literally. It's my belief that 6 was driven mad at the end of the previous ep, and Fall Out is just his insane hallucination. Speedwritten burn-out genius.
@ProjectFlashlight612 It's not that abstract. Patrick McGoohan said on television in the 1980's that he had ulcers from fighting the system. (The prison world wants you to subjugate you and censor yourself, usurping your own spirit for its own ends as, in the end, Winston Smith loves Big Brother or as Number Six is Number One.) When the door opens automatically and the butler enters The Prisoner's home at the end, it means the whole world is governed or directed by the prison's wardens.
Fifty-plus years hence from my viewing of the Stateside premiere this episode remains positively baffling...and yet it still incentivizes the uninitiated to view the entire series and long-time fans to return to it. This two-part explanation provides perhaps the clearest reason: "Concerteering" productions helmed by someone with "BIG ideas" who worked with talented professionals who so very desperately needed be told how he wanted things run. It's not the easiest environment for creative types to work in. Be amazed at the results!
at 6:30 when he is talking about big name directors, Kubrick is who he is talking about everything not shot on sight at The Village(Portmeirion), was shot on a sound stage next to filming of 2001.
I love that on the mantle appears to be a bust of Napoleon during Kenneth Griffith's interview! I'm certain that's pure coincidence! I know he was supposed to be a different character, but had they filmed the copter scene when he escapes (he clearly does since they show the copters taking off) , it woulds have been a nice nod to have had Justine Lord be his pilot!
Well, I'm 60 years old and I was fan of the show since I was about 15. The intense machine gun fire fight with no blood,no gun powder smoke, & no shell casing appears ludicrous by today's standards according to millennials.
It appears that some of the guests have missed the boat ! Collateral Damage was inevitable, and I am sure Pat realized that when he wrote, directed, and acted in the series .The man was beautiful ,mentally and physically.
No.6 is a clone of No.1. That’s why they could never mess with him and why they were so desperate to find out why he was so different from the original.
When he goes to his bosses door at the beginning credits it says "way out". Lots of meaning. Was resigning a way out. Nope. Still a prisoner no matter where he was. Then theres the other meaning. What was about to happen to the character was "way out!"
My take on it was the Prisoner's plan to turn the tables on the Prison System he was in not just escaping as he had tried to do before. These were lunatic people so the Prisoner had to match their lunacy to defeat them.
I didn't like the 2009 AMC / ITV remake of the Prisoner. Though the twist of the wife sleeping and dreaming was interesting. The original late 60s series was superior. Though it was a little bit before my time I did enjoy the reruns in the 80s when PBS stations in the US or perhaps one of our cable stations played reruns. I instantly became fascinated by the series. Patrick McGoohan was fantastic.
AAAAARRRGGHHH! Why didn't I know they had done a remake. Or re-made a done. Either way, I have never heard of this. Must go seeking -- or is that not such a good idea?
Does anyone know what the title of this entire behind the scenes feature this clip comes from is? If you do I would appreciate it if you could please let me know.
@macroyer1 Teaching hundreds if not millions of people deep and complex things about themselves, about the human nature, is a risky job :D A lot of them didn't understood what was behind the "number 1", they kept asking him who was the Great Evil one, they couldn't accept that most dangerous thing was themselves... that's why he moved away for a few months, to let these people forget about it and go back to their everyday lifes...
Yes.. most people are stupid. sad but true. If anyone needs proof, which i doubt, check comments about any random youtube videos.. comments underneath the most inoffensive videos degenerate into chaos quickly.. most commenters seem to only gather information about their world by games or TV shows. Gawd help us.
If it had been anyone other than Patrick M.....I'd say he was either on drugs or going through some sort of mental issues at the time of the later episodes and especially the final one......like those weird dream sequences on the original "Avengers:" TV series. 🥴
I didn't get it when I watched it as a teenager in about 1978, when it was repeated, but now I see...the occult symbolism, the hand sign, the penny farthing representing the all seeing eye...and the ending... Lucifer/Satan, living in us, rebelling against God, we think we're free, but we're imprisoned....
The Prisoner is one of THE BEST TV series ever made. You'll find th@ most people - esp. here - would say the exact OPPOSITE about whatever (I take it ur talking about a video game?) U like.
It was because there was a year between filming "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out". Leo McKern the actor had got a shave and a haircut for another film and there was insufficient time for it to grow back.
8 years ago huh. well, it's from a Public information film in the UK called 'Tufty goes shopping' it may be hard to find on youtube.. even 8 years later. yes i'm having fun necro-posting :)
The last episode Fall Out must have been written under the influence of LSD or some similar shit as you could not think that one one up without the help of a heavy mind bending drug
It was a huge mistake making the last episode abstract. Most people interpreted all of the previous episodes literally. Making the last episode abstract basically nullified the entire series. All the time and emotional investment people put into the show was negated with it. It's like ending a TV series by saying, "it was all a dream". You can't do that without upsetting a lot of people.
First, wh@ does oil have 2 do w/ ths - a television series?!?! 2Nd, ur ... 'statement,' about 'insecure people...' Huh?!?! If u haven't already, u need a head doctor (most people - like u - who obviously have some bit of organic problems usually believe it's THEY THEMSELVES who r 'fine,' & the 'others' - who tell them otherwise - r the ones w/ a 'problem.'
