Why did you resign?

Okay. I will be very very brief. So AMC remade the Prisoner.

Normally, I'm in huge defender of updates and remakes. I generally see nothing wrong with old ideas being reformed for contemporary times as long as it remains true to the original ideas and captures the nature of it's predecessor. Especially with an old show like The Prisoner, which is hard show to watch.



The Prisoner, the original, is about a secret agent (Patrick McGoohan, the brain behind the show) who resigns from his job and then wakes up in a strange place called the Village where is called No. 6. The Village is run by No. 2 who tries to find new ways of getting information out of No. 6, particularly the reason why No. 6 resigned. No. 6 tries to escape and uncover the the mysteries of The Village such as, who do they work for and who is No. 1.

I won't go into how much I love the 1967 show.

The new Prisoner misses. It completely misses of why No. 6 is in the Village. It seems the whole point of the show was just to have No. 6 accept the Village. They never explain why he's a prisoner.

It doesn't bother asking who is No. 1. Nor does it give No. 2 any reason for keeping No. 6 in the Village. There is too much revealed to the audience about No. 2 which is a mistake because No. 2 isn't really supposed to be a person. I was okay with only having one No. 2 (because in the original No. 2 changes every episode). No. 2 is supposed significant and powerful...but not all powerful and certainly not very human. The only aspect of No. 2's humanity should come from his job as No. 2 which is to break No. 6 and the frustrations of No. 2's failure to do so.

Part of the problem is the purpose of No. 6's incarceration and the need for No. 2 to interrogate him. "Why did you resign?"

The new show deals with the metaphor of No. 6's resistance to conformity but doesn't. No. 6 really doesn't struggle with it. What I mean is that, No. 6 represents the epitome of individuality and all of it's flaws and the Village is the crippling comfort of conformity. The new No. 6 doesn't resist, nor toy with the system. He barely tries to escape. In the mini-series, he seems to just do what he is told.

Perhaps it is the way James Caviezel performance felt a little too melancholy and not determined. McGoohan was far from a brilliant actor, but he had a stoic presence that was captivating and charismatic. Caviezel just looked like he was bummed about the whole thing.

All in all, in my opinion, the Village is supposed to make you feel trapped. Not isolated.

While I applaud AMC for it's bravery for giving this a shot, they should have studied the 1967 show and tried to actually update it, rather than try and make the show a gimmick.

My advice. Stick with the 1967 show...if you want. It's a hard enough show to like without watching the remake.

Be seeing you.


Command Image: The Prisoner Commands