July 28, 2011 - 6:51pm
Captivated by AMC's 'The Prisoner'
BY CAROLYN KLARECKI
- Courtesy of AMC
“The Prisoner”
Nov. 15, 16 and 17 at 8 p.m.
AMC
4.5 out of 5 stars
Mini-series are the safe haven for stories that aren’t compelling enough to be movies, but not long enough to fill a season of television. The best of them are usually either boring historic fictions or boring science fictions. But AMC’s latest gem, “The Prisoner,” shatters that stigma with incredibly force.
A man (James Caviezel, “The Passion of the Christ”) wakes in the mountains not sure of where he is or how he got there. Lost and confused, he wanders toward civilization until he finds himself caught in a Stepford-esque town in the middle of the desert known as nothing more than “the village.” In the village, each person is ascribed a number rather than a name.
Despite having no memory of the village, he’s known as Six and is told he’s lived there his whole life. However, the frequent flashbacks into his former life and overall creepiness of village leader Two (Ian McKellen, the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) say otherwise. Six knows that he’s a prisoner trapped in a dystopia and will do all he can to escape, regardless of the evidence against him.
The first two episodes pose more questions than answers. Why is there such a large theme around oceans? Why aren’t people freaking out over these mysterious deaths? What’s the deal with those towers and that large white balloon thing? And is there a One? However, rather than being off-putting, this mystification only sparks curiosity and makes the series addicting.
There isn’t a slow or dull moment in the series thus far. The next four episodes will air tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., so those on the edge of their seats won’t be there for long — a bittersweet convenience. Very few television shows have managed to create such suspense in only two hours of air time and it’s a shame it won’t remain for weeks to come. Though it’ll be tragically short-lived, definitely make time to see “The Prisoner” as it’s one of the best mini-series of the year.
