It would be easy to just give “Death by Lightning” a pass simply because it’s a story where the principal character, Pres. James A. Garfield (portrayed by Michael Shannon), is from Northeast Ohio. Mentor to be exact.
That would do a disservice to the fine piece of storytelling based on a book by Lexington author Candice Millard that tells what the story of what was seemingly a fallow period in U.S. history. This incredibly entertaining four-episode series is proof that assumptions should not be made.
Garfield, the nation’s 20th chief executive, served about four months before being disabled by an assassin’s bullet and succumbing to those injuries made monumentally worse by the work of a doctor that would be considered malpractice today.
By any measure, Garfield was a progressive of his time, favoring given Blacks the right to vote, reforming the nation’s civil service system and ending patronage in the government in general. He fought against entrenched elements of the Republican Party of the time, including a scurrilous New York senator Roscoe Conkling (the brilliant Shea Wigham of “Boardwalk Empire”) and his fellow legislator and henchman Chester Arthur (the equally brilliant Nick Offerman).
Garfield, needless to say, seems to have his work cut out for him in more ways than one. Presidents weren’t isolated at that moment in time and they were not as cautious. The miniseries’ title comes from Garfield’s believe that any act of potential political violence would be considered a case of “death by lightning,” despite what happened to fellow Republican Abraham Lincoln nearly two decades before.
It’s no secret what happens to Garfield. He is eventually shot, but “Death by Lightning” — directed by Matt Ross, with the script from writer-creator Mike Makowsky — painstakingly Garfield’s side of the story and that of his assassin, Charles Guiteau (“Succession’s” Matthew Macfadyen, an Emmy winner).
It delves into the delusional world that Guiteau created to justify his appointment as a foreign consul for the Garfield Administration. To the series’ creators credit, they don’t paint him as a villain, but instead deal with the issue of mental health, a possible reason for the violence against Garfield. In a sense, it allows them, coincidentally, Makowsky said in a recent interview, to hold a mirror up to today’s America.
Macfadyen masterfully creates a multifaceted character in Guiteau. His devolution never seems obvious, making the eventual transformation and the ultimate comeuppance all that more relevant.
As for Shannon? His Garfield is noble, intelligent and humble. He’s the quintessential every man and Shannon brings all of those characteristics to the forefront.
Left to right: Matthew Macfadyen as Charles Guiteau, Michael Shannon as James Garfield in “Death by Lightning.”
The tragedy of Garfield’s story: it’s said that only the great ones have leadership foisted upon him and by all accounts of the time, he did not covet the office of the presidency. He was a surprise nominee coming out of the 1880 Republican National Convention. The country never got to enjoy the promise his colleagues obviously saw in him when delivering his nomination to the American public.
Streaming: All episodes currently streaming on Netflix
Grade: A-
Vince Gilligan, ‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Better Call Saul’ creator returns to TV with ‘Pluribus’
Coming off of watching the first four episodes of the Apple TV series “Pluribus,” I’m not quite sure what to make of creator-writer Vince Gilligan’s latest creation, but there’s plenty there for me to want to stick around to see what his story of isolation among millions will take us on its journey.
It tells the story of writer Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), who finds herself on the wrong side of a global pandemic-like invasion that has consumed the population of 99.99999999% of the world.
Over the course of those episodes, the audience learns how a parasite plotted and infected the population beginning with scientists. The ultimate goal: making humanity happy.
Rhea Seehorn in Apple TV’s “Pluribus.”
Actually, that goal is little more than conformity as differences are eliminated in the hopes of the greater good and the ability to act in concert as one society. It’s utopia via control.
Carol, who has watched her partner die in this invasion, wants nothing to do with these parasites and their actions and as she seeks out others who avoided the infection, she begins to do her investigation to see how to defeat them. As the show’s tagline says: she’s “the most miserable woman on the planet who must save the world from happiness.”
Streaming: The first two episodes are on Apple TV with subsequent installments in the nine-episode run dropping Fridays.
Grade: B
Hop aboard and prepare for the ‘Stranger Things’ onslaught with new animated series
Serial murders continue to do business on Netflix in TV Ratings
Murder continues to whet the appetite of America’s streaming audience as “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” is the No. 1 overall show for the week ending Oct. 12:
Top 10 overall shows and minutes watched:
“Monster: The Ed Gein Story” (Netflix) – 2.308 billion minutes
“Love is Blind” (Netflix) – 1.112 billion
“NCIS” (Hulu/Netflix/Paramount+) – 858 million
“Spongebob Squarepants” (Paramount+) – 819 million
“KPop Demon Hunters” (Netflix) – 808 million
“Law & Order” (Hulu/Peacock) – 755 million
“Bluey” (Disney+) – 743 million
“Grey’s Anatomy” (Hulu/Netflix) – 720 million
“Bob’s Burgers” (Hulu) – 700 million
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (Hulu/Peacock) – 683 million
George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Death by Lightning’ proves to be a welcome history lesson on Netflix
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