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One of Six
01/10/2007 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
Another look at 'The Prisoner' by GF Willmetts. Peel away one layer and something else is revealed. A rule of thumb when re-watching the ITV Everyman series 'The Prisoner'. I wasn't looking to write a new article on the subject. This one nearly slipped under my radar without me realising I had something more to say. Buy The Prisoner in the USA - or Buy The Prisoner in the UK  Watching the final episode, 'Fall Out', it became obvious that the man who was Number Six also wasn't Number One but had been involuntarily elevated to that status having passed the Degree Absolute battle with Number Two in the previous episode, 'Once Upon A Time'. Strong-willed and unwilling to compromise principles are all the necessary qualifications of a leader.
That you also have to be a little nuts to want the top job was reminded by seeing the previous Number One. It would have been interesting to see if the final face was also a mask. The first face represented the crowd, the ape mask the primitive man and the face of the future, that of the Prisoner himself. It actually says nothing about who the previous Number One was.
The change of allegiance of the butler also indicates that the new leader, Number One, has to have some element of pandering to keep going. It is not a job either of them can resign from. Being leader of and for the people makes a prisoner of anyone no matter how much you wish otherwise.
The only way the Prisoner could not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed and numbered is if he was at the top. No doubt this contributed to him being seen as a special case and not eliminated as shown with a variety of agents across his history living in the Village.
Interestingly, being given this status does not really give him any more power than he had before becoming a prisoner or his time in the Village. It was all preparation to test his resolve and will power. The same could also be said of any true honest leaders as they rise up through the ranks. The mechanism of leadership is to direct and hope that those under them, especially those in the Number Two position, carry out their instructions.
If they don't, then there is a need to replace them with someone who will. In this world society, the man who was formerly regarded as Number Six and then the new Number One will have all things done in his name and need not even be aware it is in his name simply because he is out driving his car. Being leader is often no more than being a figurehead, stepping in only when those beneath your corrupt the power you give them.
It would be interesting to see what would happen should this new Number One realise his new position but I suspect that would work against him. Of course, when this is realised, it would present the final image of when the new met the old and show him to be quite mad.
No wonder he drives off in his beloved Kar. However, the world, his village, will always draw him back.
GF Willmetts
(c) September 2007 - all rights reserved but ask permission if you want to reprint
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