Be Seeing You

I just finished watching the premier of AMC's The Prisoner. It's based on the 1967 British show of the same name, created by and starring Patrick McGoohan. The original 17 episodes were used as filler TV in Israel during summer break when I was in elementary school. I can't remember exactly how old I was. Luckily my ex-husband, a huge fan of the show, owned it on DVD, so I got to watch it again as an adult. Rick even watched a few episodes with me. I even got my brother to watch an episode, or more like part of an episode, but that's a story for another time.

The original series was filmed in a gorgeous little seaside resort called Portmeiron which is in Wales. You can still take a vacation there. It's lush and pretty and not as desolate and foreboding as the new Village which was built in Namibia. I love the feel of the original, it's so quintessentially 60's mod, plus McGoohan drives a Lotus 7 which looks like a giant kazoo with wheels.

I quite liked the new series. It's much darker and more sinister (like The Manchurian Candidate meets The Truman Show), and looks very promising. For some reason all they eat in the Village is wraps. I'm not sure what the deal is what that, but maybe we'll find out as the series continues. I like that they paid subtle homage to the original. The second character we meet, 93, looks like one of the number 2 characters and wears the classic Prisoner jacket. When number 6 (Jim Caviezel) searches 93's house we catch a quick glimpse of a lava lamp, another nod. I'm looking forward to seeing more tomorrow night.

Don't forget that Rick is growing a mustache to raise funds for men's health issues. You can donate money in Rick's mustache's name here.