The Prisoner - The General

Episode Name: The General
Original Air Date: November 3 1967
TV Airing Order: 6
KTEH Airing Order: 8
Summary - An important prisoner's new speed-teaching machine poses perhaps the greatest threat to Number Six's independence.

The General popped up frequently in my research of the show, and it always reminded me of Chinese food (which makes me hungry), and the song of the same name by Dispatch (which makes me think of shaggy haired undergrads struggling to play some chords on Thursday nights in college). Neither of those are feelings I like to have, so it will be nice to finally get this episode behind me.

The Schizoid Man made the first mention of the General, and by the end of this story we learn exactly who he is. Until then, we see the entire Village become obsessed with "Speed Learn", a method of instantaneous learning allegedly created by our mysterious General, and taught by another Villager called The Professor. Number Six learns firsthand how well Speed Learning works, which naturally worries him. Any device that can teach so well can also be used to brainwash. What follows is what some fans consider a low point in this series, as it goes against what they consider to be the point of the show. Number Six gets genuine allies, and the final conflict involves feeding an unsolvable question to a super computer (you didn't think the General was going to be an actual person...). In a show that focuses on the struggles of one man against society as a whole, it seems odd to throw Six and some one time use characters into a plot straight out of Star Trek, or so the fans say.

I'm not sure if I entirely agree. The General shows sides of the Village we have never seen before. The Professor and his wife, for example, are neither captives or guardians, but rather voluntary citizens doing a job. We see a rare male spy/ally, whose interactions with Number Six are much different than what we have seen before (interesting to see that he is identified as Number 12, which was the number of the main antagonist in Schizoid Man). And it still highlights an important theme of the show - how technology advances faster than society can learn to use it. Speed Learn appears to be a more powerful and efficient method of learning than any traditional form of lecture, but all you really end up with are students who can fire off facts without any comprehension of what they mean. It isn't a form of education, but rote memorization. It does nothing for the pupil, and it can even take away from the importance of the subject matter.

As someone who is only a few years removed from the world of education, this hits close to home. I can still remember all of the students who could memorize everything they needed to in order to pass a test, but couldn't remember any of that material by the time they graduated. I saw my own brother struggle to write a good college essay, because he was told that anything he wrote in high school would be graded based on how well it fit a rigid, five paragraph structure. I read a sample from a decade's old elementary school exam that was considered a "real" test by some commenters, simply because it asked students to name the people elected to obscure government positions. Everyone argues about the right way to educate people, but few can let go of their love of rote facts. The General touches on these dangers, and even glimpses into the future's absurd, touchy feely approaches to education (a Villager who is sitting upside down is said to be "discovering a new perspective").

Finally, The General reminds us that no matter how robotic and procedural the Village is depicted to be, it is still run by and populated with human beings, who have flaws and dark sides and everything in between. It shows us the Education council that wishes to use Speed Learn for their own means, and it uses Number 12 to show that these mysterious elites can have a change of heart. When the ending conflict leaves the Professor dead, we are reminded that his wife will be left behind. The Prisoner may explore the human condition, but there are certain human qualities which it forgets to focus on, and The General brings them into focus, if only for a brief hour. While it is true that the 60's cheese may make repeat viewings difficult, the underlying messages are as strong as ever.