Zukerman imbues Langdon with more dorkiness than the character’s often overly suave literary counterpart. From there, it’s puzzles and clues and cryptic phone calls - sweeping Langdon off on a high-stakes mission.

Turns out, the man has actually kidnapped Solomon and left his severed hand pointing toward the ceiling in the Smithsonian. The first episode kicks off when a pre-dangerous-romps-across-Europe Langdon ( Succession’s Ashley Zukerman) receives a call from his old mentor, Professor Solomon, and a man claiming to be Solomon’s secretary invites Langdon to come to Washington for a conference. Unlike some of the other Langdon novels, which often interrogate the Catholic Church, this one investigates the Freemasons and the founding of America - with a bunch of freaky mind science thrown in, because why not? It’s familiar territory, and while this adventure comes after the events of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, the series turns it into more of an origin story for the symbologist. The Lost Symbol is the only book in Brown’s series to take place primarily in the United States. With its over-the-top puzzles and villainous plot, this episodic take on the material promises the same energy as the books - but with a slightly different take on lead character. Peacock’s new series, The Lost Symbol, based on the third book in the franchise, delivers on that same thrill in its first episode, which airs on Sept. And it worked: Brown nailed the page-turning appeal of good guys facing off against formidable villains with grandiose schemes, saving the day with their specific academic skill sets (with the added serotonin hit of getting the answers right in trivia). Ultimately, Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon books and their subsequent adaptations are not that deep.įollowing the Harvard symbologist as he treks across the world solving crimes with his knowledge of art history, the bestselling series consists of pulpy action-adventure crime thrillers that sprinkle in more science and history than their usual genre counterparts (though those facts probably skew more sensational History Channel special than art history honors seminar). There was a period of time, right after The Da Vinci Code movie came out, where everyone around me pretended to have advanced art history degrees, and waxed poetic about secret societies and religious symbolism in popular media.

The lost symbol film release date