Man From U.N.C.L.E. & The Prisoner

I revisited Man From U.N.C.L.E. this past week and it’s insane how I forgot how good it was. I mean, no I didn’t, I’ve been obsessed with it since December, but there was a fallow period between finishing the last season and the few months of exploring other spy-fi shows where it was difficult to return. Part of the difficulty was my attempts at getting friends to enjoy the show with me. I had to choose episodes to show my friends as specifically good examples of the show. Those particularly great episodes do exist, but it’s difficult to convey exactly how the show as a whole affects you when you’re trying to cherrypick. In the past I’ve described the show itself as a great secret agent – suave, charming, sophisticated, and charismatic. Now I add that this show flirts with you just as the characters seemingly can’t stop flirting with each other. It plays coy, it has a secret that you’re in on, it’s all games and codes and good fun. Solo and Kuryakin are frightfully incompetent at their jobs but at least you always feel like they’re human. Also, having now seen a plethora of other stuff David McCallum has been in I can honestly say Illya is a character way up in his own league. Nothing can compare. The joy of the show is not about specific episodes, it’s about the entire ride in a ‘67 light blue convertible that it takes you on. I sat back and watched three episodes that went down like whipped cream. While they were good individually it’s really the spirit of the show as a whole that is so engaging.

On the other side of town, I’m heading into the home stretch of The Prisoner episodes, none of which I’ve seen before. These episodes get ((SPOILER)) really freaking weird. In a delightful way. Definitely not the light and frothy spy antics of Man From U.N.C.L.E., the last 7 episodes of The Prisoner get extremely dark and disorienting in content while maintaining the fabulously bright colors and scenery chewing of the earlier episodes. The show hasn’t been interested in killing people as much as completely psychologically dismantling them from the inside, which makes it more of a spychology show (apologies). The episodes themselves feel more substantive and a whole unto themselves than the UNCLE ones do. They’re each trying to do a thing, and make a point, and it’s really hammered home how Important each hour is. Both insanely ambitious for its time and a template for current serialization-crazy television. The tables seem to have finally turned slightly in 6’s favor and there’s no reason for him to troll The Village as hard as he does except for the fact that he’s a world class jerk and truly enjoys it. It’s spectacular to watch. The western episode is in a class of its own, and great for highlighting the transplant of genre from stubborn spies to weary sheriffs. Despite the fact that pumping someone full of LSD and using voice over doesn’t go anywhere near working like that, it’s entirely excusable because the show works so well. Going into the final three episodes over the next two weeks I’m terribly excited for ~secrets to be revealed~.