Star Trek

Yesterday, I began watching the 1960s British sci-fi series The Prisoner (first five episodes) and have been quite enjoying it. Much of my enjoyment has been from the fact that it kind of feels like “What if The Cage was a whole series?”

In other words, like “The Cage”, it’s a prison environment in which a person can’t be certain of reality any more. It does diverge in all the torture on number 6, whereas the Talossian’s illusions are less flawed and sadistic a prison in some ways (you know, besides the purpose of breeding a bunch of human slaves). However, I feel like both “The Cage” and The Prisoner overall embody the same “everything might be fake” sense of reality. I almost feel like “The Prisoner” is somewhat a window into what Star Trek might have been if CBS hadn’t thought people would be too dumb to understand “The Cage”.

Besides the similar vibes with “The Cage”, another thing winning me over is the surreal set design, which has already won a place in my heart. I just wish I could make a replica of one of the signs in the village and have it not be so obscure no one would ever recognize it.

The main thing my 21st century brain finds fault with is the strong gender roles used in The Prisoner (there is always some woman that Number 2 sends to try and manipulate Number 6), although like TOS, I’ll give it a pass since it was in the same boat as most television at the time. However, I did like the twist in “Free for All” where Number 58 is revealed to be the real new Number 2.