argentnoelle

(also on tumblr)
This is the episode order I worked out for The Prisoner. It actually makes a lot of logical sense! I was surprised to find that there is much more in-episode continuity than there might seem at first, if you look carefully for it.

I love seeing other people’s orders, but I especially like to see their reasoning, so I can see if the order makes sense to me. For that reason, I’ve put the in-depth reasoning for the placement of each episode below. Enjoy!

My Episode Order

1 – Arrival
2 – Dance of the Dead
3 – Free For All
4 – The Chimes of Big Ben
5 – Checkmate
6 – The Schizoid Man
7 – The General
8 – A, B, & C
9 – Many Happy Returns
10 – A Change of Mind
11 – It’s Your Funeral
12 – Hammer Into Anvil
13 – Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
14 – Living in Harmony
15 – The Girl Who Was Death
16 – Once Upon a Time
17 – Fall Out

My Episode Order – with reasoning ->

1 ARRIVAL

Well, this one is obvious…

2 DANCE OF THE DEAD

Six mentions being “new here” multiples times—the *only* time in the entire series he does so. I can’t think of a better reason for putting this second, and not later.

Plus thematically the episode seems to work well in this place.

It’s been mentioned elsewhere that Six has a metaphorical death here, and the whole carnival aspect—of giving him “himself” back for carnival is a sure way to bring the point home that here he can’t be himself. That plus the show trial all seem to be for the purpose of intimidation/showing the power of the Village—the idea that ‘you should give up before we make you’ … in this episode they aren’t actually trying to do anything to *him*… yet.

In their conversation on the tower Two mentions that they give a grace period to newcomers, but if he doesn’t shape up in time, they have ways to force him—Six answers yes, he’s seen the hospital.

Six definitely sees what happens to hospitalized patients in “Arrival”, with Cobb’s staged “suicide”, so it makes sense as a reference, but it also seems to say to me that he is unfamiliar with the precise details of how *else* they might mess with you in the Village—that he hasn’t yet experienced any of the other episodes.

As has been pointed out by others, it also makes sense for the second episode to be the one where Six “dies” to the outside world, which explains why no one tries to find him… although in “The Chimes of Big Ben”, they say he’s disappeared, not that he’s died, which *could* be argument for putting that episode before this.

I don’t think that works, though, because this really has to be an early episode, and that one seems less early—(further notes under that title.)

The doctor tries to get Six to talk about the secrets he knows, contrary to Two’s wishes—he seems to want the “information” the Twos are always saying they want, while she expresses the opinion that Six could become a valuable addition, if he was persuaded to come around to their way, though such a process might take some time.

This as the second episode reasonably sets up, for the series to come, the two reasons the Village is interested in Six.

And which will be more or less focused on by each Two—

1) the information he knows, and

2) the qualities he has that could make him very good as one of them… if he could only be convinced to join them.

3 FREE FOR ALL

I feel that this comes after “Dance of the Dead” mostly because that works better, dramatically, as a second episode—and all of “Dance of the Dead”‘s references to being new—plus I feel the horrible irony is more if Six is sentenced to death one episode, and the very next one, given a—false—position of power and prestige as “No. 2”, rather than the other way around.

It also seems to make sense that Six would be so dismissive of everyone in the Village, in this episode, if he’s already seen them behave like a frenzied mob, out for his blood, on command.

This episode *has* to take place before “The Chimes of Big Ben” for two reasons.

because during the Truth Test scene, Six discovers they have his preference for not taking sugar in his tea on file, while he doesn’t seem surprised at that fact in the other episode.
Six also seems to find out, in the restaurant scene in “Free For All” thatit’s not possible to find alcohol in the Village… “looks the same, tastes the same”… and is quite desperate to find some real alcohol… while in “The Chimes of Big Ben” he ironically refers to the fact, when he meets Nadia.)

4 THE CHIMES OF BIG BEN

Takes place after “Free For All” for reasons described above.

When Six escapes to “London” his superior says that he’s been missing for months.

This seems to be the introduction of the Number Twos quests to get Six to talk—neither “Dance of the Dead” nor “Free For All” had a No. 2 seem particularly bothered by that, both seemed to be more about showing Six the village’s power in general.

Here, Two says that if they can get Six to talk about why he resigned, it will be the crack they need to get him to talk about other things… the information they really want?

It would make sense that Six would fairly easily trust Nadia, as he’s shown her waking up and being clearly new to the Village, and to his mind she wouldn’t have had time to be brainwashed to the other villagers way of (non)-thinking yet, the way he has seen quite clearly in action in “Dance of the Dead” and “Free For All.”

The only reason one might put this before “Dance of the Dead” is because it seems a little strange that Six doesn’t think it’s weird when his superior says he ‘disappeared’ instead of ‘died’—but that still seems easier to explain than the other inconsistencies you get if you switch the order of these two episodes. (The information about sugar in his file, and the lack of alcohol in the village, which Six would discover *after* already knowing about it, if you switched these episodes around.)

In this episode, Six’s superior mentions that they thought Six resigned because he defected. This might not be a lie… it might be why he appeared in the Village in the first place…

5 CHECKMATE

Two says Six is new here. You could potentially place this *before* “The Chimes of Big Ben” but I feel like that doesn’t work, because

When Six first interrogates the Rook, Rook mentions that he thinks Six is a plant—he says he’s been fooled that way before.

It seems to make a greater dramatic sense, and it fits perfectly well with Six’s reaction, if Six has also been fooled that way—and “The Chimes of Big Ben” happening previously would perhaps further explain his sudden renewed interest in figuring out who is who in the Village. It also could be seen as SIx settling—he doesn’t think highly of the villagers, but if even someone *new* might be a plant, he needs to find another, foolproof, way to find allies.

It also seems to make more sense that he would act in the very knowing, “guardian”-esque way he did with Nadia as a matter of course, not particularly assuming it might affect their escape or the possibility of their trusting one another once their goals are out in the open, if he has not already gone through “Checkmate” and experienced where that type of action is very likely to lead.—On the other hand, he knew that she was new, and she wouldn’t necessarily have had time to come to the conclusions/reactions of the other villagers, which was what he was counting on… still I feel like it’s an emotional point that makes sense. Would he trust someone so easily after the end of this episode? There seems to be something …almost naïve about Six in Chimes that there isn’t in this or other, later, episodes. He trusts Nadia very easily and completely.

It has to be after “Free For All” because in that episode Six says he’s interested in figuring out the guardians from the prisoners, in this episode he discovers how to do it.

It has to be after “Dance of the Dead” because that one is pretty convincingly second.

Here, Two says that they have ways to get what they want, if Six drives the Village to them, Six says he can guess that. That seems to be a clue that the episode is fairly early.

In this chronology, the only thing the Village has done to him so far is the fake escape in “The Chimes of Big Ben” so this threat still makes a bit of sense. He hasn’t seen, until now, the extent of mental manipulation they routinely employ, nor have they used anything besides “tricks” on him.

6 THE SCHIZOID MAN

This seems to take place before “The General” because

at the end of this episode, Six mentions something or someone called the General, referring to it as him, and that seems to be one of the things that tips Two off that Twelve is actually Six.

Of course, both generals could be different, but if they were the same General it would explain Two’s reaction.

It would also explain why Six is so—somewhat inexplicably, otherwise—interested in who the General is in “The General.” (I mean otherwise it’s just rather *odd*… that is Six’s primary motivation in the whole episode. ‘Who is The General’? This episode coming beforehand gives him a personal motivation for wanting to know the answer; because his lack of knowledge about the General here was clear and obvious.)

It has to come after “Arrival”, “Dance of the Dead”, and “Free For All” because those are early episodes, this doesn’t seem to be.

It has to take place after “Checkmate” because before that, Six’s opinions of all the Villagers was too low and he’s making such sweeping assessments of them, that he wouldn’t try to make friends with anyone; in this episode he is friends with Alison.

After “Checkmate”, Six has realized that there are other people who want to escape like him, and experienced firsthand why it is so impossible to actually carry an escape out, even if you are in a group.

At the end of “Checkmate” Six is dismayed to find that the Rook thought he was a warden because of his actions. At the end of “The Schizoid Man” when he talks with Allison and she tells him she’s sorry she betrayed him, he says— That’s what we all do, here—which seems to point to an understanding he didn’t personally have until “Checkmate”. It’s good/logical character development.

“The Schizoid Man” also seems like it comes less early because it has a very different thematic focus. The plot doesn’t revolve around or start with Six’s attempt to escape, as in Arrival/Dance/Free/Chimes/Checkmate. He takes the opportunity when it arises, but that happens very late in the game.

Most of the episode revolves around Six trying to reclaim his identity—as Six.

—I am *your* Number 6,— he says to Two. Which has an interesting meaning… he’s Six only to others, such as Two; not to himself… but he also is *owned* in some way by Two. It’s such a double-edged way to reassert one’s identity, as it seems the Village must have known. In fact, I can’t help but think that the entire point of the plan in this episode is to make Six psychologically stand behind the position they’ve given him, because it *is* intrinsically tied with details of his own identity, from physical attributes to history. To try to regain his place—which he must, because it is his past and himself—is to somehow affirm that he is Six. This can only be part of the plot to bring Six around to the Village, because it’s not about getting information.

Plus, doesn’t it seem apt for episode 6 to be the one where he has to become Six? (Really. It can’t get better than that.)

7 THE GENERAL

Has to take place before Arrival/Dance/Free because those are early episodes, this isn’t.

Has to take place after Schizoid because of the reference to The General as an unknown quantity.

Has to take place after Chimes because Chimes is before “Checkmate”.

This episode has to come after “Checkmate” because that’s when Six discovers how to tell the wardens from the prisoners, and in this episode he clearly understands that Twelve is a warden… not that that takes much doing. Furthermore, this is the only episode to date where Six makes no escape attempt at all, which seems to fit the arc of the show and leads in well from “The Schizoid Man”. Instead Six is trying to stop whatever weird thing was going on with Speedlearn, at Twelve’s request.

8 A, B, & C

Has to take place after Arrival/Dance/Free because those are early episodes, this isn’t.

Probably comes after “The Chimes of Big Ben” because it’s in that episode that Six realizes definitely for the first time that at least some very high up people on his own side know about & are complicit with the Village.

In this episode, Two is concerned that Six resigned because he wanted to sell out, which seems to point to a consideration that only his own side would worry about; and Six isn’t surprised by this.

Also, in the former episode his superior says they thought he resigned because he defected; in this episode—if it takes place after—Six answers that question—as a “no.”

Has to take place after “The General” because the Two is the same in both episodes; in the former he’s acting normal, in this episode he’s terribly worried about failing One and what will happen to him if he does.

For these reasons it must also not take place before “Checkmate”. “Checkmate” is probably before “The Schizoid Man”, which has to take place before “The General” which has to take place before “A, B, & C”

It makes the most sense if “The General” and “A, B, & C” are back-to-back, because of the Two issue (that is, Two is the same in both, and is worried/sacked, probably, in the latter.)

Furthermore, in this episode, as in “The General” Six also does not attempt escape. Instead his purpose is to foil his captors plans, make is clear to them that he didn’t defect, and—poke fun at their obsession with him. It’s the kind of interaction that appears in the later episodes.

9 MANY HAPPY RETURNS

There’s not much that can be proved here, placement-wise, [unless you are messing around with the calendar but to be honest that makes just as little sense to me as the fact that the Village routinely shows up in different part of the world]—

Most of my placement of this comes down to the general tone, feeling, themes, and how Six acts.

It comes after Arrival/Dance/Free because those are early episodes. This doesn’t seem to be, mostly be the difference in Six’s behaviour.

The episode could possibly take place before “The Chimes of Big Ben” but I would put it later. Six seems much more wary in this episode.

Both episodes feature an “escape” to London, but in “The Chimes of Big Ben” Six is fooled by a fake office with noises outside it, while in “Many Happy Returns” he’s paranoid even when he knows he’s actually made it to the city

so it seems a little strange to me to put the two in a different order.

Dramatically, this works very well as a later episode, because then the viewer is almost as disoriented by Six’s apparently successful escape as he is, and the “real life” things that he sees, such as the cars on the road and then the city, seem so incredibly baffling. It puts the viewer more on the same page with Six to have this episode take place later in the series and adds to the eerie effect.

When Six talks to his superiors in this episode, he’s frantic about finding the Village, probably more for his peace of mind than anything else—to know it was real, and that it’s still there, and findable. When they don’t want to help him, at first, Six says that he’s going to find out about the Village…—if not here, then… elsewhere.— From the reactions and the space given that moment, this is obviously a threat.

Is Six saying that they might *push* him to defect, if they don’t help him? At any rate he’s saying that nothing will stop him. This seems like a big reason to place the episode after “The Chimes of Big Ben” where he wasn’t making any threats.

The men here reiterate that they think Six may have defected, which could put this episode anywhere before “The General”/”A, B, & C”, since in that episode Six tells them he did not defect.

But, it could also mean that they merely didn’t believe what he said to them in the dream in “A, B, & C” which they might well think especially as Six seemed knowing and in control there, not at all broken, and he was purposefully baiting them. (Plus, why would he admit he defected, even if he had?)—or they just don’t care— or they already know anyway, but they’re still asking him to find out all the details … etc…

So there’s no good evidence either way to say where the reiteration of wanting to know if Six defected places this episode.

It probably takes place after “Checkmate” because in that episode Two tells Six that they have ways of getting what they want, which seems to imply an earlier episode—and this seems like a later episode—though that can be subjective. “The Chimes of Big Ben”, “Checkmate”, and “Many Happy Returns” features Six trying to escape by sea. It seems more narratively interesting for me if Six first failed to escape that way—in Free/Chimes/Checkmate—and then was allowed to successfully escape that way by the Village later, rather than the other way around; it adds to the weird “birthday present” they’re giving him.

This episode could possibly take place between “Checkmate” and “The Schizoid Man”; though it seems a little un-dramatic to have (in this order) two failed sea escapes and his successful one back-to-back.

It could also possibly take place between “The Schizoid Man” and “The General”/”A, B, & C”, although that seems unlikely.

If the point of “The Schizoid Man” was to make Six identify himself more with the Village, would they let him escape next thing?

It would be more brutal to let him “escape” once he’s *already* stopped trying to constantly escape—giving him what he wanted but didn’t think he would get, as if to reiterate that the village really *will* give you everything; and to make escape seem so much more futile of an attempt.

In “A, B, & C” you see the beginning of the intro credit repeated endlessly in Six’s dreams. In “Many Happy Returns” the dream has gained a weird reality.

—this leads in nicely to the weirdness of the last third of the series, where dreams are more real than reality—And you see the intro credit “played out”—including Six going into the office where he resigned, which looks like nothing has changed.

This is also the first appearance of the lighthouse.

For that reason alone, this seems like a better episode to put later in the series, closer to the end, as it calls forward to more obviously to “The Girl Who Was Death” & “Fall Out”.

When Six finds the gun-runners stash he leaves it behind, instead of using the guns as weapons. This will become important.

If you think the Two in “Hammer Into Anvil” is the same character as Thorpe in this episode, that would also be a reason this took place before that episode.

10 A CHANGE OF MIND

This one is particularly hard for me to place; it comes down to theme, I guess.

The episode has to come after Arrival/Dance/Free/Chimes/Checkmate because those are early episodes, when Six had not yet gotten used to the Village or the villagers. This one is definitely a late episode.

It probably takes place after “The Schizoid Man” because that is the first instance of Six having a friend in the Village…and probably takes place after “The General”/”A, B, & C”.

You’ve seen Six interact socially in the village, which builds up to a greater drama and makes sense of the fact that Six is rattled in this episode when everyone ignores him because of him being declared unmutual.

At the end of “A Change of Mind” Six knows just what to say to turn everyone against Two on a dime. (This seems like a really interesting reversal of “Free For All” and “Dance of the Dead”.)

It’s dramatically interesting to have this episode take place after “Many Happy Returns” which is meant to prove Six can never escape, if this one is meant to show him he wouldn’t be happy if he wasn’t part of the village—with all the social exclusion/unmutual stuff going on (I know this Two really wanted information, but his methods drive the point home terribly—which may have been part of the plan as well)

This episode shows the exercises Six is also shown to do in “It’s Your Funeral”. It’s interesting, I think, if in this episode Six gets into big trouble because of that, but in the next episode he’s still doing it, rather than putting these episodes the other way around. It just adds to the fact that Six is ridiculously stubborn.

Six says, ‘or is number 2 above investigation?’ Two saysnobody is above investigation. This seems to place it before Hammer, because they seem to be talking theoretically, not ironically, here, and Six puts that principle into practice in that episode.

11 IT’S YOUR FUNERAL

The episode has to come after Arrival/Dance/Free/Chimes/Checkmate because those are early episodes, this isn’t. It must specifically happen after Dead/Chimes because the Twos in those episodes cameo here in video footage, as previous Twos.

It probably happens after “The Schizoid Man” and “The General” because at that point Six was still under the thumb of the Twos. “A, B, & C” is then the first episode where he gets the better of a Two.

It could possibly happen before “Many Happy Returns”, but that would start pushing Returns very late in the series, probably too close to “Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling” where Six is also out of the village.

If Six has just gone through everything in “A Change of Mind” it could explain how high-strung he is in the beginning of “It’s Your Funeral”

—though he doesn’t really need a reason for that, it seems to flow better emotionally if his behaviour in “Free For All” happens after something particularly traumatic like “A Change of Mind”.

When the girl Jammer faints, she says it’s from exhaustion, Six says it’s from drugs. When she replies that she doesn’t take drugs, he answers that it had been forced on her.

If this episode is after “A Change of Mind” Six could be seen to be referring to that (one episode ago) recent happening where they tried to do the same thing to him, and it would make sense of how vehemently he is mad at her when they meet (the last lady who came into his house tried to drug him to convince him he had undergone social conversion…)

Six also mentions in that same opening conversation that the city council offers “free help” … which could be directly referring to what happened in “A Change of Mind”

… & when she says I’m not one of them and he says—no one is—it would be even more ironic. All the villagers are individuals until they get a good excuse for some mob action.

Six is shown to have a low opinion of murder here, even against a No. 2. He says he doesn’t care about Two’s life, though—only what might happen to the villagers in retaliation.

It should probably come before “Hammer Into Anvil” because that’s the better episode and is more of a dramatic place to lead into the last arc of the show.

10 HAMMER INTO ANVIL

Obviously this is a late episode. After Arrival/Dance/Free/Chimes/Checkmate

It just seems weird to put this before Schizoid/General/ABC ? Like, you could, but… it makes no sense to do so. Same for putting it after Returns.

Here, Six uses the Village’s rampant paranoia to his advantage, in a way that couldn’t happen except in a late episode.

You *could* place it before “A Change of Mind” and/or “It’s Your Funeral”. It’s such a dramatic episode though— certainly more than Funeral—that it seems cooler to have it to a lead-in to the really weird stuff at the end, rather than the somewhat dragging Funeral. I’d place it *after* “It’s Your Funeral”.

Plus, someone on tvtropes mentioned that if you put this after “Funeral” …

you have cool continuity of the introduction, to Six, of the Jammers in the previous episode, and then in this one, Six uses that same technique on Two.

He put his knowledge to good use!

You could still place it before “A Change of Mind” though— but you’d lose the funny exercise connection between it and Funeral.

Plus, if this episode happens *after* both of those episodes, it would be the natural culmination showing that Six has Two’s number (pun intended) … and can mess with them as much as he likes. In “A Change of Mind” he realizes Two’s plan and gets him declared unmutual, in “It’s Your Funeral” he totally ruins the new Two’s grand assassination attempt while managing to let old Two (who is obviously a metaphorical stand-in for himself and the untenable position he was in in trying to resign from his old job) escape—at least for now … and then in “Hammer into Anvil” he forces Two to resign by convincing him that Six is one of the people in charge.

(Hey… in “Checkmate” he could only convince fellow prisoners he was a guardian. He’s gotten better…)

And Six’s power over the Twos has reached its height… for now…

13 DO NOT FORSAKE ME OH MY DARLING

Takes place after Arrival/Dance/Free/Chimes because this takes place a year after Six got kidnapped—at least, so says his randomly-appearing fiancée—Chimes takes place months after. And this has a clip show of stuff from Arrival/Dance/Free, maybe some more episodes.

(is it just me or does the guy who plays Six here & this lady have no chemistry)

There might not be any specific reason for it to take place after Checkmate/Schizoid/General/ABC but it would be pretty weird to put it before any of those… it should definitely take place after Returns… As for Change/Funeral/Hammer, well… yeah it could take place anywhere within those episodes, but that would interrupt the little mini-arc the three episodes create.

Weird!Six gets in his car and drives once again to go resign… oh no wait. It’s basically the same scene though, which is obviously intentional.

If the arc of the series gets closer in to the moment when Six resigned each time, now is the closest it’s gotten.

For the first time you have audio over the scene, though it is technically a different scene. And re-plays so many moments in slow motion…

anyway …the weirdness has begun… and you might as well put all the weird episodes together. Why not… it creates a mood…

15 LIVING IN HARMONY

This is where 6—the prisoner—here “the stranger”‘s dislike of murder in general and guns in particular that has been built up slowly concludes.

It started in “Many Happy Returns” when Six figures out that the boat he’s gotten onto belongs to gun-runners, and he leaves the guns, even though they might have been useful. This works well as a set-up for the fact that Six doesn’t like to use gun—even for intimidation—then the stuff in Funeral—where Six reiterates that he doesn’t approve of murder.

Here, the stranger becomes sheriff of Harmony to save the girl, but refuses the gun, until the end.

Two reveals that the whole idea was trying to break Six by making him kill… they obviously know that’s something he’s not keen on.

(The stranger gave up his badge and his gun… he didn’t want to commit any more violence… and that was what his job necessitated.)

And so, this episode should happen *before* “The Girl Who Was Death”… (explanation below)

14 THE GIRL WHO WAS DEATH

This works really well where it is.

I think putting it after “Living in Harmony” is important, because that was the turning point, where the Village forced Six to violence… only they might not like the result.

The Two here is just as much grasping at straws with the “scheme” in this episodes, which is basically… spy on him while he tells a story to some kids and hope he drops his guard… um, yeah…

But in this episode, unlike everything so far, Six is quite happy to use guns and even to kill people. It is “only” a story, but it’s still very notable.

Because this is a whimsical episode it doesn’t really make an impact, but he totally uses that machine gun (call-forward to Fall Out) in the abandoned village, and then blows up the lighthouse/rocket (call back to “Many Happy Returns”, call forward to “Fall Out”)

basically I read this episode as Six’s coded threat to the Village

(he’s made it explicitly in “The Chimes of Big Ben” but I don’t think he felt it as personally then) where he’s not only making fun of them, but saying that he will wipe the whole place off the map, dramatic explosions, rocket and all.

(For very different order, though… on tvtropes someone had an idea that you could make “The Girl Who Was Death” be the last episode— *after* Fall Out! which is definitely unintended… but also pretty cool…)

16 ONCE UPON A TIME (this one is obvious)

17 FALL OUT (this one is obvious)