The Prisoner Remake :: First Impression
This is neither a completely new interpretation of the concept nor a faithful re-make of the original. It’s somewhere in between and ends up being… nothing. So far, anyway.
There are many mistakes that stand out. The one that irritates me the most for some reason is that they explain why Six resigned. In the original, it ended up being quite key that we never knew, precisely because it was irrelevant. (And, of course, asking the question was the obsession of his captors.) The original stayed on target with the theme of a man who maintained his identity (and therefor his freedom) despite his circumstances. It didn’t cloud the issue with irrelevancies, most especially in the early episodes. Why can’t American TV writers resist the urge to tell the audience everything. Less is more, dammit. Besides, in this version just what the heck is it They want from Six?
A more fundamental difference in the new series (and ultimately a mistake) is that the residents of The Village (including Six) have apparently been memory-wiped. In the original series, I got the impression that everyone fully remembered their past, they just chose not to think about it (either through fear and/or willing self-delusion; most, with notable exceptions, accepted their fate in The Village). The memory-wipe approach is a writer’s cop-out. It simplifies things because there is less psychology to deal with in the characters. Now… it could still make for a decent premise, albeit less cerebral than the original series, except that it’s pulled off inconsistently in the two hour premier. Especially with Six; he seems to shift back and forth between remembering his past clearly and only vaguely remembering a shadow of it. It’s almost like the teleplay writers forgot as they were going along whether Six was suppose to remember his past or not.
Lack of mood: The music sucks. Other than a strain of accordion in one scene, it’s way too conventional. The sets and costumes suck, too. The original series communicated mood through sound and imagery. The gonzo sound and imagery, in fact, was just as key to success of the show as the theme, scripts and Patrick McGoohan’s acting. The only thing they do in the new series to communicate mood (besides the retention of Rover, overused desert shots and the sameness — abandoned shortly into the show — of the Village residences) is disjointed rapid-cut edits.
(Number) Two is handled completely differently in the remake. He’s a permanent character, with a family and some back story that presumably we’ll get more of each night. I’m ok with that, as long as it works in the long run. Which it could. We’ll see.
I’ll keep watching and see where it goes. McGoohan’s Number Six is an iconic hero because his strength of character is absolutely incorruptible. It’s already been established that the new Six is more vulnerable. I’m anxious to see if that’s on purpose and the remake ends up being a successful new interpretation of the Prisoner concept, or whether it’s just sloppy writing. I’m guessing the latter.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:59 am
Damned if I didn’t totally space on the series premiere tonight. Based on what I’ve read in your review, though, it’s no great loss. Hell, call it a gain: there’s too much out there to piss me off and/or depress me without watching someone stupid Hollywood shitbirds wipe their asses “re-imagining” one of my favorite television shows.
One thing this remake did not have going for it from the git-go was that McGoohan’s *Prisoner* came right on the heels of his successful series *Danger Man* (*Secret Agent Man* in the US), and there was the strong implication that McGoohan’s Number Six was indeed the same character he’d played in the former series, now catching a very special hell for his resignation. McGoohan, who exercised absolute creative control on the show, was putting it in the faces of his Cold War audience that whoever won this Cold War, we all lost. With all the surveillance and spy-vs.spy shenanigans, we were becoming the very enemy we were purporting to defeat. One can only imagine what McGoohan made of USA PATRIOT Act post-Sept. 11 America — or indeed what he would have made of it, had he the youth and wherewithal to make another series.
Yeah, the more I think about it, I’ll pass on this one. Even Ian McKellan as Number Two can’t redeem this atrocity.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
My review of The Prisoner, night three of three: Dang, I missed NCIS.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I saw something in the credits I’ve never seen before: “Acting Coach for James Caviezel”. They had an acting coach for their lead man. And they admitted it. …Must have been the same guy who helped make Hayden Christensen’s performance in the Star Wars prequels so successful. He should be executed.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
So in the remake, The Village isn’t a physical place, it’s a shared dream world started by some rich freak (Two) because he thinks damaged people are better off there, where everything’s perfect. Holy fudge-freak, I just realized what’s going on here. Not sure why I didn’t see it while watching — They didn’t remake 1967’s The Prisoner; they remade 1966’s original Star Trek pilot, “The Cage”! Somebody slipped the hack writer the wrong tape for reference material!