“The Prisoner”: It’s a trap!

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:11:00 +0000

Imagine waking up in the middle of a vast desert with no memory of who you are and no idea how you got there. A dazed, bleeding man stumbles up to you, mumbling some words and numbers, and then dies. You wander into a strange town where the houses are colorful and prefabricated. The people seem to know you and refer to you as Number Six.

Things only get more confusing from there. Just like the 1960s British cult classic that AMC's miniseries "The Prisoner" (premieres 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15) is based on, the big questions -- Who is Number Six? Why is he here? Who are these people? -- keep us imprisoned in this pristine, brilliant desert town that everyone calls "the Village" until the end of the series. Over the course of this three-night, six-hour adventure, we experience a confusing jumble of impressionistic scenes, tense exchanges shot at extreme close-up, stark images, buried secrets, misdirections and some scattered flashbacks to Six's former life in New York City -- although he doesn't know where that place is, how to get there or what he did there.

Salon.com > The Prisoner

“The Prisoner”: It’s a trap!