| "Living in Harmony" | |||
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| The Prisoner episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 14 |
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| Directed by | David Tomblin | ||
| Written by | David Tomblin & Ian Rakoff | ||
| Original air date | 29 December 1967 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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The Kid: Alexis Kanner |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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"Living in Harmony" is an episode of the 1967-68 television series The Prisoner. It differs from most other episodes of the series in that it does not begin with the show's standard opening credits sequence. In fact, in a situation considered somewhat unique for a 1960s television programme, the actual title of the series does not appear on screen until the closing credits, and there it is actually presented in Patrick McGoohan's acting credit as his character's name. This episode was not aired in the United States for the series' initial network run.
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This episode is an allegory of the other episodes of The Prisoner. There, Number 6 is a non-conformist and refuses to be a number, or blend in with the other members of the village. He refuses to accept things the way they are, wants to escape and expose the village. This episode applies those same concepts in a Wild West setting.
The episode begins with a Western paraphrase of the regular opening sequence, with Number 6, dressed as a sheriff, turning in his badge and his gun (resigning). Leaving town, without a horse but still carrying his saddle, he is attacked by several men in the countryside as the episode title "Living in Harmony" appears on screen, where one would expect to see the series' name. Following this teaser, the usual "I am not a number" dialogue from other episodes is omitted. Number 6 wakes from his beating and finds himself to be in the middle of a strange town. A Mexican tells him that he is in the town of Harmony. Number 6 goes into a local bar and meets the mayor of the town, also called The Judge. He also meets with a silent young man known as The Kid who guards the jail. We are also introduced to a saloon girl, Kathy. After unintentionally stirring up some trouble and getting a mob after him, Number 6 is taken into "protective custody." To satisfy the mob's bloodlust, the Judge allows them to lynch Kathy's brother. Kathy, fearing for Number 6's life, goes into the jail, distracts the Kid, steals the keys then passes them to Number 6 who then escapes, only to be caught and brought back.
The Judge then sets up a trial. The Judge quickly announces that Number 6 is free to go as he was only in protective custody but Kathy is guilty of aiding a prisoner to escape, as she did not know he was just in protective custody. The Judge then makes Number 6 a deal, if he will become the sheriff of the town, Kathy is free to go. The Judge insinuates that she may not be safe with the Kid watching over her. Reluctantly, Number 6 agrees and takes the badge. However, he refuses to wear a gun. The Judge, disappointed, thinks of a way to get him to carry a gun. Number 6 asks Kathy to escape with him, but while he is clearing the way the Judge gets the Kid to kidnap Kathy. However, the Kid takes it too far and strangles her to death. Number 6 finds her and buries her. He then turns in his badge but picks up the gun and enters a shootout with the Kid. Number 6 wins and goes into the saloon. The Judge arrives with several armed men and upon learning of Kathy's death gives Number 6 the ultimatum to work for him or be killed. Although Number 6 picks off the Judge's men he is then shot by the Judge. Suddenly Number 6 awakens in his normal Village clothes and a device on his head, lying on the floor of the empty saloon. All the characters that he saw appear only to be paper cutouts.
After coming to his senses, he wanders out of Harmony and finds it is just part of the Village. Number 6 rushes to Number 2's office and finds the Judge is the new Number 2, the Kid is number 8. Number 6 angrily approaches them and then notices Kathy as Number 22. Number 6 hesitates and then walks out. Number 2 and Number 8 discuss the failure of their experiment. Number 22 is obviously distressed and she rushes out as well. Number 8 follows Number 22 back to the saloon, he calls her Kathy and starts strangling her, screaming. Number 6 hears his screams and rushes over, but it is too late. Number 22 dies in Number 6's arms, her last words saying she wishes it had been real. Number 2 arrives and Number 8 runs away in a panic calling him the Judge before throwing himself off the balcony and dying.
In his book, Inside The Prisoner (Batsford Film Books, 1998, pp.81-86), Ian Rakoff, assistant editor on the episodes "The General" and "It's Your Funeral", claimed that this idea was his and that he was responsible for most of the script, with David Tomblin's writing contributions limited to adding the lynching scene and a few minor revisions. Rakoff further wrote that during McGoohan's absence from this series' production while starring in the feature Ice Station Zebra, Tomblin not only grabbed the lion's share of the credit (which Ian did not complain about at the time because he found the lynching sequence very distasteful), but also tricked him into signing away his residuals. Rakoff does share an on-screen story credit with Tomblin, whose name comes first. Prisoner stuntman Frank Maher has also claimed part of the credit for this episode in that he suggested at one point to Patrick McGoohan that the series should include an episode with a cowboy/western style theme.
Interviewed in the documentary Don't Knock Yourself Out, Ian Rakoff said that his story idea was accepted by McGoohan in view of a lack of suitable scripts, and a desire by all to bring the series to a conclusion as soon as possible. Rakoff and David Tomblin spent several months working out the details of the story, only for the final writing credit on the episode to be given to Tomblin. Rakoff sought a further meeting with McGoohan regarding this, only to be told by Tomblin that McGoohan was too busy and would not see him. Rakoff said he never saw McGoohan again after that point.
This episode was not broadcast during the first two American broadcasts of the series on CBS, in 1968 and 1969[1]. According to Robert Fairclough in The Prisoner: The Original Scripts Vol. 2 (Reynolds and Hearn, 2006), the episode was most likely pulled due to its apparent anti-war stance at a time when the Vietnam War was at its height. The network's own stated reason, the episode's drug use content, is disputed by Fairclough on the grounds that several other episodes of the series also make drug references, yet were still broadcast by CBS. However, this instance is unique. All the other drugs used by The Village against The Prisoner have very specific effects not related to recreational use, and are furthermore acknowledged by Number Two and/or the involved scientists to be dangerous to administer. Neither statement is made here (there is one exception to each: In "A. B. and C.," simple knock-out drops render The Prisoner unconscious without any mention of potential harm, and in "A Change of Mind," a decidedly dangerous drug is used simply to muddle Number Six's thinking as part of a plan to convince him he has undergone a lobotomy – he slips a follow-up dose intended for him to the much smaller scientist, who "trips out"). A further factor may well have been the fact that the climactic fast-draw showdown between "The Sheriff" and "The Kid" is staged, filmed and edited in direct violation of US TV censorship policies of the time (when one man shoots and kills the other, both are on-screen in a single, continuous take throughout, whereas cutting from a shot of one to another of the other was among the anti-violence requirements in the aftermath of the spring 1968 assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.).
The episode was syndicated in the US from 1971[1]. Some twenty years later, CBS reran the series as part of their late-night line-up, and this time did include "Harmony."
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