Review - The Prisoner (2009) Part 1 Arrival and Part 2 Harmony

The Prisoner is imaginative, ambitious, and gorgeously shot. So why does everyone seem to dislike it? I don't think the six-part miniseries warranted all the heat from the two parts that I've seen so far, but there are still many problems with it, as with many shows on television.

I want to be brief mostly because I haven't watched the original and don't want to make myself look like an idiot. From what I've read, the new version is less crazy than the original which makes me wonder why everyone likes the original (that's what I mean when I say I don't want to make myself look like an idiot).

Several times while watching, I was wondering where the story was going. There's so many things going on from Six's (James Caviezel) past from quiting a job, to the Village where nothing is quite right, and then random sequences where something is happening and then immediately stopping. It seems like the writers or director, or whoever was in charge was trying too hard to make a mysterious tone with multiple layers. There are some scenes that are barreling ahead and then Six wakes up and everything seems to reset. Maybe that's part of The Prisoner "experience," but I'm certainly not feeling it.

The dialogue is all geared toward making the viewer think about what is real, what isn't real, society, and other mumbo jumbo. It's interesting, but to be bombarded by the same themes over and over again in different scenarios gets tedious.

Ian McKellen is great as Two who has a very human side, and a side that keeps the Village and it's citizens in line. The rest of the performances are more of less what you'd see on any random show. They aren't bad, but they aren't great either.

Score: 8.4/10