• And it threw away all that good will to end on an awesome note instead of a pandering note. I love this show.

• Watch the series and you may see a _lot_ of catchphrases invented there. (My own second, currently unpublished novel, nods to the important use of the phrase "a fool, not a rat", in the grand finale. {g})

•  True, McG wasn't trying to screw ALL his audience! But I do like to warn viewers ahead of time: the ending of the Prisoner is far more controversial than the end to several shows heavily inspired by the Prisoner (like Lost, X-Files, and in its own way Galactica.) On the other hand, it was the most-watched series finale (and single episode) in history up to that point, beating out the current record holder of The Fugitive. (And wouldn't be beat itself until the M*A*S*H finale, if I recall correctly.) So obviously it had a lot of audience goodwill going for it.

• Sweet! I thought some of those buildings looked familiar! They're playing in Boston next week... might have to check them out after I get out of work! =)

• son of a bitch!  They played two shows five minutes from my apartment back in Jan and Feb.

• Holy crap. Not only is there a Prisoner themed band.. but it's a local Boston one?!  Awesome!

• In the words of Keanu: "Whoa". XD So much info, and I greatly appreciate that! Now, to search the interwebs for downloading venues that carries the episodes. Onwards!

• OOOOH!!  NOW I finally get the whole "WHO IS NUMBER ONE?!" jokes my online buddies have been spouting and too much of douchebags to let me in on it.  Thanks, fella! XD

• I am a fan of the original Prisoner series... After the first episode I understood that it was all about MENTAL, not physical, torture. That's what "Do not...darling" was all about, the use of hallucinogenics on No. 6. "Schizoid Man" dealt with him nearly going nuts by being convinced he wasn't him. "Hammer into Anvil"  dealt with No. 6 getting revenge against a No. 2 who drove the wife of a spy insane... and killed herself. No. 6 them methodically drove No. 2 equally insane. "Once upon A Time" was an attempt to regress No. 6 then bring him forward to find out what they wanted... and "Fall Out" WAS the result of No. 6 resisting, and defeating, every mental torture that had been used on him. A "Final Honor" that in itself was yet ANOTHER mental attack. His blowing up of the villiage and the reveal of No. 1 was all part of it. The ironic and intriguing part of the episode was the last part, where that dwarf manservant of all the No. 2s' became No. 6s' manservant... And when the front door closed, it sounded exactly like the motorized doors in the village... and No. 6 speeding off in his car exactly like the beginning from "Arrival".  And this is EXACTLY why the new prisoner series was such a failure! The original intro established who the character was and what had happened to him to get there... The new prisoner HAD no intro so the viewer didn't know who the hero was, why he was there, or even what was going on! And No. 2 was a grenade-toting bully who'd the original No. 6 would have had swinging from tree to tree chattering like a monkey in no time!

• but i block the combo and deliver a counter attack by defending the song quality

• Then I must harrumph,grab my cane and top hat and bid you good day, sir.

• That's darling!  :D

• Hey, Garbage is still recording albums?  All right!  And they have a new pop-culture concept to coattail onto?  Sweet!  And the redhead lead singer is still the only thing remotely interesting about them?  Hell, it's like 1998 again!

• Thanks.  I did laugh pretty hard at the Ke$ha tie-in.

• We even thought about doing a little tag at the end where I was the butler, but we decided it was too silly.

• KTEH is a good order. Definitely better than going with the ITC silliness. 

• In that sense, yes, it's a Screw You to a portion of the audience.  Of course, that was likely the primary audience of the day. Still, for those who were paying attention, I would say the ending is rewarding and makes sense, especially with regard to the big reveal of Number 1.  You're obviously better versed in the series than I am, and that's okay.

• I might not like the genre of the song, but dang that was an amazing job. {bowing} {murmuring}

• {nod} Aside from any perceived story and/or thematic advantages, it's probably also a good idea to choose an order that will be familiar and accepted to many fans (as the KTEH sequence is). Anyone wanting to compare several popular ep-order lists can check the wikipedia entry for Prisoner episodes. There's a nice grid. {g}

• Well, you've reminded me I need to rewatch the series.  It's been a couple of years. I'd agree with you assessments overall. 

•  Anyway, McG has publicly admitted afterward that FO is an overt Screw You to the audience because he knew they were demanding a simple resolution and shoot-out where 6 blows up the village. So they get that, but not a simple resolution! {lol} McG had already split with Markstein over the proposed ending, too: McG thought the series was pretty allegorical and unliteral, and wanted that kind of artsy ending; and he probably thought Markstein's ending didn't make enough sense with what had come before (clever though it was.) For those who don't know, Markstein intended for 6 to have been the original planner for the Village as a benevolent retirement home for spies; then he learns that someone is operating a perverted version of his (supposedly rejected) idea, and resigns expecting to be snatched up by whoever is operating the Village--from which he could then learn its location and operators and bring it down from the inside. Thus 6 would be revealed as, in effect, the real #1 (though not the unseen #1 giving the orders.)

• Oh. Well.  That's all right then. Keep up the good work.

• As we're recording songs for each episodes, we also had to decide what order to put them in and ended up going with the KTEH sequence.

• Just to let you know, this is something we considered carefully as it does change the meaning of the show, or at least implies a meaning that is not definitive (nor is there intended to be a definitive meaning IMO).  We elected to just have the two of us in the video, so I played all of the parts that were not 6 - the guy in the office, the hearse driver, and 2.  

• FO sort of makes sense, I guess, if they're trying to totally drive him insane along with an appeal to his massive ego. (Except his massive ego is invulnerable after all {g} and he unexpectedly mounts a final escape attempt.) I agree, the overt escape attempt eps should all be early before MHR. (Schizoid Man is not an overt escape attempt, and can easily come later.)

• Argh, somehow the formatting came out loopy! Don't know why, sorry...

• My personal recommendation of the episode chronology (with minor spoilers): 1.) Arrival (duh) 2.) Checkmate (only other ep with chubby shopkeeper, for reasons that become obvious during ep! Also, the captors are still trying to bluff 6 without damaging him, and make use of his ploy to ensure he and the other villagers will be suspicious of one another for a while.) 3.) Dance of the Dead (final attempt to scare 6 with threats of what can happen here, featuring object examples and screwy mind games) 4.) A Change of Mind (first attempt to go full-out with 6; backfires badly; this ep and FFA are pretty similar, but FFA makes more sense as revenge for ACoM) 5.) FFA (revenge for ACoM, and still sort of an attempt at scaring 6 into submission) 6.) The Chimes of Big Ben (a major epic escape attempt; could be put anywhere in middle, but may work best as helping shut down overt escape attempts) 7.) Many Happy Returns (permanently shuts down overt escape attempts; may also prepare 6 for DNFMOMD mission: don’t bother trying to run) 8.) Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling (by deduction, this ep would fit here, even though clunky to have three eps with British bosses this close together. But that concept was always going to be clunky, so…) 9.) The Schizoid Man (deeply awesome episode; aesthetically should be late as possible; but I can't put it later due to 6's remark about "the General") 10.) The General (clearly a sequel to SM due to 6’s erroneous assumption about “the General”; not a plot against 6 per se, he just screws with one of the other test projects going on in the village) 11.) A, B and C (features the 2 from TG; one has to go first, this one looks like revenge for the other with 2’s desperation) 12.) It’s Your Funeral (plays on, and repairs, damage done back in Checkmate; 6 starts despondent, but slowly decides to take a dangerously proactive role in village life) 13.) Living in Harmony (after this debacle, the order could easily come down not to risk screwing with 6 for a while; this and 12 could be flipped easily) 14.) The Girl Who Was Death (probably not even canonical, as it’s a spoof of spy shows including McGoohan’s own Danger Man/Secret Agent. But could illustrate desperation by leaders.) 15.) Hammer Into Anvil (6 pretty much in total control; running out of any competent 2s; arguably biggest 2 defeat, which would suggest to leaders an all or nothing last ditch attempt next) 16.) Once Upon A Time (very obviously the ultimate attempt, directly leads into FO as part 2 finale) 17.) Fall Out (definitely the finale; have fun! {g})

• As to order, I would say the episodes where Number Six is desperately trying to escape come before the episodes where he tries to bring things down from within.... before desperately trying to escape.   But... but I love the ending of the series! It's not a Screw You at all! It makes sense! It does! (Goes off and cries in a corner for a while.)

• But it was never the one from the opening credits, and that's my bone of contension.  If I remember correctly, that boss helps Number 6 look for the Village in "Many Happy Returns," and the way the pilot is dealt with in that episode (knocked out and tied up) implies he wasn't involved or they could have simply used a Village-aware pilot to begin with. 

• Notably, the original ending envisioned by the show's other creator (George Markstein) would have been less of a Screw You to the audience expecting closure (but would have ultimately made even less sense of the series, despite an interesting angle on it.)

• Thank you all for checking this out. It was an insane amount of work to make, but it was also a lot of fun to try and figure out how they pulled off many of the shots and how we could manage them with a very small budget (i.e., no scuba divers or helicopters involved).

• Wait... you're saying that you haven't ever watched The Priz? Wow. Yes, the show is at least as great as the opening credit. Just be aware that the finale is widely considered a big Screw You to the audience by McGoohan (the show's creator.) Then, after you watch it, you can start debating what order the episodes ought to be watched in. {g} And whether that's a proper debate to have at all in context of the show.

• Well, a couple of his bosses turned out to be #2s as I recall. (And another of his associates played a #2 toward the end of the series--could have been the same character. By then it was obvious that rankers in British Intelligence were helping operate the Village.)

• (John Ditty == John Drake, aka Danger Man, aka Secret Agent)

• Well I wake up in the morning feeling like John Ditty. Someone copied my apartment, where the HELL'S this city?! There's a bouncy big balloon, and it's on the attack! Gonna haveta leave here soon, and I ain't comin' back!

• I eagle claw the negative assessment of the song's merits as such. (Though for people who like this style, maybe it's good. I couldn't say. Subjectively I turned down the volume after about a minute and marveled at the visuals.)

• I've met them-- they're smart cool people... if you dig their sound, or appreciate the amount of work that went into this-- go buy their album at donotforsake.com (I did)

• WHO IS NUMBER ONNNEE!?

• And she looks hot in the mini-skirt version of Number 6's outfit.

• and I cancel you out by strongly agreeing with his assessment. 

• That thing's real? You just blew my mind! I'm still offended on behalf of Patrick McGoohan, though. 

• They are the only members of the group from what I can gather, and that is his real mustache.

• Can't wait to see the band tackle the insanity of the Finale. DEM BONES DEM BONES GONNA WALK AROUND,  NOW HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD

• For a deaf girl she is a remarkable singer......

• The Prisoner was and still is 'The Shit' whereas this song is just 'Shit'

• Unfortunately, I'm not that old enough of an old nerd to see the original run of "The Prisoner", and TVs here hated nerds enough not to rerun it. Having said that, HOT DAMN that was AWESOME!! If the opening credit is really as great as the show, then I'd better start hunting for this online or something! XD

• I have no issue with the music, but the young lady isn't one of the better vocalists I've heard.  Now for the nerdy bit: Number Six' boss wasn't a Number Two, and I am offended that they would cast the same person in both roles. They could have at leas removed the mustache to make him look a bit different.

• I'll have to give these guys a shot! A bad song about "The Prisoner" is still better than anything by Ke$ha. :)

• Well, the band sounds awful, but as a serious Prisoner fan I highly approve of everything else they're doing.

• I strongly disagree with your assessment of the tune.

• Thankfully I live in NE and will have to go see them. I totally dig their sound.

• song is AWFUL though!

TotalComments: 52