Change in "Be Seeing You" Prisoner Reference

[hsjones2112]

During my recent re-watch of the full series, I noticed something about Bester's tribute nod to "The Prisoner." In the early episodes when he said, "be seeing you," he held his thumb and index finger in a circle to his eye, like they did in The Village. But in later episodes, he said the line without the hand gesture.

Did ITC (or whoever owns the "Prisoner" copyright and/or trademarks now) complain? Did B5 have to drop the hand gesture in response to a cease-and-desist? I find no reference to this change online... Surely I wasn't the only one to notice. And surely the change was purposeful. ??


Enquiring minds want to know.

Thanks!

 

[KoshFan]

Ah, but did he do it from the eye? Watch again: he does it from the forehead.

As to why he stopped: couldn't say. Maybe they just felt the line was enough and the gesture didn't work well as a recurring theme. In all honestly, I can't remember Bester doing that line again, but it's been a long time since I saw seasons 4 and 5. I know Jack (Garibaldi's traitorous aide) did the gesture when he said the line.

 

[Jan]

Definitely forehead, not eye. I think it's just a phrase Bester uses a lot. He said it in
- 'Mind War' to Sinclair
- 'The Face of the Enemy' to Garibaldi
- 'Strange Relations' to Lyta
- 'The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father' to Franklin.

...but I think the only time he used the salute was in 'Mind War'. It *may* have meant to be meaningful in the show because the script for 'Revelations' makes the point that Garibaldi's Aide:

"And he gives Garibaldi the same circle-over-forehead salute
that Bester gave him. Garibaldi turns away, exits."

My thinking is that it may have been a possible thread that was dropped but that it didn't necessarily have to be an homage to 'The Prisoner'.

 

[hsjones2112]

You are correct re:forehead; I saw that but didn't have it in mind when typing. I bow to your precision.

 

[hsjones2112]

Brilliant reply! Pretty much sums up the situation.

I spent some time working in the corporate intellectual property space. Hence my thought to a "C.A.D."

Since Walter Koenig is as much a fan as he is a star, the use of the phrase and/or gesture is surely Prisoner-inspired, but perhaps incidental, with no plan or design, a spontaneous thing one might expect to see randomly in any such gathering of like-minded people, whether it be a TV production set or a convention floor. Perhaps the power of The Prisoner just percolated thru.

 

[Looney]

Yeah I would say it had more to do with something they needed to tie Garibaldi's aide to Bester more than anything else. After that connection was established there was no longer a need to remember the gesture. Having said that I wonder how it would have gone had Bester continued to use the gesture? It would have likely enraged Garibaldi more, but was it too much? Was it better to leave the gesture out so Garibaldi would keep questioning the connection? Was it just another one of Bester's 'mind' games? :guffaw: Of course the gesture would have meant very little to other characters.