The Prisoner (TV Mini Series)

Episode 2: Harmony (2009)

Ian McKellen: 2

Quotes 

• 2 : My wife. I'm the reason she is the way she is.

  70 : Perhaps we should stay with the matter of 6.

  2 : I know I can trust you. I love my son. But I have thoughts... if he knew me, if he truly knew his father... he might not like me. Do you like me, 70?

  70 : You are 2. We all love you.

  2 : [taking out a grenade]  But do you like me?

  70 : I don't really know you. What I... what I do know is that you are a wonderful man. Of course.

  2 : [throwing the grenade to him]  You think I believe all this therapy babble, do you? My mother sat me sideways on the potty when I was a toddler, so now I want to sleep with her? Oh, grow up, man. Have you had sex with your mother, 70?

  70 : No. Never.

  2 : Well, don't.

  70 : 2... if I might ask... if you don't believe in the value of the talking cure...

  2 : It is not necessary for me to believe. It is necessary for 6 to believe.

• 11-12 : 6 says that everything here is fake. Unreal. That's not possible. I mean, why would the world be like that?

  2 : It is like that in 6's mind. Look at me, 11-12. Is this real? Do I love you like no father ever loved a son before? When I was your age, I questioned everything. Young men always doubt, challenge. But never doubt your family. Never.

• 2 : Don't you recognize your brother, 6?

  6 : He's not my brother.

  2 : Why would a man deny the existence of his own brother when he's standing right in front of him?

  6 : Because he's sick. Demented. Isn't that what you want me to think?

  2 : Let us concern ourselves only with evidence.

  16 : Brought these from home.

  [showing 6 a picture of them as kids] 

  16 : Remember that?

  6 : This stuff can be fake.

  2 : And does your flesh also lie, 6?

  16 : You fell out of a tree and you cut your arm.

  6 : [instinctively touching a scar on his arm]  You could've done it while I was sleeping.

  16 : Buddy, we just want you back the way you were.

  2 : Perhaps therapy might work. Yes? What do you say, 6? Give the talking cure a try.

  6 : Oh, you would like that, wouldn't you? Meddling with my mind.

  2 : What are you afraid of, 6? A glimpse into your psyche discovering that you are the problem after all?

  6 : I'm not afraid.

  2 : Good. The sessions are booked. A man with nothing to hide is a man with nothing to find.

• 70 : You were right, of course. He is resistant to the possibility of revealing the 6 inside.

  2 : And why is that?

  70 : He feels alone.

  2 : Oh. Very good.

  70 : He dreams of escape. He feels rootless.

  2 : And yet his roots are right here under our feet. What ails the man?

  70 : He described a fishing trip.

  2 : Fishing? We like 6's fishing stories. Don't we, 70?

  70 : Some kind of fantasy.

  2 : Perhaps you'd do better trying to find the 2 inside.

  [sharing a chuckle] 

  2 : Well, why not? Since I'm here, we can have a poke around. See what makes 2 tick.

  70 : The inside 2?

  2 : I'm curious. I want to know what's going on inside of me.