The Prisoner/The Schizoid Man

The Schizoid Man
Season 1, Episode 5
Airdate	October 29, 1967
Written by	Terence Feely
Directed by	Pat Jackson
← 1x04 Free for All	1x06 → The General
The Prisoner — Season One

The Schizoid Man is the fifth episode of the first season of The Prisoner.

An outside agent who looks remarkably like Number Six is called in to force him to question his identity and finally crack under the pressure.

Starring: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six)

Guest Stars: Jane Merrow (Alison), Anton Rodgers (Number Two)

with Angelo Muscat (The Butler), Earl Cameron (Supervisor), Gay Cameron (Number Thirty-Six), David Nettheim (Doctor), Pat Keen (Nurse), Gerry Crampton (1st Guardian), Dinney Powell (2nd Guardian)

Plot Overview

In Number Six's home, he is helping a woman practice her mind reading skills and her photography for the upcoming village festival. That night, while Number Six is asleep, the control room causes the lamp above his bed to descend so that scientists can knock him out and forcefully take him to another domicile where he is injected with a drug and prodded with several devices.

In the morning, a man who looks exactly like Number Six wakes up and is invited to eat breakfast with Number Two. He opens his closet to find a jacket similar to Six's with a Number 12 insignia on it and meets Number Two at the green dome. The two are clearly old friends and Number 12 likely spent time in the village as an agent of whomever is behind the scenes. Two explains to his colleague that because he looks so much like Six, they're going to pull a scheme which will make Six question his own identity and crack under the pressure.

After Number 12 is made over to look more like Six, he's taken to Six's home and left there to meet his new counterpart. The actual Number Six, wearing a white coat, meets his doppelgänger there, but instantly recognizes it as a scheme orchestrated by Number Two. He's completely unimpressed by this development and offers Number 12 a drink. Out of the two, Number 12 is far more agitated than the true Number Six. Six mocks his double by besting him in several physical competitions before being led into Number Two's home by the guardian. Number Two interrogates him as a spy through a variety of devices which are designed to cause a psychotic break. They follow this tactic by bringing in Alison, the woman from before, into Number Two's room to decide which is which based on "human instinct." They perform the same "mental link" exercise from before, which the fake fails miserably and Number Six excels with full marks. Satisfied, he walks the girl home, leaving Number Two to berate the man who failed to put a mole on his wrist. However, Number Six seems to be suffering in his sleep. It seems that the man in the white jacket was Number 12 all along.

Number Six (the real one), wakes up and realizes that he has a bruise under a fingernail from when Alison fumbled the camera. He inspects it alongside the photograph and immediately recalls the procedure he went through. With this knowledge, he discovers the drugs that were planted in the cigarettes that he was told to smoke and reverts his muscle memory through electrocution. He leaves his flat and heads down the street until he's discovered by Number Two's minions and causes a brawl. As always, he gets the better of them but discovers the guardian blocking his path. Number Six hijacks a cart and lets the guardian chase after it after he bails out. He heads to Number 12's room (his former home) and attempts to convince his impostor that he's been gravely affected by the mind games. His ruse works well enough to get the upper hand against Number 12, who informs him that his name is Curtis and the true password is "Schizoid Man." Six steals the fake mole from Curtis as well, but the two are suddenly confronted by the guardian. Number Six gives the password, causing it to attack and kill Curtis. Six informs Number Two of this, which leads him to deactivating "Rover."

The next day, Six is still impersonating his impostor and is told by Number Two that he'll be leaving to make up for his failure in 30 minutes. But, before he leaves, the powers that be (who handed down the plan in the first place) would like him to talk to Alison to see if she has any insight into Six's motivations. During this encounter, one of the little coincidences that account for Six and Alison's "mindlink" occurs which betrays him as the real Number Six. Additionally, Six's lack of understanding for protocol and edginess causes Number Two to question what exactly is happening. Slowly, he catches on and finally causes Number Six to falter when he asks for him to give his wife his regards. Six boards the helicopter, it circles the island and lands right where it was. Number Two then explains that Susan, Curtis' wife, died a year ago.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• The Guardian: The white orb which frequently appears to foil Number Six's plots to escape is named for the first and only time in this episode. Both Number Six and Number Two refer to it as "Rover."

Characters

• Alison: Not only is Alison one of the few villagers which Number Six takes a liking to, she's also the only villager which neither Number Six nor Number Two refer to by her number.

Trivia

The Show

• Doppelgänger: Patrick McGoohan does, in fact, play both Number Six and Curtis in this episode. Since he is the sole billed cast member for the series, he is not credited for his additional role.

Behind the Scenes

• Impact: In 1989, the title of this episode, "The Schizoid Man," was reused for an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the episode, the writers had intended Patrick McGoohan to guest star as Ira Graves, a man who cheats death by implanting his thoughts and memories into Data. McGoohan turned down the role, however, and it was given to W. Morgan Sheppard instead.

Allusions and References

• Number 12 Looks Just Like You: The original number of the man impersonating Number Six was Number 12. This is likely a reference to an episode of The Twilight Zone called "Number 12 Looks Just Like You." In the episode, a teenager refuses to go through "the transformation," a procedure that extends life and makes women resemble fashion models, because the people in charge have no interest in making everyone beautiful, they only want everyone to be the same. Eventually she goes through with the transformation and drops her dissent because it forces her to lose her identity.