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The Prisoner
"Checkmate"
TV Episode
Written by Bill Gallagher
Directed by Nick Hurran
Original U.S. air date: November 17, 2009 |
Who is the one?
Read the
summary of this episode at IMDB
Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode
6/Michael
2/Curtis
144 (mentioned only)
313/Sarah
11-12
909 (mentioned only, deceased)
59-03 (mentioned only, deceased)
147
M2/Helen
Didja Know?
This episode gets its title from the episode of the original
series also titled "Checkmate".
Didja Notice?
At 2:55 on the DVD, the taxi of 144 is seen outside the
hospital.
At 3:25 on the DVD, 313 receives 6's blood work results from
a machine that appears to be some kind of worker's timeclock
turned upside-down! Notice that the buttons are labeled IN/OUT
and MORNING, AFTERNOON, OVERTIME.

The grave marker of 59-03 is seen at 9:33 on the DVD.
The car driven by the "real world" counterpart of 147 is a
Mercedes Benz S-Class model.
At 14:28 on the DVD, the translucent computer screen has
text on it in reverse. Flipped horizontally, the text is
about a subject named Shakima Greggs. This is the name of a
character in the 2002-2008 HBO TV series The Wire.

At 14:38 on the DVD, some magazines seen at a newsstand on
the street in New York are
Bazaar,
Elle, and
something with "Books" in the title.
At 17:24 on the DVD, we see the diploma of the real world
M2, Helen Evelyn Blake, from the
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, for Doctor of Philosophy.
"Blake" is the actual last name of the actress who plays M2,
Rachael Blake.
The hymn that 2 begins to sing to 6 in the hospital corridor
is a variation of "Leave It There", a Christian hymn written
in 1916 by Methodist minister Charles A. Tindley. The hymn
is later sung at 11-12's funeral.
Curtis' car has license plate QZE-2538. At 29:18 on the DVD,
the Chevy SUV driving right next to it has AWQ-2538...both
plates have 2538 in them! Besides that, the AWQ-2538 plate
is the same plate that is seen on Michael's Subaru in
"Arrival"!
In the audio commentary for this episode by Trevor Hopkins
(Producer) and Yan Miles (Editor), they point out that 2's
gestures with his hands on the table during his meeting with
313 are some kind programmed symbols that manipulate her
into doing what he's asking her to do (sacrifice her
conscious awareness in order to arouse 6's sympathy and make
him accept a new post as leader of the Village).
As Michael takes his seat at Summakor, the big screen
showing images of the people who have been "sent" to the
Village also shows an image of 6 and 313 sitting on a sand
dune looking out at the Village desert, just as seems to be
happening in "real time" to them in the Village. Is Summakor
always able to see what is happening in that subconscious
realm?

The song that plays as 6 and 313 sit on a dune in the desert
is "I Know There's An Answer" by the Beach Boys (1966).
After 6 says, "I think it must be possible to do this
the right way. Make a good Village. I think I could do it. I
think we have to try. Whatever the cost," notice that a
tear escapes from each of 313's eyes. Even in her almost
vegetative state, she realizes that the man she loved as 6
has changed and is as trapped in the Village as everyone
else, the new Number 2...or the first 1.
Memorable Dialog
isn't it just the wildest thing?.wav
our way of life is becoming the very consciousness of the
universe.wav
assimilate or die.wav
they keep us here to control our minds up there.wav
what if we could go there?.wav
there'll be no escape, 6.wav
6
is the one.wav
the perfect means of assimilation.wav
we
want 6.wav
poor little 6.wav
whatever the cost.wav
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Prisoner Episode Studies