Death by Lightning, a new four-part miniseries on Netflix, is a period piece that plays like a 19th-century version of The West Wing. It's full of political intrigue and unexpected betrayals — focusing on an elected representative whose desire is to do right and do good, no matter how many obstacles are in the way.
James Garfield, played by the always intense Michael Shannon, brings his intensity to Garfield's public oratory. But at home, his Garfield is a gentle, loving husband, father and farmer — an unlikely person to rise to the top in the snake pit of national government in the 1880s.
Equally unlikely to achieve any level of success is Charles Guiteau, another character from humble beginnings. Guiteau, though, is a lot less noble than Garfield, and a lot less humble. In fact, he may be delusional about his own self-worth, and he's not above stealing, lying, forging or other crimes to further his ambitions.
In the Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins, Guiteau was portrayed with the enthusiastic optimism of a child, and that's how he's played here by Matthew Macfadyen, who played Tom on Succession. It's a wholly committed, completely empathic portrayal. You can feel Guiteau's emotions — his highs and his lows — instantly and deeply, often in the same scene.
When we meet Guiteau for the first time, he's facing a panel and defending his behavior in 1880 after being incarcerated in the New York jail called The Tombs. Garfield, meanwhile, is a Congressman who represents Ohio, but spends most of his time back home.
Garfield's asked to do a favor for a fellow Ohio politician — to nominate him at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Chicago. His nominating speech, though, is so inspirational, the deadlocked convention eventually adds his name to the potential nominees. On the 36th ballot, Garfield emerges as the Republican front-runner — a fact that amuses Sen. James Blaine, played by Bradley Whitford.
Whitford, from the original West Wing TV series, is featured at the moment in another Netflix political drama, as the first gentleman on the new season of The Diplomat. He has more to do as this miniseries goes on, and so do many of the other supporting players. Two, in particular, are worth spotlighting: Nick Offerman, as Chester Alan Arthur, is cartoonish and bullying when it's called for, and sensitive when that's called for — and he's perfect in every scene. And Betty Gilpin, as Garfield's wife, Lucretia — he calls her Crete — is perfect, too.
You might wonder why Gilpin, after starring in American Primeval and GLOW, is playing such a relatively small role, even one that's so dignified and independent. Her scenes with Shannon as Garfield are lovely, but at another point in Death by Lightning, Gilpin's character explodes into a whole new gear, altering the course of history along the way. It's a moment that makes it clear why Gilpin took the role.
The series is created by Mike Makowsky, based on the book Destiny of the Republic, by Candice Millard. Among its executive producers are David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who brought Game of Thrones and 3 Body Problem to television. And now, they've all brought to TV a dated history lesson that seems not at all dated today.
Death by Lightning is full of recognizable arrogance — political, social, medical — and also contains recognizable strains of both optimism and hopelessness. Those, by the way, all were central themes in the musical Assassins, which included the actual song Guiteau composed to sing on the gallows just before his execution. Assassins is an outstanding musical — just as Death by Lightning is outstanding television.
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