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In My Mind Tries to Unravel the Mysteries of The Prisoner

Rachel: Quarantine life has allowed me to catch up on a long list of TV shows I should have watched by now. Last month, I fell down the rabbit hole that is Patrick McGoohan’s cult classic show The Prisoner I binged most of it within the course of a couple of weekends. (I’m still working out what it could—or couldn’t—mean.)

Much like Twin Peaks, the series has both delighted and frustrated viewers for over 50 years. The themes and episode watching orders have been debated endlessly by fans. So why should its creator give any simple answers? The 2017 documentary In My Mind showcases the challenges long-time fan and filmmaker Chris Rodley encountered in tracking down McGoohan for a series of interviews. Much like Number 6, the iconic character he created and played, McGoohan sends Rodley and his crew up and down the California coast on a wild goose chase of sorts—even offering to buy back some of the footage they shot that he didn’t like. Tightly wound, intense, and puzzling are all words that could be used to describe McGoohan.

The filmmakers buoy the rough interview footage with a new interview with McGoohan’s daughter, Catherine, weighing in on both her father’s work but also the inner workings of his mind. Along with careful research, it reveals how McGoohan single-handedly created one of the most iconic television series of all time, for writing and directing multiple episodes (sometimes under his own name, sometimes under other monikers) and diligently refusing to give any straight answers about the meaning of it all. It’s a fascinating, frustrating and often funny look at a man struggling with the concepts of freedom, fate, and ultimately, control. Additionally, the documentary features breathtaking drone footage of otherworldly filming location, Portmeirion, and 8mm film footage a tourist took when they started filming the show’s opening episode “Arrival.”

In the end, it’s still up to us to find the answers hidden within The Prisoner, but this does offer some reprieve. Be seeing you…

Written by TV Obsessive

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