History Recap / ThePrisonerE7ManyHappyReturns

** When Number Six returns to his home, he tells Mrs. Butterworth - who had moved into his apartment since he'd been gone for so long and the lease expired - that his name is Peter Smith in order to prove he was the previous tenant. Since he didn't have any reason to lie to her, it's possible this is his real name. (Although McGoohan plays it as if he's making up a name off the top of his head -- a name that sounds generic, but not TOO generic.) Subverted with the realization that the Prisoner had a variety of cover names including one - Schmidt - which is a clearly Germanic version of Smith, and Smith could have easily been a civilian cover.

** The Prisoner confirms thwt he built his iconic Lotus 7 car with his bare hands.[[note]]The Lotus 7 was a kit that people could put together on their own, and the problem with the engine that Number Six describes was a RealLife problem with that model.[[/note]]

** It's also why Number Two shows up at the end of the episode with a birthday cake. She DID promise him that cake, after all.

** The Prisoner confirms he built his iconic car the Lotus 7 with his bare hands.[[note]]The Lotus 7 was a kit people could put together on their own, and the problem with the engine that Number Six describes was a RealLife problem with that model.[[/note]]

** When Number Six returns to his home, he tells Mrs. Butterworth - who had moved into his apartment since he'd been gone for so long and the lease expired - that his name is Peter Smith in order to prove he was the previous tenant. Since he didn't have any reason to lie to her, it's possible this is his real name. Subverted with the realization that the Prisoner had a variety of cover names including one - Schmidt - which is a clearly Germanic version of Smith, and Smith could have easily been a civilian cover.

** So, how many people were in on it? The gunrunners? One of them wears a striped woolly hat like many Village guards, and they're seen eating cans of "Village Food." Was the police stop-and-search ''really'' completely unrelated, or the way the Village actually planned on getting him to London? How many of his superiors were part of the scheme? Was Thorpe, since the same actor plays No. 2 in the [[AnachronicOrder possibly-later]] episode "Hammer Into Anvil"? Is the Village really off the Portuguese/Moroccan coast or did the Village pilot fly them to the ''real'' location? None of this is ever revealed.

* StockFootage: The shot of the plane approaching the island, as seen from the cockpit, is taken from ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' episode "The Superlative Seven."

* NoDialogueEpisode: For the first thirty minutes or so, there is almost no dialogue. Whatever snippets there are come from German-speaking gunrunners, Romany-like travelers and background noise.

* NoDialogueEpisode: For the first thirty minutes or so, there is almost no dialogue. Whatever snippets there are come from Romany-like travelers and background noise.

* StockFootage: The shot of the plane approaching the island from the cockpit is taken from ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' episode "The Superlative Seven."

** Number Two is Mrs. Butterworth.

* StockFootage: The shot of the plane approaching the island, from the cockpit is taken from ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' episode "The Superlative Seven."

* TheBadGuyWins: While most episodes end on a draw or stalemate (Number Six fails to escape but he still hasn't been broken by Number Two), this episode ends in total victory for Number Two. This is because the whole affair was designed as a charade with Number Six being completely [[RailRoading railroaded]] from beginning to end. They also temporarily moved away from the usual effort to break Number Six or try find out why he resigned. So this particular Number Two was 100% successful at everything that was attempted, which was, in this case to demoralize him.

** While the episode takes great pains to map out The Prisoner's journey escaping from the Village there is still the likelihood they manipulated that as well.

A woman, Mrs. Butterworth (Georgina Cookson), now drives Number Six's car KAR-120-C and lives in his flat. Six identifies himself as Peter Smith to her. The woman allows him to look at her deed for the place, which has no record of the previous owner, and the log of the car. She also gives him some of her late husband's clothes.

A fighter jet pilot takes Six up in a plane to go look at the extrapolated area where the Village might be. They find it, and Six gets ejected out. Soon after his arrival, the Village comes alive with activity as if it had never been deserted. And Mrs. Butterworth shows up at Six's Village residence, she's the new Number Two.

* AmbiguousSituation: Who is working for who, how much was under the Village's control, and how much of this was deliberate is never made clear.

Number Six awakens to find the Village utterly deserted. Has he been abandoned, and can he escape back to Britain? Indeed he makes his way onto a gun running boat several days of travel, arrives in London.

A woman, Mrs. Butterworth (Creator/GeorginaCookson), now drives Number Six's car KAR-120-C and lives in his flat. Six identifies himself as Peter Smith to her. The woman allows him to look at her deed for the place, which has no record of the previous owner, and the log of the car. She also gives him some of her late husband's clothes.

* ContinuityNod: A rare example of this: Number Six mentions that is birthday is 19 March, which he previously stated in [[Recap/ThePrisonerE1Arrival "Arrival"]].

** It harks back to what he told Number Two in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]":

* SalvagePirates: Number Six escapes the Village on a raft and encounters a [[strike:fishing]] gun-running boat whose crew steals his belongings. He ends up fighting them and eventually captures them.

* StockFootage: The shot of the plane approaching the island, from the cockpit is taken from ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' episode "The Superlative Seven".

** So, how many people were in on it? The gunrunners? One of them wears a striped woolly hat like many Village guards, and they're seen eating cans of "Village Food". Was the police stop-and-search ''really'' completely unrelated, or the way the Village actually planned on getting him to London? How many of his superiors were part of the scheme? Was Thorpe, since the same actor plays No. 2 in the [[AnachronicOrder possibly-later]] episode "Hammer Into Anvil"? Is the Village really off the Portuguese/Moroccan coast or did the Village pilot fly them to the ''real'' location? None of this is ever revealed.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peter_smith_is_home.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Peter Smith is finally... home?]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Mrs. Butterworth has a maid, similar to how Number Two has the Butler to take care of things.]]

* HeroBall: Number Six [[spoiler: ends up at Beachy Head with its famous lighthouse and ''doesn't recognise it'', falls asleep on a truck without even bothering to hide himself, and subsequently goes straight back to his own home, even though he already ''knows'' from previous episodes that his former friends are after him.]]

** It's also why Number Two [[spoiler:shows up at the end of the episode with a birthday cake. She DID promise him that cake, after all.]]
* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: Why did we see a shot of a milkman on the air base? [[spoiler:The "milkman" was the pilot who stranded Number Six back in the Village, presumably after stealing the real pilot's uniform.]]

** It's worse: The whole episode is [[spoiler:meant to be a birthday present: grant him the dream of escaping and doing what he could to expose and destroy the Village once and for all. And they let him, well, except for that last bit.]]

** [[spoiler:Number Two is Mrs. Butterworth.]]

** While the episode takes great pains to map out The Prisoner's journey escaping from the Village [[spoiler:there is still the likelihood they manipulated that as well.]]

** The opening credits did not show us a face of the new Number Two and used a generic man's voice. [[spoiler:It was to hide the fact that the real Number Two was a woman we'd see during the episode as Mrs. Butterworth.]]
** So, how many people were in on it? [[spoiler: The gunrunners? One of them wears a striped woolly hat like many Village guards, and they're seen eating cans of "Village Food". Was the police stop-and-search ''really'' completely unrelated, or the way the Village actually planned on getting him to London? How many of his superiors were part of the scheme? Was Thorpe, since the same actor plays No. 2 in the [[AnachronicOrder possibly-later]] episode "Hammer Into Anvil"? Is the Village really off the Portuguese/Moroccan coast or did the Village pilot fly them to the ''real'' location?]] None of this is ever revealed.

Number Six awakens to find the Village utterly deserted. Has he been abandoned, and can he escape back to Britain?

** So, how many people were in on it? [[spoiler: The gunrunners? One of them wears a striped wooly hat like many Village guards. Was the police stop-and-search ''really'' completely unrelated, or the way the Village actually planned on getting him to London? How many of his superiors were part of the scheme? Was Thorpe, since the same actor plays No. 2 in the [[AnachronicOrder possibly-later]] episode "Hammer Into Anvil"? Is the Village really off the Portuguese/Moroccan coast or did the Village pilot fly them to the ''real'' location?]] None of this is ever revealed.

* BizarroEpisode: While most episodes end on a draw or stalemate (Number Six fails to escape but he still hasn't been broken by Number Two), this is one of the very few episodes where it is a total victory for Number Two. This is because the whole affair was designed as a charade with Number Six being completely [[RailRoading railroaded]] from beginning to end. They also temporarily moved away from the usual effort to break Number Six or try find out why he resigned. So this particular Number Two was 100% successful at everything that was attempted, which was, in this case to demoralize him.

* BizarroEpisode: While most episodes end on a draw or stalemate (Number Six fails to escape but he still hasn't been broken by Number Two), this is one of the very few episodes where it is a total victory for Number Two. This is because the whole affair was designed as a charade with Number Six being completely [[RailRoading railroaded]] from beginning to end. They also temporarily moved away from the usual effort to break Number Six or try find out why he resigned. So this particular Number Two was 100% successful at everything that was attempted, which was, in this case to demoralize him. Additionally, when viewed in a preferential order, this episode marks the end of Number Six's regular attempts to escape and the beginning of his focus on undermining the Village from within.

* BizarroEpisode: While most episodes end on a draw or stalemate (Number Six fails to escape but he still hasn't been broken by Number Two), this is one of the very few episodes where it is a total victory for Number Two. This is because the whole affair was designed as a charade with Number Six being completely [[RailRoading railroaded]] from beginning to end. They also temporarily moved away from the usual effort to break Number Six or try find out why he resigned. So this particular Number Two was 100% successful at everything that was attempted, which was, in this case to demoralize him. Additionally, when viewed in a preferential order, this episode marks the end of Number Six's regular attempts to escape and the beginning of his focus on undermining the Village from inside.