weiss@gondor.UUCP (Michael S. Weiss) (03/15/85)
*** REPLACE THIS man WITH a number *** Mike Urban sent me the following mail in reply to one of my articles. I have posted it here for all to share. Mike, in the future, post this stuff so we can all enjoy it. From: psuvax1!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!trwrb!trwspp!spp2!urban (Mike Urban) Date: Thu, 14 Mar 85 08:03:18 pst To: trwspp!trwrb!sdcrdcf!sdcsvax!akgua!psuvax1!gondor!weiss Subject: Re: The Prisoner (& discussions thereof) Newsgroups: net.tv Organization: TRW, Redondo Beach CA In article <1628@gondor.UUCP> you write: >No symbolism, just out and out why did number 2 send him home (as it >were)? What do folks think about this? There were probably two reasons. (1) yes, they let him go on holiday for his birthday. He *was* very important to the Village, after all. (2) Throughout the series one of the running motifs is the Village showing #6 how powerful it is and how it can control what he's doing at all times. Classic example, and one in which #2 fails, is "Hammer into Anvil". It seems that the Village is in control of the entire course of the "Many Happy Returns" episode (with the possibility of error. Note #2's reaction when #6 attempts to leave his London house before he's "scheduled" to do so). BTW, I've often suspected that the Village is mobile, which accounts for: (1) the fact that #6's friends don't come looking for him afterwards (they know roughly where the Village is). Surely not ALL of them are on the Village payroll (like the pilot who was replaced by the "milkman". (2) the fact that he *drives* to London in the last episode. (3) the amazing ability of the Village to evacuate itself entirely in a single night, or at the end of the last episode. "Many Happy Returns" is one of my favorites. No dialogue *at all* for the first 30 minutes or so of the episode, and suddenly, *blam*, he's in the middle of London. Sophisticated scripting and direction for an "action-adventure" series! Mike (Ok, msw taking over:) Mike, go on further with your theory of a mobile Village. How does it do that? Please, no supernatural explanations. -- Never give a gun to duck. Michael S. Weiss BITNET: weiss@psuvaxg.bitnet
iannucci@sjuvax.UUCP (iannucci) (03/20/85)
*** REPLACE THIS village WITH a ...winnebago? *** >>No symbolism, just out and out why did number 2 send him home (as it >>were)? What do folks think about this? > >There were probably two reasons. (1) yes, they let him go on >holiday for his birthday. He *was* very important to the >Village, after all. You can't be serious. Was it really his birthday? >(2) Throughout the series one of the running >motifs is the Village showing #6 how powerful it is and how >it can control what he's doing at all times. Classic example, >and one in which #2 fails, is "Hammer into Anvil". Maybe I just missed something, but it seems to me that No.6 was in control in that episode. To me, "Hammer into Anvil" showed that those who were in control of the Village did not always have the upper hand. They were human, like everyone else, and someone with a superior intellect could actually weaken them. >It seems that the Village is in control of the entire course of >the "Many Happy Returns" episode (with the possibility of >error. Note #2's reaction when #6 attempts to leave his London >house before he's "scheduled" to do so). Please, for the sake of curiosity, refresh my memory, viz. No.2's reaction. >BTW, I've often suspected that the Village is mobile, which >accounts for: (1) the fact that #6's friends don't come >looking for him afterwards (they know roughly where the Village >is). They may have been given some sort of story and told to keep their mouths shut. This is no ordinary business, you know. Strange things happen, people disappear, and you can't just go against the will of the bosses, or you may find yourself taking a nap at the bottom of the Thames! Besides, they THOUGHT they knew where the Village was, and may actually have gone looking there. >(2) the fact >that he *drives* to London in the last episode. The Village never had to be anywhere but where it actually was! If it was in U.K., then it simply wasn't in Lithuania, where they thought it was. >(3) the >amazing ability of the Village to evacuate itself entirely >in a single night, or at the end of the last episode. Sure, the people could be evacuated, but how could you account for the *buildings*!! No, I don't go for this idea of a mobile Village. If you have some more convincing arguments, Mike U., let's hear them. -- Dave Iannucci ihnp4!allegra \ St. Joseph's University psuvax1!burdvax - !sjuvax!iannucci Philadelphia, Pennsylvania godot!astrovax / "A witty saying proves nothing. " --Voltaire