There was a year in the mid-90s when I could wake up bleary-eyed on a Sunday morning, turn on the telly and enjoy an episode of The Prisoner. I dreaded the final episode, which I knew nothing about. When the conclusion was over I realized my dread had been well-founded, but for entirely unexpected reasons. At least McGoohan and company had the balls to disappoint this fan with psychedelic art-house nonsense, and not some lame dream-sequence. Nicely done!
That big balloon that used to hunt him down and bring him back scared the holy hell out of me. Yet I couldn't look away when the sequence would start. I had nightmares about it for years.
ReplyDeleteEven as I bad-mouth psychedelic influences I have to admit: that was some truly disturbing shit! And I'm not just talking about the bouncing bubble.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of McGoohan and The Prisoner. Sorry to see him go. Watched the entire series during the summer of 1980 I believe. Stayed up after midnight to watch with my dad. Kind of a nice memory. The Western episode was the best - totally mind warping with no footage in Portmeirion. Was given the boxed set of DVD's recently for my B'day. My wife found'm on Amazon I think.
ReplyDeleteIncludes a fold out map of the village - Bonus Fun!
Now that is the kind of DVD bonus I can go for! Hm. Paging Amazon...
ReplyDelete