The Prisoner
AMC | Release Date: November 15, 2009
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
12
Negative:
6

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: Its a clever and engaging reinterpretation by Bill Gallagher, who shaped the script to contemporary tastes and sensibilities--notably, a postmodern fatigue with ideology and big thoughts. Read full review
80
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: AMC’s The Prisoner isn’t going to reinvent TV the way McGoohan’s brainchild did. For six hours, however, it’s compelling enough in its own way to make you its captive. Read full review
67
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: The Narrative knot is further jumbled by all the head games Two plays on him and everyone else. Six is on shifting sand, and so, too, will you be. Read full review
60
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: Like "Twin Peaks," it raises questions that it doesn't necessarily answer--but even the raising took a bit of daring, and "a bit" is more than one usually gets from television. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker
Season 1 Review: It's self-absorbed to the point of incoherence. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: The Prisoner is not compelling. It rambles too much. Its vagaries are not interesting, its unorthodox storytelling not special enough. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser
Season 1 Review: Maybe you can appreciate this series without the fear that you will be expected to write a thesis on it. But I urge you to heed my advice: Opt out while you can. Read full review
42
TimeJames Poniewozik
Season 1 Review: This Prisoner is visually stunning and risk-taking but not a satisfying rethinking. Read full review
40
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: For the characters and for the viewers, the miniseries is a plodding excursion on the road to nowhere. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: Somewhere along the way, though, this three-night, six-hour production begins to feel less like a compelling metaphor for totalitarian repression and more like a marathon. No offense, but is it over yet? Read full review
40
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: McKellen, and the production design, and some smart use of Brian Wilson songs on the soundtrack (The Beach Boys' "I Know There's an Answer" is the miniseries' cheeky final tune) weren't enough to overcome my need for coherence. Read full review
40
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: The new Prisoner looks marvelous, even if its desertlike location is initially a lot less appealing to the eye than the original Village, filmed on the lush grounds of a hotel in Wales. But also like "V" (so far), it doesn't seem to have as much to say. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: This reimagined version, which feels a bit old hat in a post-Matrix fantasy landscape, is more leaden, pretentious and solemn, a tone embodied by Caviezel’s brooding Six, who’s more dour than dashing. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Too much of Bill Gallagher's self-consciously arcane script and Nick Hurran's direction unfolds as if through a funhouse mirror, offering less in the way of clues than marking time until the vague, conspiratorial reveal in the closing chapters. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: This Prisoner is as much about Two as it is about Six and that the actor seems to be enjoying himself makes his scenes pleasant to watch even when they don't add up to much; there is a music to his readings even when the lines are obscure. Read full review
38
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: The real-life Village locale (in Nambia) is fascinating and McKellen is great, as always--but Caviezel and the rest just grimace a lot and make you want to get-the-hell outta town. Read full review
37
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: McKellen may be a sublime combo of the Wicked Witch and the Wiz, but Caviezel is no Dorothy. And sadly, this isn't much of a Prisoner. Read full review
30
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: This Prisoner remake contains some striking visuals and intermittently effective performances, especially from the typically magnetic McKellan, but it’s also frequently too choppy and elliptical to build up much suspense or dramatic impact. Read full review
30
SalonHeather Havrilesky
Season 1 Review: Suffice it to say that the destination of this elaborate six-hour allegory is meant to be far less important than the journey. And that would be fine, if this particular journey didn't feel quite so much like doing hard time. Read full review
30
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: The conclusion is that a great cast and a singular location can't carry a scattershot script that goes in and out of focus. Read full review
30
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: Dismal and disoriented, under-plotted and over-allegorized, the six-hour Prisoner miniseries that debuts on AMC Sunday night is an exercise in full-tilt dramatic tedium that will appall anybody who remembers the original and bewilder anyone who doesn't: What was the big deal about that? Read full review
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