The Prisoner (TV Series) Dance of the Dead (1967) User Reviews

The situation's bleak

[Mr-Fusion · 8/10 · 22 September 2017]

Part of the fun of "The Prisoner" is that there's no definitive viewing order for these episodes. Different sequences yield (somewhat) different results. For this run-through, I'm trying the KTEH order; and in the past, I've seen 'Dance of the Dead' a bit later in the run (7th episode or thereabouts), but it works just as well immediately following 'Arrival'.

This has a rather dark feel to it, its issues of justice and democracy are heavy and the idea of state-imposed happiness goes a long way in showing just how much danger Number 6 is in. This week's Number Two (Mary Morris) leads a female cast, and the tone runs somewhat misogynistic - but she's highly effective as an administrator that lays down her rule as law. It sets the stage; she'll be swapped out for another Number Two next week, who will play this game again his own way.

It's an episode that runs high on dramatic stakes alone, and emphasizes the peril of Six's fight.

8/10

The Women Are Out to Finish Him

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 17 February 2015]

Number Six discovers a body on a beach after he has made a desperate run and been overcome. He finds a transistor type radio in the pocket (a remnant of 1960's technology). In this episode he is beset by humorless, carcinogenic women. Some are quite beautiful but have the edge of a razor. Number Two is now a woman and is lacking any of the charm other Number Twos have had. She, along with her confederates, is not amused by Number Six's shenanigans. Six gets a life preserver, puts the body inside, and includes a message, describing his fate. Meanwhile, a huge carnival, with games and dancing, is going on. It's so interesting how things that would seem joyful in other settings are sick and depressing in this world. Six counters comments about "following rules" with a stichomythic byplay that annoys and frustrates the authorities. Rule following is big here but no one really knows what the rules are until they have broken them. Number Six ends up being tried by a tribunal during a cabaret event. The people who try him are dressed in costumes that include Napoleon, Caesar, Little Bo Peep, and Number Two's Peter Pan. It plays out in an interesting way as Number Six continues to disrupt things.

There will be music, dancing, happiness . . . By order

[aramis-112-804880 · 7/10 · 2 May 2022]

The dance macabre, or the dance of death, was an allegorical notion in medieval art, to remind us death is everywhere and unexpected. In an age when pandemics might kill a third of the people and doctoring consisted of blood-letting, it's no wonder they thought that way. It's sort of the medieval artistic equivalent of the skeleton at the feast.

Here we have a female no.2. Not the first nor the last, but some others like to stay incognito. And the village is going to have a carnival, with everyone in costume ("There will be music, dancing, happiness . . . By order"). But, as one might expect, it turns nasty for no. 6.

A slight episode, more interested in fashion than sense. And no. 6 is tried, not for breaking any particular laws but for not trying to fit into the community. This charge would grow more vicious in the prescient "A Change of Mind" where he was accused of being "unmutual" and shunned. Both episodes might have been penned as bitter satires on 21st century American culture.

However, this episode introduces the black cat that will appear later. A metaphor for 6, who prefers cat-like independence to a dogged persistence in following the latest fad?

On a personal note, the quote above reminded me of a superior I had for several years at work. A Cuban refugee, he had a sign reading, "The floggings will continue until morale improves." So might the show-trials, as in this episode.

I've had friends on both sides of the American political divide (I've been on both sides myself) who love "The Prisoner" and thinks it speaks for them. This is one episode more often staked out more by my pals on what is carelessly referred to as the right. I don't believe in collectivizing or grouping humans into categories, but I tend to think they're . . . Right.

Gauged as important for its depressing futility and unforgettable ending

[mbanak · 10/10 · 18 October 2015]

Items not mentioned in the reviews of this bold and unforgettable episode include the following key points:

• This is one of the *essential* 7 episodes.

• It is dark, gloomy and foreboding.

• Key development: The dead body found by number 6 is used by the village to have the person known as #6 deemed "dead" to the rest of the world. You gotta watch for it.

• This grotesque episode ends with a smashing, unforgettable decent into despair. The village becomes an intellectual nightmare.

Looking across McGoohan's other work, I come away with the sense that he always had a flair for the surreal. I am reminded somewhat of the comedian, Any Kauffmen, who only wanted a reaction from the audience. Even if it was something other than a laugh. When his alter-ego, Tony Clifton, slaps a little girl on stage, the audience gasps. That was good 'nuff for Andy.

That's what McGoohan does here - he gets a reaction, and it's not the one we want. Most episodes end with a sense of hope for a future escape. This time, our deranged village looks unbeatable. The victory, hope and insight we get from other episodes will come another day. Tonight we are sickened.

I don't like this episode. But I cannot shake it's lingering imagery. McGoohan the producer wins.

10 stars.

Prison

[AaronCapenBanner · 10/10 · 9 June 2015]

Number six(Patrick McGoohan) is walking along the beach when he happens to find a body which has a radio with it. After pushing the body out to sea, he resolves to use the radio in his attempts to escape by making contact with home, but an ex-colleague of his who turns up will prove to be no help at all, as "six" is uncovered and put on show trial by the new female number two(played by Mary Morris) during a carnival/masquerade ball, where his steely will is matched against the unmerciful powers-that-be determined to hold him prisoner until they break him, no matter the discomfort. Female dominated episode has a real nightmarish feel about it as number six, despite his strength and survival, is really up against a bleak future there...

Kangaroo Court

[Samuel-Shovel · 3/10 · 5 July 2019]

In "Dance of the Dead" Number Six discovers a dead body washed up on the shore with a functioning radio. He plans to use this to get help but is thwarted when Number Two discovers his plans. The Village holds an annual festival.

I'm not sure I understand much of the plot of this episode. It's all jumbled and nonsensical. The court scene is interminable. I don't understand Number Two's plan. It all comes across just oh so oddly.

Well how very unfortunate for you, old chap...

[UNOhwen · 3 November 2011]

One of my top episodes, this allegory, is also one of the most violent.

DANCE OF THE DEAD - nicknamed 'the women's episode,' for it's heavily weighted female cast, has Mary Morris, playing Number 2, in such a way, that, well., as #6 says; 'never trust a woman - even the four-legged kind' becomes much clearer.

I won't give a synopsis - I don't want to spoil the (ahem) 'fun' in store.

What I will say, is that, in #6's presence at the village is quite recent, he's shown that - no matter the gender, the #2 is NOT to be trifled with.

Ms. Morris's characterisation of #2 is as ice-cold, as one can be - and, other than Leo McKern's version - and, the milk-obsessed Colin Gordon's, is most memorable.