Who says history can’t be interesting, or even fun? Many Americans know plenty about the two most famous United States presidents to die by assassination, but the man who spent the shortest time in office before he was felled by a bullet was James Garfield, who held the office for just over six months in 1881. Death by Lightning introduces the world to Garfield in a way that adds a great deal of style and humor to his unlikely ascension to the top job in the nation and the unfortunate circumstances that led to his untimely demise.
When Garfield (Michael Shannon) travels to the Republican National Convention in 1880, it’s to tout Senator James Blaine (Bradley Whitford) as the party’s presidential nominee. But when he speaks to the crowd, which is deadlocked in the search for a candidate, he becomes the choice, much to his chagrin. As he prepares to take office and truly listen to the voice of the people, he has to contend with a vice president, Chester Arthur (Nick Offerman), who has no interest in seeing him succeed, and one man, Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen), who believes himself to have been instrumental in Garfield’s election and will stop at nothing to earn the recognition he is sure he deserves from a man who doesn’t even know who he is.
Death by Lightning is best compared to another formidable work of historical television, The Great, which amplified facts and turned them into something deliriously entertaining and very watchable. That show might be significantly more outlandish and exaggerated from how things really were, while this one merely takes the opportunity to allow its characters to swear and be petty, mirroring modern-day political squabbles that feel all the more childish because its characters still speak like they’re living more than a century ago with the occasional contemporary insult or expression thrown in for good measure.
This limited series’ creator, Mike Makowsky, comes to this project with intriguing credentials. His past feature films, Take Me and I Think We’re Alone Now, were radically different from one another, with the former incorporating much more dark comedy than the latter. The Emmy-winning TV movie Bad Education told a wild story from a respectful if larger-than-life angle, which speaks to Makowsky’s approach here. Garfield didn’t have the chance to accomplish much given his short time in office, but his ascent to the presidency and the nature of his assassination also involved so many fascinating coincidences and miscommunications that it’s hard to imagine someone not finding a way to turn it into popcorn fare that also feels distinctly intelligent and educational.
The cast involved in this series in uniformly excellent, led by Shannon, who’s had a very busy year with his directorial debut, Eric LaRue and a leading role from a different point in history in the much more serious Nuremberg. Here, he has a perfect stoic demeanor to play Garfield and be the straight man anchor. Offerman delivers a slimy but calculated performance as Arthur, with Shea Whigham in top form as his longtime ally Senator Roscoe Conkling. No stranger to political fare, Whitford balances ego and a disgruntled acceptance of reality well, and there are many other fun faces in the ensemble cast, including Paula Malcomson and Betty Gilpin. Macfadyen is electric, making Guiteau believably fervent and fanatic without pushing him too far, which is critical to this premise and execution working so well.
This show’s pacing and energy is infectious, and the only lamentable part of it is that it’s so short. That said, four episodes still manage to cover a considerable amount of time and the most involving events, and choosing to widen the scope to get to know Garfield before his life is forever changed against his will might have been less focused and exciting. Even with just four episodes, this is among the best television of the year, an optimistic indicator of the power of this kind of storytelling to revisit history in a creative and entirely worthwhile way. While there isn’t more of this particular story to tell, similar projects should take note on how to craft something that’s equal parts witty and educational.
Series Rating: 9/10
