The Prisoner, some spoilers
It was exactly the kind of slightly paranoid, two-clicks-off, hard-to-understand series that I loved as a preteen/teen, let alone my early crush on Patrick McGoohan. I somehow missed the reboot miniseries done in 2009 with Ian McKellan and Jim Caviezel. I have now gotten through 3 episodes and wow! FUBAR and a lot darker, in its own way, than the original. It fits nicely into the world of Caviezel's next series, "Person of Interest" (which I also enjoy a great deal) and has less of the sense of whimsy of the original.
Although I do wonder if I was simply missing the context of the times for the original series, shot when I was about 3 or so, late 60's. Perhaps I was simply tone-deaf to the fear of Communism and Totalitarianism that is woven into the original. It seems to have reached an acute paranoia of shadowy organizations/governments that "know" things. It is definitely a post-1984 sensibility that is lacking in the original.
I enjoy the little shouts out to the first series, though; the pennyfarthing bike in a background shot, some interiors that look like the originals, and, of course, Rover. But I miss Angelo Muscat (the Butler) and the silent Greek Chorus he used to provide. Ian McKellan is a hell of a symnpathetic #2 but somehow, he isn't as fallible as Leo McKern's #2. Turns out, according to IMDB, that none of the actors who played #2 did so for more than 2 episodes. How odd, indeed, since I remember Leo McKern as the quintessential.
But to have the teenaged kid kill his own lover with a pocket-knife...ugh. Looking forward to the final 3 episodes, despite needing to watch them with the subtitles on because McKellan hrmphles his lines into the back of his craggy throat in received vowels that make it impossible to figure out what the hell he is saying.
Although I do wonder if I was simply missing the context of the times for the original series, shot when I was about 3 or so, late 60's. Perhaps I was simply tone-deaf to the fear of Communism and Totalitarianism that is woven into the original. It seems to have reached an acute paranoia of shadowy organizations/governments that "know" things. It is definitely a post-1984 sensibility that is lacking in the original.
I enjoy the little shouts out to the first series, though; the pennyfarthing bike in a background shot, some interiors that look like the originals, and, of course, Rover. But I miss Angelo Muscat (the Butler) and the silent Greek Chorus he used to provide. Ian McKellan is a hell of a symnpathetic #2 but somehow, he isn't as fallible as Leo McKern's #2. Turns out, according to IMDB, that none of the actors who played #2 did so for more than 2 episodes. How odd, indeed, since I remember Leo McKern as the quintessential.
But to have the teenaged kid kill his own lover with a pocket-knife...ugh. Looking forward to the final 3 episodes, despite needing to watch them with the subtitles on because McKellan hrmphles his lines into the back of his craggy throat in received vowels that make it impossible to figure out what the hell he is saying.