The Prisoner - Living in Harmony

Episode Name: Living in Harmony
Original Air Date: December 29 1967
TV Airing Order: 14
KTEH Airing Order: 10
Summary - In an Old West setting, a lawman who resigned is trapped in a town called Harmony where the Judge wants him to be the new sheriff — by hook or by crook.

Yeah, I don't have much to say about this one. If I a certain interview with McGoohan correctly, this episode exists because no one in British television was interested in doing a western, so they put one into The Prisoner. Yes, this episode really is an old western tale, complete with its own introductory sequence. Yes, it also another scheme to trick Number Six into thinking he is somewhere other than the Village, in the hopes of getting him to do something. This time, it isn't about his resignation - instead, they force him to become the sheriff of their fictional frontier town so that he once again picks up a gun.

There's probably all sorts of analysis to be had with this episode, but just like with A, B, & C I feel that these questions are the wrong kind. They don't exist to drive home a point or to serve the story, but are simply due to the show's loose grasp of development and continuity. I don't really want to spend time getting anxious and frustrated as I try to piece it all together when there isn't much of a point. Since I was exhausted when I watched it, I approached this episode like it was an entry in a good old western show, and I had a lot of fun with it that way. Anything else can easily be written off as The Village becoming even more frustrated with their failure to break Number Six and that maybe, just maybe, their unorthodox methods are starting to take their toll on the people administering them.

Normally, I don't always like any analysis of a show that tries to write something off as "not being the point", but this wasn't an episode to worry over (it wasn't even shown in the U.S. back in the 60's). Hell, you could view it as a parable of a man's struggle with society in another period of time if you want. You'll still get something good out of it.