The Prisoner #001: Who are the No.2's?
Date: Monday, 15 July 1985 17:42 mst
From: allegra!sjuvax!iannucci at SEISMO.CSS.GOV (iannucci)
To: packard!MIT-MULTICS.ARPA!Lippard at SEISMO.CSS.GOV
The Prisoner #001 07/15/85
Topic: Who are the No.2's?
Old #2s -- it probably depends. It seems like the village may be a testing grounds of sorts, or even a last hurrah. Most of the management seemed marginally effective, after all. [Brad Miller]
My feeling is "let the punishment fit the crime." Those #2s who had more grandiose plans that failed, and cost the "company" money and bodies, were shot. Lesser failures were either bumped upstairs, or transferred to another institution. Good torturers are hard to find, after all. If They were willing to devote this much time and energy to crack #6, is it farfetched to assume it is happening to other ex-agents? Imagine a whole circuit of Villages, with the #2s riding like circuit judges between them. [Carl Hommel]
Do they purposely leave it to the imagination, or are you supposed to be able to figure it out from clues within the show? I generally support the former in cases like these. I kinda like Carl's idea. That's pretty much the way I pictured it, although I don't seem to have any reason for doing so. The idea of many villages doesn't turn me on much, though. [Dave Iannucci]
Humph. This is an issue which cuts deep into the hearts of every commentator from Sherlock Holmes, through Star Trek. (Witness the unending stream of messages on net.startrek on inconsistencies.) How far does one go in linking together 16 different scripts? Even with the central direction the actors&c provide, each writer will have a slightly different view of the Village. Saying that the show's creators never intended to have anyone worry about such things is begging the question. And takes all the fun out of it, too :-) [Carl Hommel]
The Village has a single long-term No. 2, but multiple "acting" No. 2's. The only No. 2 we see nearly killed is the retiree in "It's Your Funeral". He is of no further use, and he knows too much. Substitute 2's may be useful in the future, so they are usually not killed for failure. For example, the 2 of "A, B, or C?" had an aptitude for machines that probe and alter the memory, so he is reused in "The General". [Dave Tallman]
What happens to a Number 2 when he is no longer a Number 2? I don't know. At least one was sent home. "Give my regards to the homeland.", says Number 2 to her departing predecessor in "Free for All".
Or they could all disappear into the subconscious of the Prisoner. I still think this could all be a fantasy of his. I noticed in "Living in Harmony" that they all behaved as western characters even when No. 6 was not there, as if his dreams controlled them...
I didn't repeat the evidence I saw for two levels of No. 2's in "It's Your Funeral". The retiring man appears to be a more long-termed 2 than all others seen before. He mentions that others have been acting for him while he was on leave, and shows No. 6 tapes of his substitutes being warned. All of them are No. 2's we have seen previously. Acting 2's are quietly replaced as needs require, but this No. 2 is retiring with great ceremony. He has an "heir apparent" for the higher level position, but that person is acting at the lower level in the beginning of the episode.
It is important for Them to make the retiree's death look like the work of an outside agency - the Clockmaker. They don't want future upper-level No. 2's to know that death is the retirement pension.
Who becomes the upper-level No. 2 after this episode? Possibly the "heir apparent", though he staked his future on eliminating his predecessor. At any rate, a series of acting No. 2's continue to run the Village. [Dave Tallman]
I caught the first episode on Channel 11 New Hampshire last Saturday, and had some interesting musings. This is the first time I have seen it since Lastcon 1, in December 1981.
- The doors only open/close for #6. Normal people do it themselves. This lends creedence the comma faction with their "You are, Number 6."
- #6 spends some time searching for a map. How ironic that in his living quarters is an antique globe, and a detailed map of Europe!
- Alana (my wife) wondered how many characters (other than the #2 in the last episode) were in more than one show? She seems to recall the short bald scientist showing up later on.
- How did "Rover" (the white beach ball) get his name? I read in in some fanfiction, and people at Lastcon named him so, but is he called that in the shows?
- The unanswerable question - is the Village run by the Good Guys or the Bad Guys?
- Why did the statues move to face #6? They didn't seem to be where the cameras were located. [Carl Hommel]
Re: question No.4 above: I heard the the supervisor (the short bald guy who runs the surveillance center) call him Rover in one episode (I couldn't possibly tell you which one). That is the only time in the series that I can remember Rover's name being mentioned. [Dave Iannucci]
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Well, people, you may notice that the number of people involved in the above discussions is very small. These were sent to me before Chuq advertised us in his mod.newlists, i.e. before 80% of the current members had joined. Please get involved. All submissions must be sent to me.
The group is now 41 strong -- far more than my wildest dreams could conjure. I have some more topics lying in wait, but I don't dare reveal them for fear of being deluged with submissions! So for now, we'll stick to the current topic. If you have any suggestions at all about the mailings, please feel free to let me know. I have never done anything like this before, and have only my own ideas to go on.
I am probably forgetting something, but I want to get this out and go home. Bhearing from U soon.
Dave Iannucci @ St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pa.
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