The Prisoner -- "Once Upon a Time" Recap

This summary of the events of The Prisoner's penultimate episode, "Once Upon a Time," appears at the beginning of the finale, "Fall Out." Of course it divulges the ending events of the former episode, so watch with caution.

A number of fans consider "Once Upon a Time" to be the best episode of the series. Most of the episode follows the efforts of Number Two (a warden of sorts -- played by Leo McKern in this episode -- in the seaside resort prison known as the Village where the series takes place) to interrogate Number Six (the series protagonist and titular prisoner, played by Patrick McGoohan) using a dangerous method known as Degree Absolute. Degree Absolute involves re-enacting the life story of the subject, and borrows from psychoanalysis -- but there's a difference; at the end, one of the participants must die. If you don't know all this already, though, perhaps you shouldn't be watching the summary.

Here in the US, the series has a received a well-packaged and relatively inexpensive DVD release from A&E TV.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• The Prisoner
• Once Upon a Time
• Patrick McGoohan
• Leo McKern
• Angelo Muscat
• Peter Swanwick