A DEGREE ABSOLUTE! episode nine — Dance of the Dead
Chris Klimek
It's Carnival in The Village, and Dance of the Dead — an episode that was nearly scuttled on account of Patrick McGoohan's disdain for it (and refusal to shoot at least part of its climactic scene) — offers a fascinating glimpse into The Prisoner's conflicting aesthetic priorities.
Marry Morris, our latest Number Two, is a memorable malefactor whom my podcastin’ pardner Glen admits he’d like to have as his mom. (He also laments the undisciplined nature of her color-coded-or-not telephone system, and goads me into railing against the cosmic obliviousness of umbrella-users.)
You also get a great heel turn by Aubrey Morris, a haunting performance by Alan White as a doomed former colleague of The Prisoner, an oddly flat showing by Norma West as The Prisoner's observer, and some of the most haunting visual imagery of the entire series.