Mania Grade: B-
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- TV Series: The Prisoner
- Episodes: Anvil & Darling
- Starring: James Caviezel, Ian McKellen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Ruth Wilson
- Written By: Bill Gallagher
- Directed By: Nick Hurran
- Network: AMC
- Series:
The Prisoner: Anvil/Darling Review
Review Coverage for AMC's The Prisoner Continues. By
Stephen Lackey
November 18, 2009
The Prisoner Review
© AMC/Bob Trate
As some shows, movies, and miniseries, continued minor complaints either get fixed or often get worse. As enjoyable as The Prisoner has been, the little complaint I had with the first few hours has simply exploded in the second two episodes. There was an issue with scattershot presentation of the story in the first two hours. It wasn’t horrible but it was an annoyance. The problem actually felt like less than stellar editing than a real issue with the style of storytelling. After checking out the second two episodes, I’ve come to the conclusion that the problem is based in flawed story presentation that’s made worse by overly stylized editing. With that said, the episodes were still entertaining and the mystery is still appropriately mysterious. Many people have complained that Caviezel is portraying his character too darkly. I find the dark presentation earthy and realistic in a truly unrealistic situation. Within these two hours, Caviezel does get the opportunity to add some additional emotional depth to his character, for better or for worse.
Anvil
There’s some real fun in this episode, but it all comes from a decision made by 6 that barely makes sense. 2 asks 6 to come and work for him. Apparently, 2 has spies within the village that report to him on suspected dreamers. Dreamers, in case you’ve forgotten, are people that have dreams about lives outside of the village. Even the spies are potentially spied on. The spies work in small cells of only a couple of people and the cells are unaware of those working in other cells. Right away, 6 makes the obvious observation that it’s possible that everyone in the village is a spy spying on everyone else. Even though 6 makes it plain to 2 that he is only working for him to work against him, 6 seems to fall into the job a little too easily. Based on how easily 6 takes on other situations, such as the treatment early on in the series, one could argue that this is just standard operating procedure for 6. Even more frustrating than how easily 6 takes the job is just how much it doesn’t seem to matter by the time the next episode rolls around. This harkens back to the first two hours where little ideas are put forth and then they fizzle away. What happen to the job 6 had as a tour bus driver?
Speaking of jobs during his short tenure as a spy, 6 takes a cover job as a teacher who teaches surveillance to youngsters. Yes, this is a weird class to be teaching in regular school to young kids and yes, the weirdness gets a minor reference and the story moves on. Literally, none of this seems to matter at all. There’s one student that takes a task given her by 6 very seriously and her final scene is surprisingly creepy. It almost feels like the whole teaching gig was put into the episode just for a couple of character moments that could have been crafted in much simpler ways.
While the spying aspect of the episode is done with by the next episode, it does manage to offer up some interesting information about some of the main characters giving some depth in particular to 2’s son. Up to this point, the son has just been the creepy kid standing around and staring at the goings on. He’s still that kid but now he has more investment in the story than had been previously intimated.
This is a highly complex series and it’s absolutely a good thing that it’s only a miniseries. If The Prisoner ran for a full season, or multiple seasons, it would literally bury itself in its complexity. This episode has some harsh jumping around but things actually get much worse in that department with the next episode.
Darling
2 has been trying throughout the run of this miniseries to break 6’s will. He tried it with a fake brother and now he has a whole different scheme. The scheme involves breaking 6 with love even if it’s chemically induced love. Now, here is where things get challenging to follow. The stories in this episode are extremely disjointed and again scattershot. There are many early scenes that break the story up in awkward ways that only make sense toward the end of the episode. Now, I’m fine with not knowing the answers to questions, I’m a LOST fan, but when those questions are slammed in between other ongoing stories in such a way that things get confusing, there’s a mistake happening. Some of the problems come with the jumps in time and place and even some characters. All of this could be successful with better editing and better timing.
At any rate, the focus of this episode comes in the form of 6 trying to find love, whether he wants to or not. Again, he is put into a situation where he must go through an odd dating situation and he goes into it completely willingly. It would be nice if something was built into the narrative that defined why 6 continues to allow himself to be toyed with. It would be simple enough to build in some internal monologue that describes some of 6’s plan and explains why he just gives in to so much of 2’s machinations. Without getting too “spoilery”, it bears mentioning that 2 is getting more forceful in this episode as far as his manipulation of 6 in the form of medical manipulation. This medical manipulation in the early part of the episode plays into some of the convoluted feel of the episode overall.
The girl that 6 eventually meets is the girl from his flashbacks, so things get really confusing when the girl comes to his apartment in the village and those scenes are mixed with flashbacks of the two of them in the same apartment in New York. Add to that random shots of wheels on a hospital gurney and you may want to crack open a bottle of aspirin. Initially, it’s fairly easy to keep the New York scenes and Village scenes separate because there was a difference in wardrobe and day and night, but once those elements aren’t in play in more for various reasons, keeping up with which versions of these two characters is on screen at certain times got pretty annoying.
Honestly, the whole love triangle that plays out on screen in this hour feels like a big distraction. Also, is anyone else having trouble with the doctor’s dialogue? She barely speaks above a whisper most of the time. The best thing about this episode is the “anomaly” or the big hole that just appears in the ground. 2 defines it as a weather anomaly and the eventual solution is for everyone to get pigs. That’s right every home gets at least one pig and there are even a few two pig families. This is as funny and surreal as the show has gotten so far and it was the most entertaining part of the hour.
Overall Thoughts
There are real problems with the story telling in these two hours, the second hour in particular but the mystery is still quite engrossing. Ian McKellen is so good at building some creepiness along with the general surreal nature of the proceedings. Caviezel is good in his role even if his character could use just a little more development. Yes, there is a mystery to be solved but 6’s motivations for some of his decisions should be defined. What is the village? Why does 2 keep his wife comatose? What was 2’s life outside of the village? Why is 6 so important? Even with all of the complaints, all of these questions still matter. The mystery is still riveting and the surreal elements are still outstanding. The productions values in this miniseries are some of the best of any miniseries on cable or on network TV out there. This kind of story and the way the creators have chosen to tell it is perfect for a miniseries and I can’t wait for that last two hours.
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Call me slow I guess. I like watching shows that make you think. This show only makes you ask WTF is going on the entire GD show. I find myself mad that I watched all 3 episodes and still wonder WTF was this about.