“The Schizoid Man” is episode five of The Prisoner.
Number Six is helping Number Twenty-Four practice her mindreading act for the village festival. She’s doing very well. Afterwards, she wants to practice photography for the photography contest. Six asks if there’s anything she hasn’t entered. The coal walk. She knocks something over and Six bruises a nail. He says it’s getting late; they should rest.
The new Number Two heads to the control room. He asks to see Number Six. Six is in a light sleep; they deepen it, then sedate him by the looks of it. Six is taken away on a stretcher, along with his watch and calendar. Certain identifying marks are removed, and they make him left-handed, calling him Number Twelve.
Six wakes with a moustache; he’s surprised to feel it. His hairstyle is different as well. He checks the mirror and finds the moustache is genuine. The number on his jacket is 12 and he’s in different rooms. Two calls and asks him to come for breakfast.
Six leaves the house – Twelve’s – and is greeted as Twelve by everyone. Two welcomes him, saying it was hard to get him back, and offers him breakfast; Six takes flapjacks but Two already has a dish of them prepared. Six apologises for not shaving; he didn’t find his razor. A strange apartment.
They have a prize prisoner, Number Six. They can’t damage him; he’s valuable. Two explains ‘Twelve’ is needed for his skills as an agent and his unique physical advantage. No, not growing a moustache overnight. Two explains that ‘Twelve’ bears a remarkable physical to Six. His job is to impersonate him and take his sense of reality away. Six says he will have a job convincing him he’s not Number Six; Two congratulates him for living the part already. Two pins on a Six badge on him. When Two throws something, Six catches it left-handed and Two tells him Six is right-handed. They just need to change a few things.
When Six, once again, looks like Six, he’s taken back to his old place. Two says that ‘Six’ will be along soon and it will be most effective if ‘Twelve’ meets him alone. They will be identical, so need a password; ‘Gemini.’
The other Number Six arrives and both spar with each other verbally about who is doing the impersonating. ‘Six’ suggests they go pistol shooting at the Recreation Hall. They do, and ‘Six’ wins. ‘Six’ also does better at fencing; the real Six is not doing as well as he should. Two has been watching from the control room, commenting that Twelve – the real Twelve – has Number Six’s style down perfectly.
There are games within games. Six has been altered to look like Twelve, then back to look like Six and told he’s there to undermine Six’s sense of reality. Meanwhile, the real Twelve has been thoroughly coached so he can be better at being Number Six that the real Six can, as Six is battling against changes that took quite some time to achieve. They are trying to undermine Six’s sense of self, but by acting as if he’s the imposter trying to do that. And it is quite effective. And Two was right; they are difficult to tell apart.
The white ball is called ‘Rover’ in this episode; the only time it is named.