Colin Gordon is a fascinating Number Two, with a more modish fashion sense and a general vibe of, let’s say, confirmed bachelorhood. Whereas previous Numbers Two who couldn’t get INFORMATION out of Number Six seemed content to mess with him a bit and call it a day afterwards, this one has been tasked with getting results in no uncertain terms, with consequences that are clearly grave should he fail. This gives the episode a previously entirely unused dramatic axis around which to spin. The look of terror he shoots the phone in the episode’s final shot is the finest moment to date for anyone in the role.
Meanwhile, McGoohan is an absolute hoot as the unflappable Six, confident he’s beating his warders at their own game. As 14, Sheila Allen plays a reluctant Dr. Frankenstein, driven past the point of safety by the demands of Number Two. (“Where’s your scientific enthusiasm?” he demands when she worries the procedure could hurt or kill the patient.) Along with Kath, Carell, and Bettine Le Beau in a momentary but memorable bit part as a French maid who catches Six’s eye, Allen is one of several smoldering guest stars, and there’s no crime in that: Even a spy thriller as serious-minded as The Americans understood the value of sex appeal in the spy game.
Visually, this is sumptuous stuff even by Prisoner standards. Director Pat Jackson’s inventive use of rear projection helps conjure up both the giant screen on which Six’s dreams are projected and the Champs-Élysées at twilight as C. drives Six to his secret rendezvous.
Dutch angles turn the third night at the party into a visual fight between Six’s consciousness and the weakened drug. The costuming, from C.’s dress to 14 and D.’s respective capes, remains colorful and creative.
I reviewed the eighth episode of The Prisoner for Pop Heist. Gift link!
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