Episode 2 of The Lost Symbol offers a glimpse into Mal’akh’s (Beau Knapp) hallucination machine, also dubbed the Araf, which he uses on Freemason and Smithsonian secretary Peter Solomon (Eddie Izzard). Also dubbed “The Araf”, episode 2 of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol continues Robert Langdon’s (Ashley Zukerman) race against time to help save Solomon by following a trail of symbols that potentially lead to a secret portal beneath Washington DC. While Mal’akh’s motivations remained veiled in the pilot of The Lost Symbol, “The Araf” allows a peek into his primary motivations and his possible connection with Solomon.
After kidnapping Solomon and placing his severed hand to imitate the Hand of Mysteries in the Capitol building for Langdon to find, Mal’akh moves to the next stage of his grand plan by placing Solomon in a trance-like state. By virtue of being a 33rd-degree Freemason, Solomon has access to forbidden knowledge leading to a state of ascension, which is exactly what Mal’akh seems to be after — apotheosis. By leveraging Solomon’s captivity, Mal’akh forces Langdon to carry out his quest on his behalf, feeding him crumbs in the form of clues and covert directions from time to time.
Midway through the episode, Mal’akh submerges Solomon inside a sensory deprivation tank, while injecting some kind of hallucinogen or psychotropic drug into Solomon’s system. This plunges Solomon right into the rabbit hole of his own burdened past, especially his decision to abandon his son Zachary when he was put into prison for possession of illegal substances. For some reason The Lost Symbol has yet to explain, Mal’akh wishes to re-ignite Solomon’s guilt via symbols when it comes to his son, as the Freemason finds himself staggering through one nightmare scape after another, whilst finding clues about Zachary’s ultimate demise. This includes a clear glass container consisting of Zachary’s peeled skin sporting a tattoo, and several references during his time in Ankara, Turkey.
These experiences or trance states are clearly used to evoke some form of emotional reaction in Solomon, hinting at the fact that Mal’akh’s quest and Zachary’s demise are somehow connected. The machine used to achieve this is an interesting one, aptly named the Araf, which roughly means purgatory or a space between life and death. As per Dan Brown’s source material, the Araf was a sensory deprivation device of some kind, the key function of the machine being inducing a sense of disorientation in the user. While standard sensory deprivation tanks are generally used as a getaway experience for relaxation, Mal’akh inverts this notion by putting the user in a constant state of discomfort and unease with the aid of the drugs he administers.
As water acts as the conduit in this machine, it grants Solomon a sense of weightlessness, helping his conscious mind dissociate further and delve deeper into his subconscious. This is interesting to note, as Brown explains the process in great detail at the end of the book, wherein Langdon himself is immersed in a tank filled with oxygenated perfluorocarbons, or breathable liquid, which creates a dissociative journey so intense that the experience is akin to that of a rebirth. Hence, Mal’akh’s hallucination machine is not only a psychological torture device but also a means of interrogation, wherein the subject is rendered powerless and is more receptive to suggestions and eventual revelation. It remains to be seen what exactly Mal’akh’s endgame is in the Robert Langdon prequel The Lost Symbol, and how he intends to bring his mad quest to a fitting end.
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