TV Verdict

“We just want you back the way you were.”

That’s what No. 6’s brother, the one he doesn’t remember, tells him as The Prisoner, Episode 2, “Harmony,” begins. He’s been found after an escape attempt and brought back to his family.

He’s given a job as a tourist bus driver, who drives locals on a tour of the places they see every day. Note that they’re nervous when they pass The Clinic. They’re also a little afraid of No. 2 when he pops up. They could get more nervous when he stops, fascinated by a rusty anchor.

His brother also shows him The Ruins, a deserted train station that almost has him believing it’s real.

No. 2 sends No. 6 to therapists to get at his secrets, but ends up showing a troubled side himself, deeply disconcerting the therapists. It seems that No. 2’s son is questioning reality after hearing what No. 6 has to say. “Never doubt your family,” No. 2 tells his son.

A flashback reveals that No. 6 had just resigned from his job as a CCTV analyst who looks for patterns. “Tell me why you resigned, please,” the woman he met implores him. The flashbacks, montages, and general surreality might leave you thinking it’s all just a dream, but that resignation sounds like a clue to a drama grounded in reality–thriller reality, at least.

And does the fact that 313 stole drawings of the Statue of Liberty and other things from the delusion world mean that she’s starting to see things his way? Is the presence of No. 6 starting to seed doubts in The Village more widely?

When No. 6 and his brother find a beach, they also find the Rovers, the strange bubbles that went after escapees in the original Prisoner.

A couple of thoughts, going afield a little bit:

The writers must have it in for wraps. Making them the only food in The Village can’t be good advertising. Could it be a product placement from The Bread Industry?

Maybe the original Prisoner was before its time. Seeing AMC’s ads for the multimedia add-ons–recaps and bonus features online–made me think of how much of a sensation the original would have been in the Internet world.