This was a brief, badly written, post I made at Lost Theories dot com some time back. The site seems to be defunct now, so I’m posting this here:
The Prisoner was a British TV series that aired in 1967. It took place in a mysterious location called “The Village.” The location of the Village was never pinned down conclusively, it seems to have either been somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, or perhaps in England – a single gas tank’s drive from London.
The Village is apparently destroyed in the last episode. During this destruction, the Rover(s) – strange egg shaped robots that act as guards of the Village – are seen melting into smoke. Is this the Smoke Monster?
The Village was administered by a group of strange, paranoid individuals doing some sort of research – usually assumed to be espionage related, but the last episode casts doubt on this. It seems they may be more interested in psychological or sociological research than espionage. They do a lot of work with brainwashing and mind control. Could this be the Dharma Initiative?
The Village administered by someone called “Number 2.” Every episode has a new Number 2. The nature and identity of “Number 1” is never made clear. Could Ben be the current Number 2, with Hanso (or someone else) being Number 1?
Since I wrote this, it’s become clear that Jacob is Number 1, and John Locke is the new Number 2.
Also: “In the ABC TV series, a group of survivors is trapped on a mysterious island. In the second season, they open a hatch that leads to a large bunker. A cache of food inside is labelled in an identical Albertus font to that used in The Prisoner.” Source: The Prisoner references in popular culture entry on Wikipedia
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Watch every episode of the Prisoner online for free (US only?)