Who is the Fifth Cylon == Who is Number One?

Ask yourself, who today would argue, “I will not make any deals with you. I’ve resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.”

Not many. Think about this – by participating on the Internet – logging on your client – you’ve already permitted yourself to be identified by a number.

Number Six’s pursuit of freedom and individuality gave fans of the show something to root for. As did finding who was the hidden Number One behind the Village.

When revealed, the answer drove many fans of The Prisoner crazy. I *love* the ending. There’s layers of meaning there. But I wasn’t living in that day and age, waiting, and waiting for the answer, only to be confounded once broadcast (far more shocking than the controversial Soprano’s ending (which was a cop out)).

Like The Prisoner, Battlestar Galactica explores themes about humanity, individuality, community, mob dynamics, fear, surveillance, soulless commercialism, politics, the good and evil within us all. I wonder when we find out who the Fifth Cylon is there will be a collective “meh” or outrage? You’d have to be brave to pull off what The Prisoner did. Very brave in this day and age. The Prisoner challenged us to think about the world we were creating for ourselves – our world as it exists today.

Number 6: Where am I?
Number 2: In the Village.
Number 6: What do you want?
Number 2: We want information.
Number 6: Whose side are you on?
Number 2: That would be telling. We want information… information… information.
Number 6: You won’t get it.
Number 2: By hook or by crook, we will.
Number 6: Who are you?
Number 2: The new Number 2.
Number 6: Who is Number 1?
Number 2: You are Number 6.
Number 6: I am not a number, I am a free man.
Number 2: Laughter.

Wired: R.I.P. Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner’s TV Visionary

AMC is doing a new version of The Prisoner, due later this year. They have a blog where you can follow the production and the main site is well done. Lacking are links to the pre-existing Prisoner community of fan sites and that is criminal if you ask me.

Wired: The Prisoner Reboots the Panopticon for 21st Century

Related links:

The Prisoner Online

Six of One: The Prisoner Appreciation Society

RetroWeb: The Prisoner

Wikipedia entry for The Prisoner

– Be seeing you.