Yes, I did it. I watched the whole thing. There were times I didn’t think I’d make it. But yes, I did, I made it through the entire remake of The Prisoner on AMC. An unlimited supply of popcorn and chocolate chips helped, as did the knowledge that at some point this show would end and I would leave the experience with some new found knowledge. And here it is:
1. Cast Sir Ian McKellan in everything always.
Ian McKellan is like Kryptonite to channel changers. There is no way a person can change the channel on this man. In the original series, Number Two was played by a different person each week. A smart device if you want to explore issues of expendability, but thankfully not one used in the remake. Because let me tell you, if they replaced McKellan, I would have turned off my tv.
2. Don’t steal aspects of the OLD show and put them in the NEW show if the new show has an entirely different premise.
Case in point: the numbering system. If the new village is supposed to be some sort of Utopian existence, (unlike the old village which was a prison), then taking away people’s names and numbering them all makes absolutely no sense. It’s nice to have an homage and all, but stick to showing us lava lamps and referencing costumes…
3. If you make 6 episodes, air 6 episodes.
Don’t air three mega-episodes as two hour “events” instead. The thing that makes episodic television great is just that: the episodes. It let’s us follow a distinct aspect of the story, muse on it, discuss it with others. If you present two episodes back to back, without any sense of divide between the two, we begin to wonder why we watched the first hour of the show when the second goes in another direction.
4. Just because we love a mystery, doesn’t mean we like getting yanked around.
You may think that because we watch LOST and revel in the random polar bear sitings and black clouds, that we’re OK without explanations of why these things exist. Not so. We continue to watch so that eventually we will understand WHY JJ Abrams imported a polar bear to Hawaii. And JJ Abrams knows that, which is why he asked for an end date to the series so that he could start explaining things without veering too far off course. But this was a six hour show. It had an end. So tell why, by the end of these six hours, do I still not know what the hell that bouncing white ball is supposed to be?
5. Don’t call me stupid (ahem… Subaru).
Did anyone else notice that during the commercial breaks, Subaru “presented” hints to what was going on? Hints like: “the pills and the holes are connected.” Wow, really Subaru? Thanks for thinking I’m an idiot. Much appreciated.