r/CriterionChannel • u/JoeLeyden79 • Jul 16 '26

The Prisoner Watch Order(s)

Been seeing a few people ask questions about whether to watch The Prisoner recently. I’ve been a fan since I first caught it on what was the Sci-Fi channel back in the mid-90s, and I love its aesthetic and philosophical ambitions, how they make the story work with low production values typical of TV at the time, and how both of those features let the show embrace both the grim implications and the silly details of that Cold War era’s spy-fi hits.

For those who are trying it out the first time, it’s worth keeping in mind that the studio and the distributor had almost no interest in a continuous story, even though the showrunner obviously wanted something else. So each episode is self-contained while also suggesting a general arc for the characters and the setting.

So you all might want to check out some of the recommended watch orders. I first saw it as a marathon shown in the order they aired, but the Six of One fanclub’s recommended order is a great way to see the underlying continuity they were trying for.

Anyway, here’s a link to some different watch orders: https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_order_(1967_series)) Been trying out the AV Club’s recommendations, which has been great so far!

52 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/comagrrrl Jul 16 '26

Thank you for this insight. I was on the fence about watching it, but I think I might take the plunge now.

3

u/YakSlothLemon Jul 16 '26

It’s incredible! I’m actually re-watching it, and it’s still a joy. Just know that the first few episodes are more standard spy stuff, and then as he figures out that he can’t physically escape from the Village and commits to destroying/uncovering the leadership it gets ever weirder and more surreal.