Your Weekend Binge Watch: Death By Lightning

Your Weekend Binge Watch: Death By Lightning

Available to watch on Netflix; Limited series, 4 episodes, ~1 hour each; Historical Drama

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Watch Death By Lightning for an incredibly produced execution of historical drama (pun intended). Also watch for an incredible cast and for writing that makes you care about an otherwise-forgotten President.

  Synopsis This miniseries depicts the election and short-lived term of 20^th President of the United States James A. Garfield. Focuses include his anti-corruption and pro-civil rights stances, as well as how his path crossed with Charles Guiteau, a deluded admirer, who ended up shooting Garfield, leading to his death.

Thoughts I really enjoyed Death By Lightning. It wasn’t a huge commitment, given it’s a four-episode miniseries, but honestly, I ended up wishing it was 1-2 episodes longer. There are a lot of familiar faces in this series: Michael Shannon as James A. Garfield (who I loved in Boardwalk Empire), Shea Whigham as Roscoe Conkling (who I also loved in Boardwalk Empire…should I do YWBW: Boardwalk Empire?!), Matthew Macfadyen as Charles Guiteau (yes, my sweet, sweet Mr. Darcy), Nick Offerman as Chester A. Arthur (who I loved in Parks and Recreation, as well as the dramatic reading of Lincoln in the Bardo), and Bradley Whitford as James Blaine (No, I will never get over Josh Lyman from The West Wing. You can’t make me.). It's a period drama, so there are entirely more parts for men than women, but I would like to note that Betty Gilpin absolutely tore my heartstrings apart as Lucretia Garfield, an absolute force of a First Lady.

Because the show is about James Garfield’s assassination, it is not a spoiler that he is killed. I was surprised, however, by the way he dies. I won’t spoil that for you, but let’s just say that this is not Abraham Lincoln’s assassination story (though there were several references to Lincoln throughout the show’s four episodes).

I found the politics of the show to be riveting and probably not entirely unlike how the political parties of today wheel and deal to pursue their interests. There were strategic alliances, instances of bargaining, multiple votes taken, and even some political scandal. Seeing the way the political world worked in the late 1800s and its ties to various working classes was fascinating. Honestly, talking and writing about it makes me want to watch the series all over again.

Everything else aside, however, what has stuck with me the most was Matthew Macfadyen’s performance and portrayal of Charles Guiteau. Guiteau was a loser, a liar stuck in his own fantasy world with dreams and visions of grandeur. And how did that work out? Well, without this show, I would never have reason to know his name (unless it was an obscure pub trivia question I missed and vowed never to forget again). Guiteau was a pathetic character I couldn’t root for who made my creepy/spidey senses tingle, which means Macfadyen played him perfectly. Luckily, he’s engraved into my brain as Fitzwilliam Darcy, which is how I will choose to remember him.

Death By Lightning was one of my surprise favorite shows of the year. Totally BingeReady.